Pacing is a real problem here, as the story doesn't really start until almost 200 pages in. Up to that point there's a lot of character development. Except that's not quite right. There's a lot of dialogue from the characters, but it doesn't reveal much because it's so repetitive.

Later in the book, I started to appreciate what O'Brien was doing with this dialogue a little more. The two main characters have never learned how to express themselves emotionally and they talk in repeating circles, talking around and around what they want to say without ever saying it. It works to an extent, but becomes tiresome and I often got the feeling that it was O'Brien holding back information and not the characters.

Definitely the worst of O'Brien's work that I've read. Not terrible by any means, but I don't see myself ever revisiting this like I do The Things They Carried or In the Lake of the Woods.

I was kind of disappointed in this. It didn't really affect me as much as Tim O'Brien's other novels. I mean, the writing style was just as beautiful, I'll always love his writing style. But I just didn't really care all that much about the story. I didn't like many of the side characters. They kind of gave me an unsettling feeling, which may have been intended, but even so, I didn't enjoy reading about them. The only character I actually liked was Grace, and I was interested in the relationship between Perry and Harvey. The story tended to drag at times because it was often very repetitive - they're skiing through the woods, it's cold, they're hungry and sick - and I couldn't tell one section from another. I took a break from reading it for a few days and it took me a while to figure out where I had left off, which usually isn't a problem. It's not a bad book at all, though. I think, for me, the story just didn't really appeal, and it didn't compare to The Things They Carried or Going After Cacciato, which are both wonderful books. I'm fairly certain that this was O'Brien's first novel, so I'm not going to hold it against him, and I'm going to read his other books, because he's a damn good writer.

I couldn't get into this. It jumped around too much between two brothers and a girl. Kind of strung out and hard to follow. Didn't finish.

There were brief moments in this I liked where the rhythm of the language and the existential pondering and the descriptions of nature seemed to be working together. Unfortunately, the book overall was long, tedious, and unsatisfying.

The most tedious and boring book I've read in a long while.

Nothing much exciting happens and while it is sort of interesting to follow all the thoughts these characters have, they really are kind of unlikeable characters so I wasn't all that engaged. Hopefully the next Tim O'Brien is better.

Easily my least favourite Tim O'Brien book.

Northern Lights comes off as disjointed and rather forgettable. I think I can tell what O'Brien was going for, something about relationships and dysfunctional families, about childhood and fathers, disappointment and jealousy and sibling relationships, and personal changes/growth but it just...falls flat.

Holy God was this terrible. I’m shocked that this was written by the same guy who did Cacciato and Lake in the Woods and The Things They Carried. I loved those works so much that I decided I would read everything by him and jumped at this book when I saw it at a used book shop, knowing nothing about it. Granted, it was his first work and he probably had to hone his voice/skills. But my goodness is this bad.

Pat myself on the back for finishing it. I completely understand all these reviews on here where people say they cast it aside after 50 or 100 pages. I just thought it had to get better, had to go somewhere, that Tim O’Brien couldn’t possibly write a book that didn’t develop and evolve as the pages unfolded. It got to the point where I was speed-reading, just letting my eyes scan over the sentences, skimming the dialogue, skipping the second half of paragraphs that started with nothing and weren’t moving on.

Everything was so repetitive! I could skim and fly through and not worry about missing anything because everything was repeated 20 times! The dialogue was terrible, characters repeating things over and over within a page, within a single speech! The narration was repetitive… The writing was boring, slow, devoid of any action, suspense or plot. It’s like O’Brien was attempting for Hemingway-style understatement – “Harvey stared resolutely at the snowed-in football field. They were jumping and exercising and the loudspeakers called out the starting lineups. Grace unfolded a blanked and draped it across everyone’s knees. The bleachers were full of people. The whole town was there. The band played the Sawmill Landing fight song and everyone stood. Perry’s glasses steamed over.” – I mean WTF? Short, choppy sentences, but with no gravitas, no huge meaning underneath the understatement, just bland, declarative crap. Or the dialogue – “You don’t remember me getting that rifle? I can’t… That, I can’t understand. Thought sure you remembered it. You were laughing at me. You saw how scared I was. The old man… he never saw it. You saw it. You remember? And I… don’t you remember? Don’t know why. You remember now? That damn rifle. You started laughing. You asked to see my new rifle. You don’t remember?” This is a tiny quote from a speech that went on for three whole pages. Harvey asks about the stupid rifle for multiple pages, repeating almost verbatim… And for what? Is this a huge point of emphasis? Symbolism? Not that I can tell. And this type of repetition happens with all characters, throughout the whole book, not just this one scene for emphasis.

