JESUS’ SON – STORIES: Children of loneness

In Denis Johnson’s stunning collection of short stories “Jesus’ Son”, there is an image that stays with you most of the time. This is the picture of loneness and desolation. In one of the best tales, called “Emergency”, the main character whose name goes by FH and a friend drive through the country. They eventually find a drive-in. But the weather is awful and there is no one in there – even though there is a movie being played. Johnson’s description of this place is the combination of beauty and sadness.

Since the writer has a natural ability to construct both metaphors and harrowing images the scene is depressive and, at the same time, powerful, uplifting. “Famous movie stars rode bicycles beside a river, laughing out their gigantic, lovely mouths. If anybody had come to see this show, they’d left when the weather started. Not one car remained, not even a broken-down on from last week, or one left here because it was out if gas. In a couple of minutes, in the middle of a whirling square dance, the screen turned black, the cinematic summer ended, the snow went dark, there was nothing but my breath’.

But before this, while FH was riding around this deserted part of the world, he though he saw angels – had a vision. This was just Johnson’s build up for something stronger, a primal screen for the ending of loneness. The narrator is never still, he is always in motion, and no matter where he goes, he is always surrounded by depressed and depressive souls.

The collection title comes from a Lou Reed’s song called “Heroin”. Addiction is part of the narrator’s life – an important part, it brings people close and tear them apart. While trying to recover – without putting much thought on it – readers have a glimpse of a possibility of a better life, of something less sad and depressive. It is a drop of hope in a nightmare ocean of sadness.