Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke is lengthy, heartbreaking, and satisfying
I read the novel after Johnson’s death this summer. Here are my thoughts on it
Denis Johnson’s death this summer (or late spring) prompted an outpouring of positive messages and praise on social media outlets. When I found myself visiting an independent bookstore in New Orleans over Memorial Day weekend, I remembered these messages and picked Tree of Smoke off the shelf. Due to my erratic reading patterns and the fact that I didn’t start the book until early this fall, I only just now finished it. I wish I had given more time to this book — its narrative structure and beautiful style deserve more than the 20-minute reading sessions I gave to it every night. I did finally finish it though, and you’ll find my impressions below.
As the title of this post suggests, Tree of Smoke is quite a time commitment. My copy runs at a little over 700 pages. It’s also heartbreaking: none of the characters end the story in a particularly happy place, and Johnson does a masterful job of using these personal stories to underscore the horror and devastation that the Vietnam War caused. Finally, because of his fantastic storytelling and narration, this novel is a deeply satisfying read. This book was well worth my time.
I almost didn’t start reading Tree of Smoke because of its heftiness. It’s a well-used heftiness though, as Johnson weaves together an interesting story that involves multiple characters over multiple years. The book is organized by years (for example, “1965”), which essentially function as lengthy chapters, and most of the characters are present in each section. I struggled to follow some parts of the narrative, which I attribute partially to my sporadic reading schedule and also partially due to the fact that this book’s storyline is very complicated.
The strength of this book lies in the characters and overall depiction of the Vietnam War, and parts of the plot feel needlessly complicated and obscure. Johnson uses this plot to showcase his writing and characters, and the (admittedly interesting) story of deceit, backstabbing, and espionage that emerges from these pages isn’t enough to make Tree of Smoke a success on its own. This is my only complaint with this book, as I sometimes felt like the exact details of each character often veered into unnecessary territory. However, as a vehicle to open up the parts of this book that really do shine, it’s perfectly serviceable.
Through the different characters in this story, Johnson writes several scenes that are immediately heartbreaking and emotionally poignant. The first chapter of the book is only a few pages, and is titled simply, “1963.” In this section, Johnson describes several characters’ reactions to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The characters react in different ways — most involving alcohol — but the sense of discouragement and sadness that flows through the beginning of this book is extremely well done. It helped convince me that this book would be worth reading, and helped carry my interest through some of the less interesting parts.
Tree of Smoke is also a very satisfying book to read. Johnson’s characters largely suffer their way through the Vietnam War, and several of them don’t live until the “1983” epilogue that ends the story. This war is a difficult subject to write about, and Johnson captures much of its sadness without ridiculing or minimizing the experiences of those who caught up in it. He writes of the soldiers in the jungles and villages, the commanders setting their orders, the mothers at home, and a host of other people. I never encountered a character that felt poorly written or ill-conceived, and Johnson’s skill in terms of building believable characters is this book’s greatest strength.
In describing Tree of Smoke, I have barely touched on any of the specific plot details. That wasn’t intentional, but I think it’s telling of the fact that the plot isn’t the most important aspect of this book. Johnson’s characters and writing fill that role, and these two elements are nearly perfectly realized in this novel’s pages. It isn’t a perfect book, but I high recommend it and I would certainly read it again given what I know now.
