"Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson

A glimpse into the Vietnam War from numerous perspectives, this novel was a delight. We spend most of the to journey with Skip Sands and how his uncle the Colonel affects his trajectory as a member of the U.S. Psy Ops team. We also get perspective from Bill and James Houston as they journey through parts of the war as members of the U.S. military. Kathy Jones provides a view from a volunteer in a war torn country. We also get the world view of a Vietnamese businessman, a prospective Vietnamese double agent for the U.S. and a number of foreign assasins. The writing was compelling and it was easy to absorb over a hundred pages in a sitting. Johnson intertwines the stories of numerous characters with interested arcs and dramatic experiences. I was disappointed to run out of the pages to read. I enjoyed the macro picture as the story drew to a close. Sprinkled throughout, philosophical questions about the morality and justification of war, come to a worthy conclusion. The only people who come out the other side of war in one piece are those who do what they can to ease suffering.