...
Show More
“Morning’s an oven; noon is a star; dusk is a furnace; but the middle of the night, at its worst, is only a hot bath…”
This slim novel, set in 1984 Nicaragua, is my first by Denis Johnson. I’m not sure why I started with this probably lesser-known work, except that I liked the title and the setting. The oppressive heat of war-torn Nicaragua is perfect for a tale like this one. It adds significantly to the stifling and dangerous atmosphere of feeling trapped in a country that is ruled by a revolutionary government with constant threats from counter-revolutionary forces. Add United States involvement to the mix, and you have a boiling hotbed of covert activity.
“I don’t know at what point, maybe it’s as you pass the second or third miserable sugar refinery looking just like a prison, that you realize you’ve been ejected from Paradise. And whatever these stunned, drenched people did to get themselves banished here is an absolute mystery. Like your own mortal error…”
The narrator is about as unreliable as they come, which adds to the mystery of the whole thing. She’s an American, carries a press card, and claims to work for a magazine. She also ‘admits’ to working for a peace organization. But right from the start we see that she exchanges sex for money, so it would be safe perhaps to add ‘prostitute’ to her resume as well. It’s unclear if this is her true ‘vocation’ but rather a survival tactic in order to raise enough cash to get herself out of this Hell. One thing is for certain however – she’s one clever and resourceful heroine. When she falls for one of her clients, an English businessman with a questionable resume of his own, the book takes off into high gear. I didn’t expect a survival sort of story, but that’s what this is at its best. It is fast-paced and a bit perplexing (which I’m guessing is intentional – this is a militant corner of the world with a number of dubious characters, after all.) Oh, and I’ve hinted at the romance of course. This is a messy, convoluted kind of love story. No need to duck and cover from cloying sentimentalism here.
“In his own way he’s a beautiful human, perhaps he’s a hallucination, he’s no easier to credit, in this obscene heat and dust, than a frail white snowflake. We’re trying to outrun the Devil and everybody else…”
How does one take a dark and murky plot set in a land of decay and turmoil and turn it into something poetic? Something reeking of desperation and depravity and transform it with beautiful language? I’m saving the extra star for one that I anticipate will inspire me even more. The voice of the narrator was just a tad bit detached for my liking, but that’s really just a feeble whine at this point. I’m a fan!
“We can’t remember our sins here. We don’t know who we used to be.”
This slim novel, set in 1984 Nicaragua, is my first by Denis Johnson. I’m not sure why I started with this probably lesser-known work, except that I liked the title and the setting. The oppressive heat of war-torn Nicaragua is perfect for a tale like this one. It adds significantly to the stifling and dangerous atmosphere of feeling trapped in a country that is ruled by a revolutionary government with constant threats from counter-revolutionary forces. Add United States involvement to the mix, and you have a boiling hotbed of covert activity.
“I don’t know at what point, maybe it’s as you pass the second or third miserable sugar refinery looking just like a prison, that you realize you’ve been ejected from Paradise. And whatever these stunned, drenched people did to get themselves banished here is an absolute mystery. Like your own mortal error…”
The narrator is about as unreliable as they come, which adds to the mystery of the whole thing. She’s an American, carries a press card, and claims to work for a magazine. She also ‘admits’ to working for a peace organization. But right from the start we see that she exchanges sex for money, so it would be safe perhaps to add ‘prostitute’ to her resume as well. It’s unclear if this is her true ‘vocation’ but rather a survival tactic in order to raise enough cash to get herself out of this Hell. One thing is for certain however – she’s one clever and resourceful heroine. When she falls for one of her clients, an English businessman with a questionable resume of his own, the book takes off into high gear. I didn’t expect a survival sort of story, but that’s what this is at its best. It is fast-paced and a bit perplexing (which I’m guessing is intentional – this is a militant corner of the world with a number of dubious characters, after all.) Oh, and I’ve hinted at the romance of course. This is a messy, convoluted kind of love story. No need to duck and cover from cloying sentimentalism here.
“In his own way he’s a beautiful human, perhaps he’s a hallucination, he’s no easier to credit, in this obscene heat and dust, than a frail white snowflake. We’re trying to outrun the Devil and everybody else…”
How does one take a dark and murky plot set in a land of decay and turmoil and turn it into something poetic? Something reeking of desperation and depravity and transform it with beautiful language? I’m saving the extra star for one that I anticipate will inspire me even more. The voice of the narrator was just a tad bit detached for my liking, but that’s really just a feeble whine at this point. I’m a fan!
“We can’t remember our sins here. We don’t know who we used to be.”
