Book Review: North Woods by Daniel Mason

North Woods by Daniel Mason is my favorite novel ever about trees. Nine out of ten hot dogs. The end.

What? You want more? Grumblegrumblegrumble

There was a time a long time ago when I had an idea for a novel called Tree. Every part of the novel would take place chronologically around a tree that was growing, from the time of the Native Americans up to the present.

Of course, when I thought about how long trees live, I realized that most of the book would be stories pertaining to Native Americans. And, as I am someone who is not a Native American, and based on reading books such as 1491, I realized how hard it would be to write a book of Native stories when (a) I'm not part of the culture; and (b) it's hard to discern what life was like here pre-Columbus. This was the reason/excuse I had for never diving into this book.

I had this non-written novel in mind when reading North Woods. Not losing the forest for the trees, North Woods takes place in a forest in Western Massachusetts, starting in colonial days and moving to the present day (and even a brief journey to the final days of Earth). In that sense it was reminiscent of Annie Proulx's Barkskins (my now second-favorite novel about trees), where the main stars of the books are the environments. However, while Barkskins really tells two tales over time that twist around each other, North Woods tells several different tales that stand separate from each other, but also fit in like pieces of a puzzle. Also, the woods in North Woods are slightly enchanted.

The way the stories work in North Woods owe more to stories like the Wachowski siblings movie Cloud Atlas, where stories happen across vast periods of time but are also intricately connected to the previous stories in the background (note: the Cloud Atlas reference is based on reviews I've read of the movie since I've never actually seen it - I heard it was a chore). Every story in North Woods is referenced in some capacity by later stories at least once, even though they are all completely separate stories about completely different people.

As I said, there is a supernatural element to the novel which ebbs and flows - almost as though it's taking place in the Game of Thrones universe. And I do mean ebbs and flows - most stories don't rely on anything supernatural, while others are completely based in the weird realm. Be warned, as everyone's mileage will vary.

The concept of the book worked perfectly for me, the characters were very well-written and memorable, and the piecing together of separate but connected stories was masterfully done. Recommended - definitely worth a read!