"Harrowing"...not field work. :)

    Recently I finished reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.  It seemed logical to follow that by reading his In The Lake of The Woods. The New York Times Book Review called it the best book of 1994....see how far behind I am in my reading?  Harrowing is what I would call it. The Book Review said about it "At bottom, this is a tale about the moral effects of suppressing a true story, about the abuse of history, about what happens to you when you pretend there is no history."
    John Wade is tormented by his alcoholic father. In Vietnam he is complicit in war crimes...atrocities.  Eventually he is found out illustrating the danger of toxic secrets. The book is a morality tale about the psychic damage done by abusive parenting leading to a character defect which is critical under the stress of combat.
     O'brien tells it well but it's not book to read if you want a resolved finish. The mystery has several suggested hypothesis but no definite conclusion.  Yes, I'd recommend it.

Takk for alt,

Al

The Things
by Donald Hall

When I walk in my house I see pictures,
bought long ago, framed and hanging
— de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore —
that I've cherished and stared at for years,
yet my eyes keep returning to the masters
of the trivial — a white stone perfectly round,
tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell,
a broken great-grandmother's rocker,
a dead dog's toy — valueless, unforgettable
detritus that my children will throw away
as I did my mother's souvenirs of trips
with my dead father. Kodaks of kittens,
and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.

Couldn't resist posting last night's pond picture.