Andie’s Book Club: North Woods by Daniel Mason
North Woods is a beautifully written, Pulitzer-worthy novel that has readers divided. Could it be the beetle porn?
I attended an event a couple months ago and sitting at my table were several highly educated, well spoken women who all seemed to agree on their favorite recent read: North Woods by Daniel Mason. They raved about this "Pulitzer-worthy novel!" After reading it, I have some feelings...
Published in 2023, Daniel Mason’s North Woods is undeniably a beautifully written novel. It is historical fiction that mixes in prose, poetry, songs, and journalistic stylings to tell the story of a remote property in Western Massachusetts over the course of many generations. The novel touches on several different themes including nature, loneliness, romantic love, parental love, and death, among others. It is innocent, endearing, salacious, and haunting. Mason is a gifted writer with an incredible ability to capture and portray mood and atmosphere.
Read more of Andie's Book Club entries here
Surprise!
It might surprise you to find out that I did not love this book. I do appreciate it, but I struggled to enjoy it. So much so, that I went onto Goodreads to see how others reviewed it. After reading dozens of five- stars, I skipped to the one- and two-star reviews, then breathed a sigh of relief when I saw so many readers with the same feelings as me. (Albeit more readers loved it, people like me do exist, and that makes me feel vindicated!)
Reviews of North Woods
Betsey had some good points:
"I smell next Pulitzer. I also smell the forest, the flowers, the entire flora and fauna, the insects, the soil, the entire landscape of western Massachusetts, going back to the start of the novel, four-hundred years ago."
Agreed, Betsey. I also experienced all of those things while reading North Woods, which reminded me of all the reasons I don't live in the woods.
Ali was not as kind as Betsey:
"Woof. I hated nearly every moment of this book. I wouldn’t have read past page 20 if I hadn’t picked it for a book club. It was confusing, so slow at parts, and rarely had me invested. Not my thing."
I see where Ali is coming from. There were several times I wanted to put the book down, and then I remembered how much my tablemates loved it. North Woods is the story of a house, and so it is also several stories of the different people who lived there. If you have trouble getting through, know its next inhabitants are nothing like the last. That might keep you going.
Jill has strong feelings for the author Daniel Mason:
"Now THIS is why I read! Daniel Mason has created a masterwork with North Woods. If he doesn’t write another word in his life – and that would be a crying shame – his reputation is sealed with this marvel of a book. It’s bound to win the next Pulitzer and more importantly, the hearts of many readers like me."
If I were an author, I might put my pen down and quit while I'm ahead after reading Jill's review.
Bobby's reaction, however, is really the one that hit home for me:
"The one conclusion I can gather from those that rated this 5 stars, is that they are either eco freaks or love beetle porn."
Thank you, Bobby. The beetle storyline made me extremely uncomfortable, and still makes me shiver when I think of it. But if 'beetle porn' is what's going to get people to read your novel, I suppose it worked.
In Conclusion ...
North Woods is a book I can admire, but not one I particularly enjoyed. If you are patient with quiet storytelling, this book will probably resonate with you more deeply than it did me. But if you prefer novels with stronger momentum, this one might feel like a challenge. Unless you skip to the 'beetle porn'.
