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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A nightmare you'll love and hate, March 7, 2001
I regard this book with awe and reverance, like a book of sorcerer spells. Engaging in it is like falling asleep in the midst of a 103 degree fever. In the Lake of the Woods could be considered both a mystery and a horror novel, but not for the usual reasons; the literary modes which make it an enigmatic, mind-boggling nightmare are its imagery and themes. This book tied my mind in magical knots which kalidescopically changed shape, leaving my brain fried and soul nourished. Fan's of O'Brien won't be surprised to find that he is up to his old tricks. In the Lake of the Woods begins with a title which states that Tim O'Brien is the author. Immediately before the first chapter, there is a curious second title without O'Brien's name attached to it. By the commentary provided in footnotes, the reader soon learns that O'Brien wants to make it clear that someone else wrote this story in an attempt to figure out the mystery of John and Kathy Wade. This fact confounds an easy understanding of the novel; the narrator's position must be always be taken into account. In the Lake of the Woods is O'Brien's portrayal of a historian or biographer's attempt at piecing together the mystery of the disappearance of Kathy Wade. Kathy's husband, John, recently lost a primary election to become Minnessota's Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate after his involvement in the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam was revealed to the public. In an attempt to relax and leave the limelight, the Wade's hole up in a cottage in a remote region of Minnesota lake country. One morning, after a temporary lapse of judgement and memory the night before, John Wade wakes to find his wife missing. It is here that the mystery begins. The narrator compiles evidence, the history of the Wades, and hypotheses in an attempt to find the truth behind why this happened. However, an even greater mystery is presented within the first couple of pages when the narrator, in a footnote, states that he still doesn't know what happened to Kathy Wade. This suggests that the book is about more than just Kathy Wade's disappearance. This novel could be read as a thriller, except that as soon as the dramatized scenes get moving, a new chapter filled with exposition, "evidence", or a "Hypothesis" begins. Tripping up the action serves to get the reader on the thematic track that O'Brien intended and to make it clear that the plot is not the major concern of the novel. When the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, this is a novel about human nature, what we consider love, how we seek out love, how we fall in love or become obsessed, comparisons between love and obsession, how we fall in love or become obsessed with people by projecting our dreams onto them in an attempt to solve their mystery, how we are mysteries to ourselves, and how our secret selves can be destructive. It is also a story within a story about the morality of attempting to discover truth by recreating a story. Engage this novel with the intensity that it deserves. After your fever drops and the nightmares end, you may see your own reflection in the lake of the woods.
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