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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Very good first two sections with a slow/less compelling final section.
Love Joan Didion, don't love my inability to skip essays I don't like.
Oh how I love Didion. The writing in this was stunning, I especially enjoyed the ‘personals’ section. I wasn’t too keen on ‘seven places of the mind’ but the final essay was wonderful. Cannot wait to read ‘the white album’
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Slouching Towards Bethlehem feels like someone desperately holding onto the past.
The title essay is pretty good but the yarn that sticks out the most to me is Notes From a Native Daughter. Not a big fan of the title for obvious reasons, but her desperation to hold onto the Californian way of living is palpable. The hardest part is knowing how that life no longer exists, which I feel is the overarching motif. It’s really just a long eulogy for the old Sacramento way of life.
Overall, it’s a great collection of essays. I know Joan Didion would argue her use of gonzo journalism lends more insight into her subject, but I fear it doesn’t work anymore. I’m so far removed from the context that I really only get a glimpse of who Joan is—which is really, what I want, even if she doesn’t.
The title essay is pretty good but the yarn that sticks out the most to me is Notes From a Native Daughter. Not a big fan of the title for obvious reasons, but her desperation to hold onto the Californian way of living is palpable. The hardest part is knowing how that life no longer exists, which I feel is the overarching motif. It’s really just a long eulogy for the old Sacramento way of life.
Overall, it’s a great collection of essays. I know Joan Didion would argue her use of gonzo journalism lends more insight into her subject, but I fear it doesn’t work anymore. I’m so far removed from the context that I really only get a glimpse of who Joan is—which is really, what I want, even if she doesn’t.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
Didion's prose strikes with a disinterested honesty that makes much of her storytelling heartbreaking without being cruel. Like other talented non-fiction writers I admire, she tells you the truth by writing around it. I particularly liked the essays that focused on her own experiences (parts 2 and 3 of the collection).
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced