I read it finally. I inhaled it, devoured it, gobbled it up... I’ve almost spent more time writing and rewriting this review than reading the book, so here it is before I pop a vessel!It hurts, guys. From different angles. It is indescribably sad, yet it’s all about happiness. Unexpected, larger than life, bursting out of the page happiness. Tainted by lies, guilt and fears, too. Fleeting and ever-changing.Junction X is a piece of ambivalent humanity with its ability to love, fear and hurt, its fragility, its cowardice, its moments of trembling, worshipping sensuality and sordid little arrangements. It is uncomfortably honest and uncompromising in portraying a man awakening for the first time to love, sexuality, himself, in awe of the gift that he’s been given yet overwhelmed by it, unprepared for it.It is a very brave, very well written piece of work, swallowing lovers, families and friends in a downward spiral, picturing a time, a place and a way of life that is as much to blame as flawed people and it could be anytime, anywhere, anyone, really.What’s left when the tears are dried and the snot is wiped? Quiet grumbles (nothing’s perfect, right?!), resentment and compassion, questions and thoughts, no regret and two quotes :”How much do we know about other people?””Elation is a bubble that lasts for tiny tiny moments but leaves something of its memory in scents and sounds, so that later, when you need the boost, you can close your eyes and remember.”
