This is O'Brien's first novel, written in 1975. A brother to brother drama set in rural Minnesota. Paul's the brother that stayed home and Harvey is the one that went to war. He comes back injured. The story is how the two brothers and come back together. To bond, they go off on a cross-country skiing adventure that turns dangerous. I can see a great writer learning his craft. And although, I didn't really like the way he developed some of his characters (especially the women), its ultimately a really good read.

8/10

I love to read and I am pretty liberal in my ratings, mostly 3's and 4's. I just did not care about this book. I did not identify with any of the characters. I finished the book because that's what I do but for me it was just a time-killer. Maybe if I was from northern Minnesota something would have clicked. As it was, nothing did.

good read

Northern Lights by Tim O'Brien (1999)

!

I liked this author's other books, but hated this one. I quit reading half way through and I never do that.

Other than lots of drinking, the main story about being lost in the BWCA was a fine story, well wrought, except that it could have been shorter and tighter. However, he used repetition as a device for waning brainpower due to starvation, not a bad trick. Otherwise the book was set up like a set of short stories, and each stood on its own merit.

I enjoyed the book. It wasn’t my favorite Tim O’Brien work but I still found it an enjoying read. One of the themes that struck me that I haven’t really seen discussed is the idea that heroes/heroism is often ignored or just not a big deal to others. Harvey was a war hero, nobody really cared, Perry was heroic in getting him and his brother thru the woods/blizzard and nobody really cared. Perry seems to accept this and is not going to try again as he lets himself go back to his old lackadaisical out-of-shape ways and it seems obvious he’s not going on Harvey’s latest adventure idea at the end. Harvey, on the other hand doesn’t accept this and is always looking for the next big adventure. The other theme that I found interesting was the favorite son vs the least favorite son and the long term impact on both their personalities and lives. Lastly, I really loved Addie as a character.

This book was precisely what I needed in this odd time. I struggled with coming back to it, but every time I did, I got caught up in it all over again. It was slow progress for me but I think it was meant to be read that way. It felt more like taking my brain on a vacation than trying to keep its attention.

Was it the best book I’ve ever read? Nah. But it was a great read for this year.

Northern Lights was published in 1975 and was TIm O'Brien's debut book. O'Brien was a guy who went and came back from the Vietnam War. He has many famous books such as 'The Things They Carry', which is a book I read for class and is truly awesome. For those who read the Northern Lights as their first O'Brien book, don't be discouraged or disappointed because he only got better and better and is currently one of America's best writers. However no matter how boring or insipid you felt when you read the first half of Northern Lights, don't give up because I read the second half and was plunged into an action-adventure-survival drama with two brothers fighting for their lives in a whited-out northern Minnesota forest in January. The style of his bad grammar and repetition didn't improve, but it was good enough for me to finish the book.

Now, a little summary of the book. It's a story about privacy, quite little conversations. Private lives at home, secret romances of all sorts. It is also a story between the relationship of the two brothers, one who went to Vietnam and the one who stayed. Their father also made an influence on them, “I guess we're really brothers, aren't we? Don't know what that means, except it means that some of the same things we remember.” - showing their relationship. However, I thought the most interesting dynamic in the book was the relationship between Paul (the brother who stayed) and his wife Grace. Their marriage was fine and all that, but their relationship as they grew each year, seemed to fade away. I think it is very interesting because I can link this relationship between the soliders in Vietnam and the war itself. They started with the goal of protecting America, as they were told. However as time passed, they started to get tired and lost aim in what they were doing. Both were unhealthy relationships and both failed each other's needs. Paul failed Grace to love her more and have a baby, Grace failed Paul because she might be too dull. The War in Vietnam failed Americians because they were fighting an impossible war, and the soliders failed to the war because they died not knowing why and for what. A quote from the book was, “Everything was such a damned nice idea when it was an idea.” - everything seemed good when it is only thought of. The marriage of Paul and Grace, and the Vietnam War. Americans thought they were there for good and just went.

O'Brien also presented the tension between brothers in layers beginning with the vietnam war. As the story unfolded, he challenged me to think about their pasts and pending futures. The book kept me thinking long after I put it down. Even as I write this reveiw, I am considering new implications to their realtionship. Nothern Lights is a very thoughtful book and I hope everyone who reads it will find a way to enjoy it!

p.31 Hard to tell if the old mayor was playing a great fool's game, darting in and out of time as if it didn't matter or exist, always confusing the living with the dead and Perry with Harvey and both of them with the old man.
p.242 The trail was its own perfect logic.

My O'Brien sets up provocative oppositions between two brothers, Perry and Harvey. The brothers are a study in contrasts, whether the subject is involvement in Vietnam, love for their father, or personal relationships, the brothers are seemingly only connected by a common childhood and genetics. Harvey, upon returning from his service in Vietnam, wants the pomp and circumstance due a war hero, while Perry cancels any thoughts for a welcoming party. The opposition causes plenty of friction and spice through the work.

In many ways, the tale is a coming-of-age story for a floundering adult. Perry's emotional and functioning growth throughout the work is one of the intriguing aspects of the text.

One of the more interesting aspects of the text is that O'Brien tells the story from Perry's perspective. Rather than embracing the perspective of the veteran, O'Brien breaks from his personal history and focuses upon the guilt of the brother who did not serve.

Wasn't as good as I thought it would be based on his book "If I die in a Combat Zone" which I read just weeks ago.Anti climatic-for sure.