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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Rating reflects the variation in quality/enjoyment of essays. Some I did not care for and found her tone harsh on the 'woke youth of today' but others were poignant and beautiful. Regardless of tone, I cannot deny that Ms. Joan Didion is a fantastic writer with a unique style that is particularly enjoyable (to me) and evocative. I will seek out more of her work in the future, for sure.
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
I just love the way Joan words things. Her vocabulary is immaculate and she encapsulates certain visions of California in the 60’s so well. Such a fun, interesting, and quick read
Joan Didion's first nonfiction book, published 2 years before I was born, is tale after tale of her life in the 1960's in California. I've always felt like I was born too late for my hippy soul and I loved each and every story.
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the review copy!
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the review copy!
It’s rare I read a book where every single word feels as important as this. It’s similarly rare for me to read a collection of anything because I often find that, though I may enjoy most of the pieces, some of them I hate so viscerally that I struggle to remember it is the same author. However, this did not happen with Joan Didion. I didn’t love all of the essays but there wasn’t one that I disliked and that’s why this merits a 5 star rating.
Some of my favourite essays:
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, On Keeping a Notebook, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, On Self-Respect, Rock of Ages, The Seacoast of Despair, Los Angeles Notebook, and Goodbye to All That.
Some quotes I liked:
“Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearranges of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss”.
“To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice or carelessness”.
“To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent”.
“You see I want to be quite obstinate about insisting that we have no way of knowing - beyond that fundamental loyalty to the social code - what is “right” and what is “wrong,” what is “good” and what “evil”.
Some of my favourite essays:
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, On Keeping a Notebook, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream, On Self-Respect, Rock of Ages, The Seacoast of Despair, Los Angeles Notebook, and Goodbye to All That.
Some quotes I liked:
“Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearranges of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss”.
“To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice or carelessness”.
“To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent”.
“You see I want to be quite obstinate about insisting that we have no way of knowing - beyond that fundamental loyalty to the social code - what is “right” and what is “wrong,” what is “good” and what “evil”.
funny
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
informative
fast-paced
I promised myself to read "On Self Respect" at least once a year, but I'm scared to.
loved the essays about san francisco, the santa ana winds, and leaving new york. a couple of the essays didn't quite bring me in but overall great. love her prose so much
didion is so perceptive and honest. I cant help but love her.