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A review by nerdyher
Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir by Joyce Johnson
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Honestly, I find it hard to invest myself in the stories about and artwork of these tortured souls— their lives and ideologies and choices differ greatly from mine in a way where I pity them and love them as fellow human beings, but I am put off by what they find electrifying and worth chasing, by the acts that make them pillars of the ultimate beatnik individual.
But when I take a step away from myself, I feel Joyce Johnson’s words wrap around me. Suddenly I’m a minor character. Suddenly I’m in love with Jack Kerouac. Suddenly the ending comes and I’m telling myself not to cry.
A good book is well written and makes you feel things. Even if you are reluctant to read it and it bores you in the first half. Even if it leaves you feeling empty but filled, strangely centered but scattered at the end. This is far from a favorite of mine, but Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson is a good book, and definitely worth a read for a glimpse into another life and era.
But when I take a step away from myself, I feel Joyce Johnson’s words wrap around me. Suddenly I’m a minor character. Suddenly I’m in love with Jack Kerouac. Suddenly the ending comes and I’m telling myself not to cry.
A good book is well written and makes you feel things. Even if you are reluctant to read it and it bores you in the first half. Even if it leaves you feeling empty but filled, strangely centered but scattered at the end. This is far from a favorite of mine, but Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson is a good book, and definitely worth a read for a glimpse into another life and era.