3.5

This was an odd little book. Everything else I have read by Denis Johnson I have loved. This one, not so much. I saw flashes of the genius with whom I have a huge man-crush. Then again, even with a book as spare as this, I found myself skimming whole passages.

The ending of this book was malicious it hurt me so much I think about it genuinely everyday

This is my first Denis Johnson novel, coming to it after seeing the Claire Denis film adaptation of the same name. It's certainly better than the film, which lacked the conviction to follow through on the logical ending of the novel, which is more of a downer than anything else. I found the prose styling engaging and, as other commenters have pointed out, like a Graham Greene story told with great temporal detachment, as if someone were remembering the plot beats through a thick fog. It's a romance that doesn't include grand proclamations of love. It's a political thriller without any scenes of gruesome violence. At its core, it's an apathetic commentary about aimless individuals navigating a world where the nature of conflict both influences and is immune to their actions, for better and worse. Underrated, certainly based on its rating here.

I've read two of Denis Johnson's books now and for me they both carry the association of a fever dream. They're weird and wonderful and repellent and occasionally hard to follow but are invariably interesting. I've also tried to start 'Tree of Smoke' a couple times but it starts with a scene I find so disturbing that I haven't been able to keep going. This book is about a an American woman in Nicaragua in 1984. It's a little unclear what she's up to down there aside from drinking prodigiously and occasionally sleeping with men for money and generally getting herself into trouble with anyone and everyone. The government is trying to revoke her press credentials because they claim she isn't a reporter, which is probably true. She hooks up with an English businessman who it turns out is in even bigger trouble and things start to spiral even more out of control.

The story is interesting, but the writing is really what kept me most interested. Some authors have a style that I find very compelling. Interesting bonus: many of the lyrics from an especially excellent Sonic Youth song are taken directly from some of the dialog.

The Stars at Noon follows a woman who may or may not have worked as a journalist in Nicaragua. By 1984, when the story takes place, she has resorted to prostition in an attempt to raise enough American money to escape the country during its revolution. Denis Johnson's second novel leads you through a hot and smelly world of genuine corruption, paranoia and lurid desire. Johnson's prose and imagery are strikingly beautiful as they portray scenes of horror and inner decay that eventually mine through those depths to a kind of reprieve. I don't know that Johnson would have recognized his character's derrangements. His writing is free of judgement; the prose, a full embrace of these living creatures.

If this book was longer & not for a book club I would've abandoned it. I'm not the right audience for it. It lacked characterization & had lots of vivid description but not world building. I don't understand the plot or what this was even supposed to be about. I didn't understand this book at all.

Certain writers can capture a sense of place so vividly that location becomes a primary character. Such is the case with Denis Johnson's novel The Stars At Noon. Set in Nicaragua during a bloody time of political and ideological conflict between the Contras and Sandanistas, the oppressive environment that drains hope and vitality out of the characters is as palpable as any character in the tale. Essentially it is a doomed love story narrated by an American prostitute who stumbles into a relationship with a British business man who has made a critical error of conscience. In language memorable and oft times poetic, Johnson's beautiful use of metaphor and magical turn of phrase transform a relatively bland plot into something that stays with the reader well beyond the immediate reading. Character back story matters little in this tale and Johnson supplies it only cryptically to his characters. What matters is the hellish immediate in which they find themselves as they try to cope with the surreal horror of the moment and devilish place they are trapped. Not since Paul Theroux's Mosquito Coast have I read a novel which places foreigners in so doomed a Central American locale.

(no 37 of 2021)

I feel like if I paid more attention to this book I would’ve really enjoyed it. I liked the way it was written—how it threw u directly into the main characters head w absolutely ZERO context… but also I feel like I didn’t really know what was going on most of the time. But maybe that’s the point?? It was enjoyable to read (albeit confusing

"I couldn't tell if he was sweating or spilling tears down his cheeks. Pretty soon we were laughing together. There's nothing like hysteria, and thunder in the clouds, to convince you nothing matters."

Unbelievable book. Really loved it when I read it in college, and its stayed with me a lot since. I've wanted to reread it a handful of times since but it finally took the new film version to come out to finally do it. So much power in 180 pages. Johnson always writes so well about spiritually-desperate burnouts seconds away from hitting rock bottom, but when he inserts that dynamic into a nightmare-le Carré set-up, like he would later in Tree of Smoke, another massive favorite, its really like nothing else and cements itself in your head forever!

2.5*
Ένα μέτριο βιβλίο ενός σπουδαίου συγγραφέα.
Μετά τα καταπληκτικά "Train dreams", "Jesus' son" και ¨Η γενναιοδωρία της γοργόνας¨ η ανάγνωση του "Τα Αστέρια του απομεσήμερου" άφησε μόνο την πεποίθηση ότι ο Τζόνσον έγραφε καλά ακόμα και όταν έγραφε άσχημα, όπως εδώ.
Μία ημιτελής και διάφανη ιστορία στη Νικαράγουα των Σαντινίστας, μία ανύπαρκτη, σχεδόν, πλοκή και μία αίσθηση ότι αυτός που γράφει βρίσκεται σε ένα high που τον εμποδίζει να δει και να γράψει τα πράγματα κάπως καθαρά. Όποιος έχει δει το "Salvador" ή το "Under fire" καταλαβαίνει περί τίνος πρόκειται. Η Νικαράγουα των Σαντινίστας αποτυπώνεται γλαφυρά και πειστικά, αλλά οι δύο κεντρικοί χαρακτήρες και οι ενοχές που υποτίθεται κουβαλάνε όχι. Ο Τζόνσον δεν είναι Γκράχαμ Γκρην και δεν μπορεί να αποτυπώσει τόσο καλά την επίδραση των Τροπικών στην ψυχή των ηρώων του.
Αυτό δεν αλλάζει σε τίποτα το τι κατάφερε ο Τζόνσον με τα τρία βιβλία που αναφέρω στην αρχή.