Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
There’s something this novel does in the first 20 pages or so that I found so totally astounding and impressive and well done that I paused to reflect on what I’ve read this year and why much of it has been three stars fine, when I could be following my 1001 Books book and trendy London literary trends into excellency all the time. I’m going to put what the manoeuvre is under a spoiler bit, so that readers can just let it happen to them, but I’d like to note it here for my own reflection anyway: So the first chapter seems like a typical novel — stylised and asynchronous, sure, but we’re in the characters’ world. And then Didion introduces herself as the narrator and I’m like oh. Ohhhh. We’re going to hear this fictional story, somehow told through the gaps in Didion’s discussion of her creative process. This is such an unlikely approach, but the prose is so crisp and reflective, and it’s really an astounding bit of work. And THEN Didion mentions how she met the first of the characters, and suddenly they’re pulled into the real world, or her into the fiction, and it’s really very startling, but quite something. Quite something, in a book which is about known people, famous people, people who the press features. People who are people but also stories.
The rest of the book is okay. Possibly I’d have liked it more if the beginning hadn’t blown me away quite so much, but also if I had more of a sense of US elites and their politics between 1950 and 1975. It’s all fragment and whilst there is a whole, it’s never much bigger than the sense you get of it from the very beginning — there’s a murder and a missing girl and a presidential campaign, but not much action, and even less in the way of reveals. Which is fine, and more than that, it’s pointed and purposeful, but it left me distanced and a little unsure.
The rest of the book is okay. Possibly I’d have liked it more if the beginning hadn’t blown me away quite so much, but also if I had more of a sense of US elites and their politics between 1950 and 1975. It’s all fragment and whilst there is a whole, it’s never much bigger than the sense you get of it from the very beginning — there’s a murder and a missing girl and a presidential campaign, but not much action, and even less in the way of reveals. Which is fine, and more than that, it’s pointed and purposeful, but it left me distanced and a little unsure.
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My second Didion. Having read this book and A Book of Common Prayer almost back to back , the similarities can easily be pointed out. When choosing between the two A Book of Common Prayer is better, I think that the character depth in that one was better and though this one was easier to understand, ABoCP had the better narrator which made it more lovable - because both narrators added to the confusion but only one added to the story in a more meaningful way.
Strange, quick little novel. Didion refuses to let go of her usual authorial persona, even as she writes fiction. Jumps around in time nicely, lending it a fragmented feel. The CIA stuff made me jones for Ellroy’s Underworld USA trilogy, which tackles directly much of the dirty business Didion skirts around here.
- i think this went over my head i couldn't keep track of what was going on for the first half
- writes really sharp & pretty sorta like eve babitz
- didion wrote herself into the narrative? like included her writing process as if it was non-fiction & she knew the characters which was really cool
Confusing at first but beautifully written, Didion sasses the shit out of you.
At first I wasn't super loving this because I found the narrative a bit confusing, but I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would.