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Jesus' Son Stories Denis Johnson 9780060975777 Books

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Jesus' Son Stories Denis Johnson 9780060975777 Books

Brilliant, jarring writing. Disturbing and unpleasant to experience this novel/ series of short connected stories was hard toe joy but masterfully done. Being in the head of an addict for a few hours was hard. It was SO real and of course, that reality elicits disgust mixed with horror and then sometimes pity. This work is a masterclass is capturing a human experience. Content and language is not for squeamish readers probably.


Tags : Jesus' Son: Stories [Denis Johnson] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An intense collection of interconnected stories that portray life through the eyes of a young man in a small Iowa town,Denis Johnson,Jesus' Son: Stories,Harper Perennial,0060975776,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,Fiction Literary,Literary,Modern fiction,Short Stories (single author),Short stories

Jesus' Son Stories Denis Johnson 9780060975777 Books Reviews

Some of the stories (linked stories) in this book are very, very good. Others seem lackluster. I read this book (160 pp) in the space of 3-4 hours one afternoon. I'm wondering, however, whether the book may have been more enjoyable had I read it over a longer period of time. The book's overall theme is very gritty.. and I think I can only tolerate so much grit and depravity in one sitting. I've actually found this to be true of other short stories -- Flannery O'Connor's writings especially -- where the linked stories become increasingly burdensome to read because of the grittiness of the theme and/or the depravity of the characters. Indeed, Johnson's book reminds me somewhat of O'Connor's short stories -- just a different place & time and different life challenges for the characters.
OK, I admit I sometimes "don't get it." This must be one of those books.

I am a great fan of "alternative" literature and still revere Allen Ginsberg as one of the poetry greats, but I've tried to read "On The Road' five or six times during my life and cannot finish it because it always puts me to sleep. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this work of Kerouac continues to elude me.

I read the raves about this work on many websites but it just didn't speak to me. Obviously, I'm in the minority with my opinion and I don't pretend to be an expert on literary matters, but as much as I wanted it to work for me, this book mostly put me to sleep.
Though written in prose, these stories remind me very much of poetry -- abstract conveyances, using a minimum number of words. This takes great skill. I understand that the considerable number of negative reviewers probably don't appreciate that -- because Johnson's writing also reminds me of minimalist abstract art; for example, Kazimir Malevich's famous "Black Square", which garners many sneering responses "I could have done that!" (The appropriate response to such people, of course, is, "But you didn't!") In short, Johnson has both a rare talent that many of us envy, and a rare courage to use it in writing this sort of (obviously autobiographical) subject matter. Word is that he is now clean and sober, and thus no longer scraping the rock-bottom as he was in these stories; good for him. So there is hope, thank goodness, for the many others who are in similar, seemingly hopeless straits.
This book is a series of short stories, which share a protagonist and form a larger picture of his life. Some equate it to a novel, but it does not have the over-arching narrative structure of one. Not all of the short stories are equal. Some are shorter, some longer, and some more able to stand on their own. As an overall story, it shows a drugged out man eventually looking for redemption. The book is too realistic about his life, too honest, to end with his happiness, but he is finally at least on that path.

The writing is poetic at times, gusting out in sentences too beautiful for the reality they describe. The language shows the world the unnamed main character experiences through the filter of his drug-altered state, instead of describing the affects of the various drugs themselves. The focus is not on the alteration but the reality, or seeming reality, of the alternatives the substances cause him to create. It may not be real, but this garbled, sideways perception is true to the main character. He describes it as he knew it, and he does not attempt to explain or excuse the impossible or the horrible. He shows himself honestly, in his lowest moments and his highest (pun intended). He never blames the drugs for his actions, or acknowledges their part. He is seen drinking, but he never says the drink had made such and such appear like so. After all, he is the one who took the drink, the drugs. This honesty with what the main character experienced allows the reader to go more deeply into the story, to embody the events without the distracting constant reminders of how warped they are.

This book is not a novel. It shows drug-filtered perception without emphasizing the drug part, a unique spin. The writing is great, but in the end it only hints of the possibility of growing to something larger. I rate this book 6/10.
Brilliant, jarring writing. Disturbing and unpleasant to experience this novel/ series of short connected stories was hard toe joy but masterfully done. Being in the head of an addict for a few hours was hard. It was SO real and of course, that reality elicits disgust mixed with horror and then sometimes pity. This work is a masterclass is capturing a human experience. Content and language is not for squeamish readers probably.