On "Dundun"

It is Dundun's twenty first birthday and he just shot his good friend in the arm, Mclennes. The narrator of the story is an opium adict and came to Dunduns to celebrate his birthday but instead he got hiself involved in a crime scene. The story continues with the narrator driving Mclennes and Dundun to the hospital. Along the way, Mclennes dies. Dundun convinces the narrator to throw Mclennes out of the car and leave him on the side of the road. The story ends with the narrator describing Dundun's crimes and how he unfortunatley has to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Just like all of Denis Johnson's stories, I was shocked to read this. This is a depressing, eerie and outrageous story that kept me guessing the whole time. Johnson is always writing poetically and descriptivly while still telling a sinister story about a drug addict. I really enjoyed the way dialogue that was expressed through the story. An example of his realistically disturbing dialogue is shown on page thirty-nine where Dundun is asking Mclennes if he is ok.
"Dundunsaid, "It's not bad. the cap didn't explode right, I think.'
'It misfired a little bit, yeah.'
Hotel asked me, 'Would you take him to the hospital in your car?'
'okay,' I said.
'Have you got any of that opium left?' I asked him."

This quote sums up the story pretty well. It is a very realistic dialogue between two drug addicts and a man who was shot. Denis Johnson uses charecters and scenerios such as these to demonstrate his unique style of writing,