Reviews

Angels, by Denis Johnson

drbird's review against another edition

4.0

This is the kind of book Charles Bukowski wished he could write but never had the sentence-level talent to pull off. At least, that's what I thought when I was about half way through. Then this book takes a sudden turn into insanity. Which is both good and bad. In the final third of the book, Johnson conducts a frantic dismantling of his characters -- Jamie loses her mind; Bill loses his freedom. But it's done in such a way that they are parallel sufferers. In fact, I'd argue the book approaches commenting on the way men and women living on the fringe suffer. And while the conclusion is not cynical, it does seem to linger on the experience of Bill and his brothers moreso than Jamie, despite the fact that Jamie's journey is, in my view, the more compelling one.

Worth reading if you like reading about life on the fringe -- expect drugs, miserable sex, and the easy mistakes of violent crime. Also, Denis Johnson writes some damn fine sentences.

kestetz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

nadia_g's review against another edition

5.0

"But that was just a story, something that people will tell themselves, something to pass the time it takes for the violence inside a man to wear him away, or to be consumed itself, depending on who is the candle and who is the light."

msjoanna's review against another edition

5.0

This book does down-and-out no-good characters like few authors can manage. The prose just pops off the page and sparkles with realism, depression, and loneliness in a way that's both gut-wrenching and impossible to put down. Not for the faint of heart, this book describes the lives of drugged-out characters on the edges of society in gritty detail with no happy endings to be found. Yet, somehow, I still cared about these unlikeable and basically lousy characters. An impressive first novel by this author; I'll definitely look for his other work. Copies of this book are hard to come by, but worth tracking down if you can.

spenser22's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

chiyeunglau's review against another edition

5.0

I never knew I could tear up and sympathize with a murderer, but I did.

Denis Johnson makes us love these imperfect and awful people and I can't help but open my heart to them.

One of my favorite quotes from the novel:

"When he was dry, he believed it was alcohol he needed, but when he had a few drinks in him, he knew it was something else, possibly a woman; and when he had it all -- cash, booze, and a wife -- he couldn't be distracted from the great emptiness that was always falling through him and never hit the ground."

jonathangolding_books's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

cjhorton22's review against another edition

4.0

Without hyperbole, relentless and heartbreaking.

ardentlyadeline's review

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

(for class)

littlesophie's review against another edition

4.0

Not my favourite by Denis Johnson but obviously still a great book. As in most of his oeuvre, the focus is on people on the bottom rung on society, continually going further down, but described with bleak humour and heartbreakingly beautiful prose. He's the master of finding the grandeur of human spirit in squalor and despair, moving and repulsive in the same breath.