January 26, 2015

“The Laughing Monsters” by Denis Johnson – Insidious Greed

The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson (Book cover)
The hunt for wealth is a topic which has fascinated mankind for as long as the concept of it has been around; untold riches seem like the universal key to a better life, the door on the other side of which all our grievances are nonexistent and all our dreams come true in the blink of an eye.

Of course, even though everyone understands that there are realistic limits to what wealth can achieve, they still go in search of it, both in real life and literature, no matter how perilous the adventure, regardless of how much they must corrupt their own worlds in the process.

In The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson we are told the story of two old friends, Roland Nair and Michael Adriko, who find themselves reunited in Sierra Leone after seven years apart.

The latter had invited the former to come visit him and see his fiancee, but of course, things are never that simple. Soon the three of them find themselves joining forces, undertaking a great quest for wealth, and consequently, power and happiness.

Needless to say though, friend or no friend, the three of them have their own personal motivations, desires and agendas, and as it would seem, none would shy away from making any sacrifice necessary in the name of greed. And so the three embark on a journey into themselves more than anything, venturing deeper and deeper into the dark bowels of their minds.

Probably the first thing that jumps to the eyes when reading this book is just how fast-paced it is, wasting little to no time in establishing the characters, setting, context, and all that comes along with it.

It zooms along at the speed of an F1 car and seldom relents, mainly communicating the story through dialog rather than prose. Of course, that doesn't mean it lacks world-building; Johnson does (from what I understood at least) a rather decent job at depicting certain aspects of African society, and does portray the foreign (to me, and as I'm certain, many other readers) land in an attention-grabbing manner.

Though they certainly do not take the center stage, various aspects of modern life in Africa and the many social grievances consuming people's lives are, in one way or another, weaved into the story.

At the start the characters may not exactly seem all that interesting, and perhaps feel a bit superficial. Do give it some time, for Johnson decided to evolve and develop his characters in a slow and steady manner. He regularly keeps on adding more and more layers of story and complexity to the three protagonists, and little by little we get to see a rather interesting big picture forming in front of our eyes.

As a character study, this book certainly excels as the developmental arcs take the characters through a very believable, moving and thought-provoking path, one that definitely leaves its mark on them.

Now, I feel like I should mention that there is more than one review out there where people seem to be unhappy with the book, claiming the dialog structure to be a bit cumbersome and complicated.

The Laughing Monsters by Denis Johnson (Book cover)
I'll have to admit that it is true; when most of your story is told through that device, it can become hard for the reader to keep track of who is saying what. However, it just takes some practice and getting used to, so not a big deal in the slightest.

And so, if you are yearning for a moving story that will take you deep inside the ugly parts of the human soul, the ones we would like to pretend don't exist, the ones that lie dormant until the moment they can consume us, then I believe you would find The Laughing Monsters to be a very interesting read.



Denis Johnson (Author)

Denis Johnson


Denis Johnson is a German-born American writer known for his short story collection titled Jesus' Son as well as his acclaimed novel Tree of Smoke, which earned him the National Book Award for Fiction.

It also ought to be mentioned that he has a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Writers' Award, and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

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