“Jesus’ Son” By: Denis Johnson

I must start out by admitting that I am not a fan of this book. I can deal with life problems but I have a hard time reading so many stories about drug problems, death, depression, dread and despair. The tone of this collection is dark and depressingly hopeless. The imagery that Johnson often uses to aid the reader to see the world as he does makes me feel as if color has been taken out of the world. If any of these short stories were made in to a movie (which I know it was) I would expect it to be dreary and all in black, white and grays. I will not write the book off however, I do believe Johnson does a good job at realistically approaching the life of a lost drug addict. So far, my favorite short story in this collection is “Work” because it made me think for a moment that he may see the light and seek help. He described the day he worked with Wayne pulling electrical wiring out of Waynes’ old house. He says it is “one of the best days of my life.” (62) When he describes why later on in the story he says, “But this afternoon, somehow, was the best of all those times. We had money. We were grimy and tired. Usually we felt guilty and frightened.” (65) This describes the feeling that many people have at the end of a work day. You can usually rest better after a hard day of work because even though you are tired you feel that you have accomplished something. Accomplishment is what made the main character feel the way he did. Some of the metaphors he uses are despairingly realistic to how one may feel when all hope is lost. In “Work” he says that the radio is “playing tunes of alcoholic self-pity and sentimental divorce.” (66) In “Emergency” it was said that “The road we were lost on cut straight through the middle of the world.” (79) Is nothing ever good or happy? I found one line in Johnson’s story “Car Crash” that I felt explained the whole of the main character’s life. He said, “Down the hall came the wife… She didn’t know yet that her husband was dead…She shrieked as I would imagine an eagle would shriek. It felt wonderful to be alive to hear it! I’ve gone looking for that feeling everywhere.” (11) Here, I believe the author is giving us some insight in to why drugs are so important to this man. They are the only thing that makes him feel. Even if that feeling is a hallucination or a dream he just wants to feel.

Posted by: Krista Behrends