Book review: In The Woods
Oct. 24th, 2010 11:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elabyI don't usually feel moved to review books here, even when I really super love them (I just sort of post incoherent squee about them instead most of the time) but I just finished In The Woods by Tana French, and I'm compelled to write about it. At first, I thought "I have no idea what to say about this book" - reading it left me in kind of a daze - but then I realized that no, I really do know what to say after all.
In The Woods is a (modern) murder mystery about an Irish detective whose biggest case involves a child-murder in the town where he grew up, where when he was twelve, his two best friends vanished and he was left with no memory of the (obviously terrifying) incident. This is by far one of the best-written books I've ever read. Tana French has a way with words that I frankly never thought possible: she describes feelings and memories and atmosphere (not to mention places and people) using imagery that is so perfectly apt that I never imagined a writer could get them that right. Her descriptions resonate so strongly with me that when I read them, I thought, over and over, that I'd felt that exact feeling before, or had that kind of memory, or felt that atmosphere, but I always thought "There's no way anyone could describe that in a way that makes sense and does it justice." But Tana French does.
Even apart from that, the mysteries, both of the main character's past and the current murder, are so fascinating I never wanted to put it down. They're built up so carefully that every tiny detail seems important. The relationships between the main character and his partner is brought to this epic level of delightful BFF snarktastic chemistry (his partner, one of the only women on the Murder Squad, is my favorite character by far). The twists and surprises are really good, too - not obscure enough that I didn't have an inkling they where coming, but they ended up far more complicated than I expected.
If you're the kind of person who likes to know what sort of ending a story has before you read it - not what happens, or how things turn out, or any details whatsoever, just what sort of ending you're in for - I urge you to
In The Woods had the single most unsatisfying ending of any book I think I've ever read in my life. It was probably all the more frustrating because rest of the book is so damned GOOD. It made me care about the characters and the mystery and about justice being done, and in almost all ways I was left utterly without closure. Everything that's built up as good and right and stable and dependable is destroyed by the end.
There's another book that comes after this one, from the point of view of the detective's partner, but from the first chapter of it that's published in the back of this book it seems to be about another case entirely. It may not be; the two may be connected. I'm not sure I have the heart to find out.
Why this post calls for a Stamper icon I'm not really sure, but, uh, it does.
In The Woods is a (modern) murder mystery about an Irish detective whose biggest case involves a child-murder in the town where he grew up, where when he was twelve, his two best friends vanished and he was left with no memory of the (obviously terrifying) incident. This is by far one of the best-written books I've ever read. Tana French has a way with words that I frankly never thought possible: she describes feelings and memories and atmosphere (not to mention places and people) using imagery that is so perfectly apt that I never imagined a writer could get them that right. Her descriptions resonate so strongly with me that when I read them, I thought, over and over, that I'd felt that exact feeling before, or had that kind of memory, or felt that atmosphere, but I always thought "There's no way anyone could describe that in a way that makes sense and does it justice." But Tana French does.
Even apart from that, the mysteries, both of the main character's past and the current murder, are so fascinating I never wanted to put it down. They're built up so carefully that every tiny detail seems important. The relationships between the main character and his partner is brought to this epic level of delightful BFF snarktastic chemistry (his partner, one of the only women on the Murder Squad, is my favorite character by far). The twists and surprises are really good, too - not obscure enough that I didn't have an inkling they where coming, but they ended up far more complicated than I expected.
If you're the kind of person who likes to know what sort of ending a story has before you read it - not what happens, or how things turn out, or any details whatsoever, just what sort of ending you're in for - I urge you to
In The Woods had the single most unsatisfying ending of any book I think I've ever read in my life. It was probably all the more frustrating because rest of the book is so damned GOOD. It made me care about the characters and the mystery and about justice being done, and in almost all ways I was left utterly without closure. Everything that's built up as good and right and stable and dependable is destroyed by the end.
There's another book that comes after this one, from the point of view of the detective's partner, but from the first chapter of it that's published in the back of this book it seems to be about another case entirely. It may not be; the two may be connected. I'm not sure I have the heart to find out.
Why this post calls for a Stamper icon I'm not really sure, but, uh, it does.
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Date: 2010-10-24 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2010-10-24 08:35 pm (UTC)Now the book. I've recently discovered a superb writer - not just someone who has good plots and/or characters and a so-so style, but a writer who performs wonderful prose. Her name is Tana French, and she writes mysteries of the police procedural style set in Dublin. Her stories are a bit farfetched, but her style is so damned good that, once I'm into them, I just want to enjoy them to the fullest, so I don't worry about it. The one I'm reading now is her newest, Faithful Place. I'm only about halfway through, but she hasn't faltered in quality, and I am so loving it.
I also think we may have had a more in-depth conversation about her work (during chat), but I can't remember exactly what was said.
I'm sorry that the ending was unsatisfying, though. :(
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Date: 2010-10-25 08:39 am (UTC)In a bid to look on the bright-side though, maybe the closure will come in the next book. It's possible if she's that good a writer.
Masochistic as I am, I may actually read this book, even though I now know it ends unsatisfactorily.
My Stamper icon can keep yours company.
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Date: 2010-10-25 09:28 pm (UTC)Yeah, I really expect there to be explanation and some sense that things are going to be okay in the next book, because I just can't believe all those loose ends, not to mention the pain the characters go through, could be left like that. I commiserate over your TV show!