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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
obviously five stars. i dont feel adequately equipped to speak about how much i love her and her writing (i fear i'd do her a disservice) but i will say that i think i have read this book at the exact time in my life in which i needed to, and i hope to move through the world as unflinchingly as she did
reflective
medium-paced
This book is 5 stars for me because I've managed to read it at the exact right moment in my life. A year ago, or a year from now, I don't know what I'd rate it, but now is all there is.
Misinformation about rattlesnakes is a leitmotiv of the insomniac imagination in Los Angeles. (P. 221)
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Racism
reflective
“...I think we are well-advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were.”
When most people pick up this book today, I doubt they think of terms like “New Journalism” and “The Counter Culture.” They instead might see a bunch of boring opinion pieces on a time period that doesn’t interest them, and yet, the 60s counter culture movement has informed much of the late 20th and early 21st century. We are a drug fueled nation. We are the promise fulfilled of that time period that chose to “turn on, tune in, [and] drop out.”
Joan Didion did not think fondly on the protest movement. She championed tradition and individualism. She was very pessimistic about the world she was witnessing. She was a conservative… and though her stance changed in the 80s, it was more that she didn’t like what the republicans were turning into. (And honestly, I’m not surprised. She prayed at the church of John Wayne ((I really hated that essay about him in here)))
I enjoyed many of the pieces. The first essay, “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream,” is really good. “On Going Home” is a great essay about how you really can’t go home, and “Rock of Ages” about Alcatraz.
This is a good collection, but I guess I just like Babitz’s writing better.
When most people pick up this book today, I doubt they think of terms like “New Journalism” and “The Counter Culture.” They instead might see a bunch of boring opinion pieces on a time period that doesn’t interest them, and yet, the 60s counter culture movement has informed much of the late 20th and early 21st century. We are a drug fueled nation. We are the promise fulfilled of that time period that chose to “turn on, tune in, [and] drop out.”
Joan Didion did not think fondly on the protest movement. She championed tradition and individualism. She was very pessimistic about the world she was witnessing. She was a conservative… and though her stance changed in the 80s, it was more that she didn’t like what the republicans were turning into. (And honestly, I’m not surprised. She prayed at the church of John Wayne ((I really hated that essay about him in here)))
I enjoyed many of the pieces. The first essay, “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream,” is really good. “On Going Home” is a great essay about how you really can’t go home, and “Rock of Ages” about Alcatraz.
This is a good collection, but I guess I just like Babitz’s writing better.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Obsessed. The richness of the place, the people, and the history.
reflective
medium-paced
reflective
slow-paced
los angeles notebook and goodbye to all that 10/10
inspiring
reflective
Far and away the best writing I've read this year. A lot of standout essays I wish to reread out of enjoyment and some I wish to reread to get a better grasp. It was quite a surprise to see my alma mater referenced in the first few pages of the book.
Im sure this book is for someone, but that person isnt me. Joan is judgy as fuck and i never know who she is talking about. These essays are beautifully written and i’m sure made more sense at the time
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Ulubione: Którzy śnią złoty sen; Dryfując do Betlejem; List z raju; Wszystkiemu do widzenia.