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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
this essay collection made me feel so wonderfully empty
i have a mass market so it’s what i read on my commute back to swimming
The Didion voice is an acquired taste, saying otherwise is a bit pretentious. Her clinical tone when discussing some subjects can make them fascinating, in other's it can feel a bit frustrating. I enjoyed most of these essays, but one made me question Didion's ethics.
My book group decided on this book in the wak of Didion's death last December, and without that, I likely would not have picked it up. Turned out to be a good thing, as I loved all of this. I started reading it on Kindle downloaded from the library, and three pages in I quit and ordered a copy. It's been a good while since I felt compelled to engage with a book by writing notes in the margins and looking up all the vocabulary and cultural references I didn't recognize, but I did here. Didion's writing is exceptional. Others have praised her for her sentences, and they are truly amazing. It is the sentences which first engaged me, but the content is also thought-provoking. I can also see through-lines in her content, which makes the collection of essays, previously published elsewhere, hang together as a whole. Really enjoyed this book.
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Didion is such a masterful writer, and this essay collection was excellent! On the whole, I definitely preferred the first section, “Life Styles in the Golden Land,” and in general I think I tended to like her longer pieces more, but no matter the length she is an engaging and intelligent writer. The eponymous essay was especially awesome.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced