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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
As sad as it is, this did not hit in all the right ways as the other books by Didion I have read. Except for a couple personal essays, most of these were a very, very in depth analysis of the US, especially areas of Los Angeles and California which were sadly somewhat far-removed from my full understanding. They describe a very different time of a very distant place which I could often not relate to and unfortunately had not enough interest in. Nevertheless, you can still see this ridiculous talent of observation that Didion has and a way of thinking that probably nobody in this world shares. Made me think a lot about the US and why it’s its own entity. A world does not exist beyond the US because people there seem to be fully content with dwelling on their own country which seems so de-compartmentalised that one could spend their whole life trying to understand it. I loved the personal essays the most and the ones in which Didion includes herself in the narrative because that’s when she really seems to shine. Some texts though were so inaccessible I had a hard tome getting through them.
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
"I recall waiting in one of them to watch an astronaut go into space, waiting so long that at the moment it actually happened I had my eyes not on the television screen but on a cockroach on the tile floor."
Just so beautiful and easily read with essays I will return to forever
Just so beautiful and easily read with essays I will return to forever
i know i finished this book but i have no clue what happened in it 😭😭😭 my first didion, i guess i was expecting amazing things and while i do love her narrative voice it wasn’t the most interesting read. also there are so many californian references that i feel like you have to be californian to understand
The clarity of Didion's voice is obviously very impressive. I think as a journalist she is providing an incisive view into the American psyche. Reading it now, these first hand accounts are very preferable to the collective nostalgia that has consumed the period of US and California history this depicts. As a collection, it all hangs together pretty loosely, which is my only real complaint. One of those books that strikes me as more important for what it represents than what it accomplishes. I'm looking forward reading further.
i love the way joan didion writes about california, so detailed and intimate to the point where i miss my home and family there, even when she's describing another town. "the california we are talking about resembles eden" i am so full of love for california.
also "i hurt the people i cared about, insulted those i did not. i cut myself off from the one person who was closer to me than any other. i cried until i was not even aware i was crying and when i was not, cried in elevators and taxis and laundries" is way too applicable to me
also "i hurt the people i cared about, insulted those i did not. i cut myself off from the one person who was closer to me than any other. i cried until i was not even aware i was crying and when i was not, cried in elevators and taxis and laundries" is way too applicable to me
informative
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced