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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Simply gorgeous writing. There are a few essays in here for which I lacked the necessary context to appreciate, but most are brilliantly done, especially the title essay and “Los Angeles Notebook.”
I can't stop thinking abt how she'll touch on subject and distances herself far away from it because "hey this needs attention" but also writing with alot of empathy like "hey I've seen it myself" is so impressive. In contrast to parts where she pulls the reader in closer, it truly feels like I'm sitting next to her and she's telling me about her thought process, her journals and her travels. Joan Didion is truly just a wonderful author and I UNDERSTAND IT NOW. It's embarrassing to share the same set of words as her yet I choose to talk internet brainrot.
challenging
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I put this in one of my updates, but I will never completely understand this book, and I'm okay with that! Just gives me more of a reason to enjoy this book :)
I heard about Joan Didion, and more specifically Slouching Towards Bethlehem from a musician I admire. As a native Californian who has been to the places that Didion discusses I was obviously intrigued. I also wanted to read more personal essays, and I've never really read something like this before.
A specific quote in the preface stood out to me,
".. had been paralyzed by the conviction that writing was an irrelevant act, that the world as I had understood it no longer existed. If I was to work again at all, it would be necessary for me to come to terms with disorder."
Here is another,
"..there is always a point in sitting a piece when I sit in a room literally papered with false starts and cannot put one word after another and imagine that I have suffered a small stroke, leaving me apparently damaged but aphasic."
The first quote really spoke to me as somebody who prefers to do things with purpose. I must admit (though it is embarrassing), that I didn't write for years because writing felt so meaningless. Although Didion talks about the world as something she no longer understands, I can only sort of het behind this. And that's okay! I don't have to feel Didion's exact emotions to the extent that she does to relate to her work. However, I more personally feel as though I never really had a solid understanding of the world, and through literature I am only now just starting to (sort of) understand people.
I also dealt with the guilt of not being "a good writer". Although words on a page flow easier than words spoken aloud for me, my writing doesn't flow well. Writing is hard. And often I find myself struggling to put my more complex feelings into words, a problem I seem to have more frequently.
Alas, I must admit that Didion has inspired me to begin writing again. It's a satisfying process, when I write I feel like I am pouring out a bit of my overflowing soul and emptying my hellscape of a brain. I wish this kind of writing was more relevant nowadays. I will definitely be reading more Joan Didion, and I more than satisfied to have had the honor of reading this essay collection.
I heard about Joan Didion, and more specifically Slouching Towards Bethlehem from a musician I admire. As a native Californian who has been to the places that Didion discusses I was obviously intrigued. I also wanted to read more personal essays, and I've never really read something like this before.
A specific quote in the preface stood out to me,
".. had been paralyzed by the conviction that writing was an irrelevant act, that the world as I had understood it no longer existed. If I was to work again at all, it would be necessary for me to come to terms with disorder."
Here is another,
"..there is always a point in sitting a piece when I sit in a room literally papered with false starts and cannot put one word after another and imagine that I have suffered a small stroke, leaving me apparently damaged but aphasic."
The first quote really spoke to me as somebody who prefers to do things with purpose. I must admit (though it is embarrassing), that I didn't write for years because writing felt so meaningless. Although Didion talks about the world as something she no longer understands, I can only sort of het behind this. And that's okay! I don't have to feel Didion's exact emotions to the extent that she does to relate to her work. However, I more personally feel as though I never really had a solid understanding of the world, and through literature I am only now just starting to (sort of) understand people.
I also dealt with the guilt of not being "a good writer". Although words on a page flow easier than words spoken aloud for me, my writing doesn't flow well. Writing is hard. And often I find myself struggling to put my more complex feelings into words, a problem I seem to have more frequently.
Alas, I must admit that Didion has inspired me to begin writing again. It's a satisfying process, when I write I feel like I am pouring out a bit of my overflowing soul and emptying my hellscape of a brain. I wish this kind of writing was more relevant nowadays. I will definitely be reading more Joan Didion, and I more than satisfied to have had the honor of reading this essay collection.
informative
reflective
medium-paced