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reflective
slow-paced
I really did not enjoy this. Reading this in 2025 I felt like it could not hold a candle to other memoirs that handle the same topics.
This felt like a celebrity memoir more than a memoir about grief. Grief is the driving force of the book, obviously, and I liked what Didion had to say when she did approach the topic. I found her depiction of "magical thinking" to be relatable and realistic. The way she describes memories that were given deeper meaning and resonance only with the added heartache of grief was poignant and beautiful.
I loved how Didion talked about her rituals, and her intellectualization of every moment. She has a very cerebral, academic approach which I found to be a form of grief that doesn't get depicted often. I also appreciated that the book doesn't provide an easy answer, and ends at almost exactly a year after her husband's death, and she still struggles and has yet to completely reach acceptance. She also doesn't position her way of grieving as "the right way", just states her experience clearly and lets the reader take what resonates.
Unfortunately, the book is bogged down by over-reliance on name-dropping, talking about trips to Milan and Paris, celebrity parties, and high-ranking professional positions. This would be fine if the memories were paired with emotive reflection that tied to Didion's depiction of grief, but instead they read like vignettes of privilege that pulled away from the core of the message. Rather than deepening her depiction of grief, their insertion created a distance that was oddly less emotionally resonant than Didion's overtly academic, almost clinical tone. They added nothing to the book and actually undid the work Didion did to explore grief by making it completely unrelatable to the average person.
It gave the book a feeling of listening to your wealthy acquaintance complain about minor inconveniences, which is horrible since she really did experience some life-altering grief in both her husband's death and her daughter's medical struggles. The reader is unable to fully connect with Didion as a down-to-earth human rather than Didion as "the literary legend".
I can acknowledge its place in the memoir world, especially given how long ago it was released, when memoirs were not as mainstream as they are today. This was written during the "memoir boom" and both Joan and John were very relevant figures at the time.
However, by 2025, the genre of memoir has gone through significant evolution and many works have expanded its creativity and pushed the boundaries of what makes a "good" memoir, especially when approaching topics of grief and loss, and I fear The Year of Magical Thinking got a bit left behind.
This felt like a celebrity memoir more than a memoir about grief. Grief is the driving force of the book, obviously, and I liked what Didion had to say when she did approach the topic. I found her depiction of "magical thinking" to be relatable and realistic. The way she describes memories that were given deeper meaning and resonance only with the added heartache of grief was poignant and beautiful.
I loved how Didion talked about her rituals, and her intellectualization of every moment. She has a very cerebral, academic approach which I found to be a form of grief that doesn't get depicted often. I also appreciated that the book doesn't provide an easy answer, and ends at almost exactly a year after her husband's death, and she still struggles and has yet to completely reach acceptance. She also doesn't position her way of grieving as "the right way", just states her experience clearly and lets the reader take what resonates.
Unfortunately, the book is bogged down by over-reliance on name-dropping, talking about trips to Milan and Paris, celebrity parties, and high-ranking professional positions. This would be fine if the memories were paired with emotive reflection that tied to Didion's depiction of grief, but instead they read like vignettes of privilege that pulled away from the core of the message. Rather than deepening her depiction of grief, their insertion created a distance that was oddly less emotionally resonant than Didion's overtly academic, almost clinical tone. They added nothing to the book and actually undid the work Didion did to explore grief by making it completely unrelatable to the average person.
It gave the book a feeling of listening to your wealthy acquaintance complain about minor inconveniences, which is horrible since she really did experience some life-altering grief in both her husband's death and her daughter's medical struggles. The reader is unable to fully connect with Didion as a down-to-earth human rather than Didion as "the literary legend".
I can acknowledge its place in the memoir world, especially given how long ago it was released, when memoirs were not as mainstream as they are today. This was written during the "memoir boom" and both Joan and John were very relevant figures at the time.
However, by 2025, the genre of memoir has gone through significant evolution and many works have expanded its creativity and pushed the boundaries of what makes a "good" memoir, especially when approaching topics of grief and loss, and I fear The Year of Magical Thinking got a bit left behind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
This review is for the audio book, but my star rating is the same for both this and the print version. I prefer when memoirs are read by the author. I understand there are many reasons why this might not be the case, but there is something that better helps me connect with the narrative when that happens. I struggled with the content because I feel as though that is how I would recall these moments if that day ever comes for me, but when I read I want to have the emotional moments that I felt were lacking here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Blood
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
First two chapters had me balling already and I haven't even grieved anyone close to me yet. I do, however, deal with a lot of anticipatory grief and fear of death, so it hit.
I mostly read this book as I've heard Joan Didion is a good writer and that this touched on a subject I need to expose myself to. I did find it helpful to know what it's like after losing someone suddenly that was so close to you. You see them everywhere, can't believe they're gone, and all you want to do is talk to them again. That will be hard when the time comes. The added layer of trying to be there for a very sick daughter at the same time added to the grief touched on in the writing. Those parts were the positives of the book, as I felt the emotions and could try to connect.
However, most of the book was talking about memories that weren't super relevant. Like all their trips and who they knew and where they ate or lived. I know it's a memoir, but I was hoping for a bit more specific writing regarding the grief and how she dealt, not a full history of her life. I do understand she was constantly remembering things in the past that she did with her husband and daughter, so I get why it was in there. It just got boring after a while. I wanted more feeling, I think?
Anyways, still worth a read and you may connect with it more if you have grieved or are grieving. I may try reading again when the time comes.
I mostly read this book as I've heard Joan Didion is a good writer and that this touched on a subject I need to expose myself to. I did find it helpful to know what it's like after losing someone suddenly that was so close to you. You see them everywhere, can't believe they're gone, and all you want to do is talk to them again. That will be hard when the time comes. The added layer of trying to be there for a very sick daughter at the same time added to the grief touched on in the writing. Those parts were the positives of the book, as I felt the emotions and could try to connect.
However, most of the book was talking about memories that weren't super relevant. Like all their trips and who they knew and where they ate or lived. I know it's a memoir, but I was hoping for a bit more specific writing regarding the grief and how she dealt, not a full history of her life. I do understand she was constantly remembering things in the past that she did with her husband and daughter, so I get why it was in there. It just got boring after a while. I wanted more feeling, I think?
Anyways, still worth a read and you may connect with it more if you have grieved or are grieving. I may try reading again when the time comes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Blood, Murder
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Murder
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Medical content
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Xenophobia, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol
It's kind of interesting, and a little disarming, to read someone with such a rational, straightforward mind talk about the experience of grieving, which is an absolutely irrational, complicated thing. I think that makes it more heartbreaking, the making sense of things that cannot be in any way made sense of. This realization only came of course because I read one other Didion work before this. The contrast between that previous book and this one is unapparent in terms of language, style, wording — but, to use the word again, disarming in terms of the surety one exudes and one doesn't.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma