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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
reflective
sad
medium-paced
What a fucking writer. Didion's command over language and sentence structure is really something. I had heard that all before. But as a political thinker, she's just as interesting. She has complicated impulses โ weary of change, but too clear-eyed to see the past of California as the kitschy hotel art would depict it. Dry, ironic, unsentimental in dispatching bullshit but she's not heartless. She writes lean, winding sentences but she layers so much meaning them through context that I wasn't expecting to be so affected by those last few lines at her mother's death bed.
I saw a blurb on the cover refer to this as a love song to California. I think that's not quite it: it's a break-up song for someone you love but you can't stay with anymore. Where you were from, not where you are from.
I saw a blurb on the cover refer to this as a love song to California. I think that's not quite it: it's a break-up song for someone you love but you can't stay with anymore. Where you were from, not where you are from.
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
"๐๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ข๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐บ: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ซ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ (๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ), ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ช๐จ ๐๐ถ๐ณ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ๐ณ๐ข.., ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ, ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, "๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด: ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด."
I read this years ago when I did not appreciate Didion, when I did not even appreciate California, where I'm from. For the longest time, I did not like where I was from. I went north for school, San Francisco. Then I went south, sometimes, for friends, the frat parties in Santa Barbara and a boy down in San Diego. When I think back, look back, a lot of heart overwhelms me. The golden shimmers of Isla Vista, the sunsets in LA. All of it overwhelms me.
Years after, and even years after for Didion to compile this book, it's tough to piece together what California really is. Didion looks at her own history, the history of California, and half of it is a bit dull, until she gets to how she formed Run River and, finally, about her mother and the death of her mother.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต."
I wish she stayed here, more, in the last few pages of the book because it's then you really get the sense of what California is for her. What she has carried with her, how she has created legacy.
It is no fault by Didion, but California is just an impossible thing to capture. Past its mountains and through its valleys. It's beaches and it's people. God, the people. The food. The single season.
I'm so proud to say I'm from California because it contains multitudes no one will understand unless you've driven down the gnarled streets of Mulholland Drive or spent a 4/20 weekend in Isla Vista or have cried at the top of Land's End, on a clear day, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge imagining the future as a stretched possibility, people coming people going, into your life.
๐ฅฎ๐ฅฎ๐ฅฎ
If you enjoyed this write-up, please consider purchasing my novella here.
Or find other thoughts on books and films here.
I read this years ago when I did not appreciate Didion, when I did not even appreciate California, where I'm from. For the longest time, I did not like where I was from. I went north for school, San Francisco. Then I went south, sometimes, for friends, the frat parties in Santa Barbara and a boy down in San Diego. When I think back, look back, a lot of heart overwhelms me. The golden shimmers of Isla Vista, the sunsets in LA. All of it overwhelms me.
Years after, and even years after for Didion to compile this book, it's tough to piece together what California really is. Didion looks at her own history, the history of California, and half of it is a bit dull, until she gets to how she formed Run River and, finally, about her mother and the death of her mother.
"๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต."
I wish she stayed here, more, in the last few pages of the book because it's then you really get the sense of what California is for her. What she has carried with her, how she has created legacy.
It is no fault by Didion, but California is just an impossible thing to capture. Past its mountains and through its valleys. It's beaches and it's people. God, the people. The food. The single season.
I'm so proud to say I'm from California because it contains multitudes no one will understand unless you've driven down the gnarled streets of Mulholland Drive or spent a 4/20 weekend in Isla Vista or have cried at the top of Land's End, on a clear day, seeing the Golden Gate Bridge imagining the future as a stretched possibility, people coming people going, into your life.
๐ฅฎ๐ฅฎ๐ฅฎ
If you enjoyed this write-up, please consider purchasing my novella here.
Or find other thoughts on books and films here.
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
this maybe wasnโt the best joan didion to start my journey on, but it was lovely nonetheless. a mural of california history from the perspective of her family. made me think about what it means to be from where you are from.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I absolutely adored it, but it feels disingenuous to give it 5. No one write in such a way as Joan Didion, itโs like reading a journal of your older, wiser, far more intelligent, Californian self. Itโs entrancing and achingly beautiful and earnest.
challenging
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
This one took me a while to get into, but it is an interesting and insightful account of Didion's America.
Joan Didion was a phenomenal writer, but Americans just arenโt as interesting as they think they are