The characters were bland and not at all realistic. Why not do more with the returning war vet and his demons? His drinking his mentioned but nothing ever comes of it. He never grows or changes, none of the other characters ever really make an impact with him/it. The two female characters are about as flat as they come. I don’t buy Grace for a second. She’s treated like shit but acts like the perfect little “What can I do for you” housewife… but yet she’s not some Mad Men era mother, she’s a professional, a teacher… and Addie makes no sense whatsoever. What’s her role? She’s just there, flirting with Harvey when he’s being stupid and running away when he’s being serious.

And the plot!?!?!? There is none! The first 100 pages are so boring. Nothing happens. At least there’s the hint of something with Harvey returning from war and re-embedding himself in society… but that never develops into the main focus. Instead, the two brothers go up to a ski competition and decide to si home. That’s the next 200 pages. So slow, long, boring… and after that whole thing when they get back, the story moves on like nothing. Any excitement from Grace when they return? Addie? A bigger scene after all that? The two brothers do or say or learn anything? No. The end.

The cover of my version has a blurb that says “The suspense is spellbinding.” Sorry, Chicago Sun-Times, but your writer needs a punch in the face, because this book does not contain one iota of suspense. I’m all about character-driven dramas; I don’t need to have crazy-action plot and twists and all. I actually prefer my stories character-driven, life-examining, the psychological analysis of individuals and relationships and why people do what they do. I’d take a Richard Russo over a James Patterson or Brad Meltzer any day. But this has none of that. I was planning on reading all of O’Brien’s works. Now I’m wondering if I should continue on. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, knowing this was his first work and seeing how he went on to win the National Book Award and a shot at a Pulitzer. But I can’t believe this book was published.

It seems that a lot of people don’t like Tim O’Brien’s 1975 debut novel Northern Lights, but who cares, I love the book. It takes its characters and us deep into the Minnesota northwoods, and I am an easy mark for that kind of atmospheric setting.

I honestly was expecting much more from O'Brien. Loved his later books but as a first book this didn't do anything for me. Thank goodness I didn't read this book first because I never would have read his other ones.

I once bought this book when I was in Bath because it was only four pounds and I remembered being terribly impressed by O'Brien's The Things They Carried when reading it in school. Then I left it to collect dust on my bookshelf for a few years before picking it up. I couldn't help but notice that the goodreads rating for this book is so much lower than for The Things They Carried.

I can see why. This book is quite the accomplishment, but I think it's marketed all wrong. The way O'Brien captures the slow feeling of an old dying town is incredible, but that won't be what people are looking for when they pick up a book because it has 'The suspense is spellbinding' and 'A thrilling story which can be read simply as an adventure story [...]' printed on its cover. The blurb is all about a skiing trip that only begins on page 173 (which is nearly halfway through the book, as it's only 363 pages). The skiing trip itself is, in a sense, suspenseful, because one of O'Briens talents is making me feel the hunger, boredom, exhaustion, and desperation of his characters. But this is not a Thriller or Mystery kind of suspense. The book is suspenseful in its slowness, and I loved it, but it just really doesn't match the way it's marketed.

3.5 stars

It is 1970 and Harvey has been away fighting in the Vietnam War. He returns home to his brother, Paul, and Paul's wife, Grace. When Harvey suggests he and Paul go skiing in the woods for a few days, things go terribly wrong.

It was good. I thought the best part of the book was while they were in the woods (which didn't happen until about half-way through). I didn't like any of the characters, though.