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lil_owl_reads's review
4.0
Graphic: Death and Medical content
perhaps_anne's review
3.75
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Grief
thequeenofsheba3's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Death and Medical content
Moderate: Medical trauma and Death of parent
isaarusilor's review
4.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Death of parent, and Grief
pizzapie68's review
Graphic: Medical content, Death, and Medical trauma
dudette's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Death, and Chronic illness
Minor: Murder and Suicide
arsenic_'s review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Death, and Child death
rzh's review
3.75
This was a really interesting read and very different to anything I've read before. This, coupled with the fact it is a personal memoir, makes it very difficult to review. I've not read anything long-form by Didion before and I found I really like her style. I am very drawn to books that deal with memory in a tangible sense of objects/paraphernalia and this certainly does that. I was perhaps a bit confused by the seemingly endless scope for detail in some areas and vagueness in others: though obviously I know this is a book about her husband John's death, the first half or so of the book seems to deal a lot with Didion's daughter Quintana's ongoing illness and then seems to completely forget about it by the second half of the book. The occasional forays into medical jargon and lengthy quotes from journals and studies were perhaps a bit alienating: they didn't lend themselves to the personal reflective style throughout the rest of the book, and yet weren't extensive enough to transform the book into investigative journalism. I do appreciate however that this paints a picture of her obsessive, manic searching for answers after her husband's death. The meditative layering of time, of phrases, of memories of years spent with her husband reminded me of a quote from Anne Carson in her poem "The Glass Essay":
Overall I enjoyed reading this. Didion has a beautifully evocative and tender way of painting relationships and memories, though I felt the book began to meander by the end and then simply tailed off (though I suppose grief doesn't really have an "end" as we would like it to). 3.75 stars
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Medical content, and Terminal illness
georgiepie's review against another edition
There is a somewhat clinical feel about this memoir, but it is no accident. Didion goes out of her way to cite research on the effects of grief, and in turn, she analyses it. You can feel her standing back from it, trying desperately to understand it. And as she herself tries to get a sense of understanding, we ultimately do as well.
If you’ve ever grieved the loss of anyone, perhaps you may appreciate that grief does not follow some straight line, where you’re devastated and then day by day you’re less devastated, until one day you’re fine. As The Year of Magical Thinking makes clear, grief is sporadic and unpredictable. It ebbs and flows. There’s nothing logical about it, and trying to impose logic isn't going to help you at all.
And so, Didion takes a cab home from the hospital after the death of her husband John, and her first thought is that she really needs to discuss the situation with John. Heartbreaking.
Graphic: Medical content, Death, and Grief
orireading's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Death, and Medical trauma