Download Tree of Smoke: A Novel Audiobook

" A huge, sprawling book. I was never quite sure what Johnson was getting at, until it stopped mattering. It's the unquiet American, looping around an wreaking every character in the wake of the war. Strange and great. "

" Much, much better than the usual book with this much hype -- it grabs and hold from the 1st page -- admirable technique and control "

" I was very disappointed in this book. Denis Johnson's Angels and Jesus' Son are two of my favorite books. Judging from all the praise for this, I was expecting a great book. However, nothing really happens in this book. The characters wander without point. Johnson seems to be trying to suggest some significance, but I didn't get it. "

" God awful. A drag to read. "

" I'm following the thread of Johnson's writing, having started with Jesus' Son, which I adored, not only because of the wonderful shaggy storytelling style, the bumpy interconnected stories, but also because of the language, especially the dialog. He has his people talk in a very certain way, not "realistic", but very real, very propulsive with respect to the reader's understanding of the character and the story. Same here, only more so, given the epic scope of the novel, covering the early days of the Vietnam War through the denouement in the 80s. We get shards of the story that are, ultimately, driving us to an understanding of the big picture --- just exactly how the war was a folly of hubris --- and the micro story of his fictional characters --- spies and counterspies on both sides, grunts, crazies (my favorite), idealists and humanitarians, and a mysterious sort of Conradian colonel character that gives Coppola a run for his money. I felt like the winddown in the last 100 pages was a bit of a slog, until the very end, which lifted me off again. "

" Excellent - - in the audio book format. Sprawling, mythic, gritty, personal sagas. Many interesting main characters, some of whom don't become main characters until well into the book. The story almost never goes where you think it's going, but when you get there it seems truthful. Well written and well narrated. "

" Epic novel with a backdrop of Asia and the Pacific during the Vietnam War. "

" This is a difficult, but rewarding book. There are so many interwoven stories going on that I sometimes had to stop to remember where and when I'd met these characters before. But all in all, well worth the read. Good insights into the hopeless of war. "

" I'm going to need to try this one again. For some reason I couldn't get into it... "

" It felt disjointed and was very difficult to get into. "

" reading this one now...great stuff on vietman. several story lines going on at once. some parts are technical...guy stuff. other parts are more universally great. "

" So far, 150 pages in, frustratingly unimpressed. Johnson does a weak Graham Greene impersonation. "

" So far, so good. It sounds like people either love or hate this book. I think it's fantastic, so far. "

" Dialogue by characters in different settings begins to sound too similar after a while. The book has a number of brilliant individual moments, but feels overcome by the weight of the effort after a couple of hundred pages. "

" 600 pages about the Vietnam War's effect on the souls of a variety of characters. The prose is impressive and seems to be what gives this book the accolade of not just another story about Vietnam. "

" This book was intense and unnerving for me. I liked to read it in quiet time and in private. Eerie and I liked it quite alot. "

" wanted to love this book because it's Denis Johnson, but found myself feeling really bogged down in it. it's a good book, no doubt, but it's a chore to get through. "

" Don't know what is wrong with me...but I just could not get into this and I rarely leave a book unread. "

" Interesting, but too long. I was frankly disapointed, because of the great press this book received. "

" This was an intense read - raw. The conflict within the characters was palpable added to the obvious conflicts among and around them. The writing draws you into that world. "

" I'm sure it's as great as everyone says, but I just can't get through it so I bailed. Not my thing. "

" Maybe I am just dumb, but I couldn't get into this book at all. I found myself rereading pages, feeling confused about who was who and what was going on, and I didn't even make it to page 100 out of 700. "

" I gave it fifty pages and felt nothing. Shelved. "

" I read this a few years ago and can't recall too much of it, but I do know that it was very informative, funny, and entertaining, mingled with some very disturbing and intense characterizations of war. I'll have to check it out again. Definitely worth a read. "

" My brother highly recommended this book. I trudged through half of it and then just gave up on it. It really wasn't working for me. So bye-bye. "

" This book was left by a houseguest who started to read it but couldn't get into it. I got about 50 pages into it and couldn't hack it either. It is very rare that I connect with manly war novels--- Cryptonomicon was an exception. It is also rare that I stop reading a novel once I've started. "

" Engrossing read. I really enjoyed the story and the characterization. "

" The description on the back of the book couldn't be more wrong. I was expecting some covert CIA psy-ops in Vietnam. I don't really know what the hell this book is about, but it wasn't that! A 700 page torpid snoozefest. I can't believe a tree died to bring me this book. "

" Not for me. I didn't finish it. "

" If you think you can't read another novel about the Viet Nam War or any novel about that war think again. This book does a graceful job of capturing that past as it manages to reflect our present and future as well. Extremely well written. "

" Tree of Smoke gives a different perspective on Vietnam. It's more about the people and the effects of the war and not so much about the war itself. It was a decent read but not as action packed as one might expect from a war novel. "

" How bloated can a book be? Damn bloated. What a painfully long read by what critics claim to be an American Voice. Gag. Save yourself and read The Things They Carried. "