Customer Reviews

The Hanging Tree

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I agree with those who felt that some characters were underdeveloped--especially Chinta. That said, I found this book gripping. Kathryn Widd is a complex hero of unusual intelligence, and the author has no difficulty developing her thoroughly. Although I have a B.A. in anthropology, I felt no desire for more technical information on paleoanthropology. I find the current focus on accuracy in fiction annoying. Give us more good stories and believeable characters--technical authenticity be damned. This book gave me what I want in a novel: a believeable, fascinating protagonist and a gripping plot to maintain my interest. I look forward to Lambkin's next effort!

I purchased this book on a whim, certain that it would be interesting but weighty and a slow read. Imagine my surprise when I literally could not put it down. I flew through it in two days, losing plenty of sleep and completely enthralled. It is a beautiful piece of work; thought provoking while maintaining a dramatic plot line. While it would have been interesting to have seen more deeply into the hearts of characters like Chinta and Sister Mary, their very vagueness created a sketch-like effect, allowing me to shape their motives to my own perception of the story. The combination of references to quantum physics and quotes from ancient curses lead me effectively down the disparate paths of pragmatism and mysticism. Kathryn and Tregallion were extravagantly romantic without being maudlin and created a beautifully tragic love story. This is a wonderful book and has become one of my deep dark favorites.

When I saw the cover art of this book, it both repelled me and compelled me to read it. The artwork set the mood before I even started reading, but the story carried it on, page after page of a sense of dread, disaster, and blood.

The main character, Kathryn, intensified this foreboding with her cautious, regretful, and grave telling of the events that befell her group during their paleontological quest in Africa. The story, despite its presentiment of doom, was beautiful in its descriptions of the African environment, and its insights into human thought and feelings. The author came up with some imagery created by unusual metaphores that delighted me. I was impressed by his knowledge of how a woman feels inside her body, and his many insights into the complex workings of the human mind as it tries to sort out its deeper questions.

As Kathryn dealt with the problems of relationships, and the difficulties of her expedition, her main quest was to discover the source of the murderous evil that exists in humans. Her discovery of ancient fossils provides her team with disheartening answers, yet through all this gloom, Kathryn demonstrates the human ability to resurface, blooming, through the ashes of disaster. The mesmerizing, insightful qualilty of this book is what led me to rate it 5 stars.

If Hemingway had been a woman, perhaps she would have written this way. Evokes the transcendentalism of The English Patient by Ondaatje and the inexorability of a greek tragedy combined with the fascinating plot and detail of a compelling, first rate, multi-layered mystery. If you're worried about whether fax machines were available in this part of the world in the 80's (they were) or obsessed about postal service as much the pedantic reviewer YelenaM is, then skip this book and any others that have anything to do with passion, exploration, or mysticism

I decided to purchase this book partly from the additional information provided above, and from the review submitted by `bcurran' below - the latter certainly clinched it. I have consumed this book without being able to put it away, since particularly the last half is excellently presented in terms of plot and suspense. I must admit that the novel has some shortcomings - particularly with regards to character development and with an occasional sloppy dialogue - but generally it is a novel greatly and wonderfully conceived, and that alone makes it well worth the money. The technical issues - and admittedly there are some, not in the least in the area of paleoanthropology - should be of less concern, since there is still a massive amount of food for thought. Its principal merit is that it touches on themes central to humanity on a grand scale, particularly in this day and age. It does so very ambitiously, attempting to weave together aspects of alchemy, hinduism, Jungian psychology, and the like through the extensive (and perhaps slightly superflous) use of quotes as the introduction to chapters containing gripping parallel tales from past and contemporary Africa. The main character and narrator (Kathryn) is somewhat masculine (purposely so?) and is developed in sudden revelational leaps, but stands out reasonably lucidly towards the end Her second lover Tregallion is excellently conceived with depth and insight, and is inspirational even if somewhat romantically idealized. There are a few characters, such as Sister Mary, the sinister fallen nun, that embody outstanding potential for exploration but fall a little by the wayside, and I regret that the author left her (and also Victor and Chinta) as a loose end. Finally, I regret that the the technical side of paleoanthropology was not pursued in more detail, since this science incarnates humanity's compulsion to search for the origins of its creation, and as such has mythological implications. This would lend itself well to the central themes and generally add literary weight. My recommendation is: Buy it, and read it with your heart.

Lambkin is new to me; a friend recommended the book which I devoured upon receipt. The book itself is intriguing and a fine read. But it also addresses several of my reading fetishes: Africa, Kenya, whites behaving badly in, murder, hominids, paleontology, sociology, and nerdy female scientists. It's mighty tasty.

I loved this book. Three plots intertwined; love, sex and anthropological digging, set in Africa. Great characters, even the dead ones.
I can't understand why his other work seems to be unavailable...

I agree wholeheartedly with bcurran's review. It is the ony novel I have ever immediately re-read. It is rich with intelligent spirituality, nature and fierce strength

A masterwork of fiction. Buy it. Read it. Read it again. Every sentence in this books sounds better the 2nd time than the first. Multiple layers of a paleontological, sexual and murder mystery unfold simultaneously. Beautiful depictions of African flora and fauna.

I found Mr. Lambkin's book 'The Hanging Tree" a fragmented, pretentious, and contrived novel. The book makes very ambitious claims and promises in the form of impressive array of quotations (its philosophical base), and discovery of fossils as a means to reveal "violence" as the inextricable heritage of human species. The case for this connection is made in 2 or 3 paragraphs of mumbo jumbo (complete loss of credibility) out of a 380 page book! From the beginning of the story, the author builds suspense (or tries to) through the main character's (Kathryn) lamentations about "had I known what I know now", and then leads the reader to very-very-very predictable and anti-climactic conclusions. I constantly found myself being teased and then let down as my expectations found no match, and the melodrama left a bad taste in my mouth. Characters are poorly developed (with the exception of perhaps one - Tregallion) and they appear conveniently to provide a clue and facilitate continuity of the storyline, and then disappear. I could not develop a connection and a feel for almost all of the characters, including Kathryn. Inconsistencies in the characters, events, and settings were disruptive (a fax machine in the middle of a desert town in Kenya in 1980's ?!; I also wished our postal service was as efficient as the mail in Kenya which delivered international research and sample analysis results in the nick of time -- too convenient). In my opinion, the attempts to draw parallels between a historical love affair (Patterson and Janey) and the contemporary one (mixed in with "curse/mysticism", and demonstrations of "primitive and animalistic" sexual instincts) didn't work out. Although there were many strong themes that were flirted with in the novel, they were not pulled together successfully. After finishing the novel, I thought of a great potential that was never realized. What kept me reading on was the beautiful depiction of the landscape and the creation of an effective "atmosphere", and my curiosity about (Kathryn's lover) Tregallion's - by far the most intriguing character in the novel.