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batrick_pateman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
"In the heat some mornings she would wake with her eyes swollen and heavy and she would wonder if she had been crying."
my god this was brutal. bitter, relentlessly bleak, scathing in its portrayal of late 60's hollywood culture. i have to start reading happier books. hopefully The Virgin Suicides will be a bit more fun and upbeat :)
didion's prose is excellent and reminds me a lot of shirley jackson's (jacksonian? shirleyesque?). it's stripped-down and deceptively simple: words and sentence structures are basic, but every word and every single detail is chosen and placed with such thought and precision that what you end up with is deep, moving, and psychologically complex in just a few lines. didion captures such a rich, anguished mixture of feelings with such brevity, and I like it a lot.
my god this was brutal. bitter, relentlessly bleak, scathing in its portrayal of late 60's hollywood culture. i have to start reading happier books. hopefully The Virgin Suicides will be a bit more fun and upbeat :)
didion's prose is excellent and reminds me a lot of shirley jackson's (jacksonian? shirleyesque?). it's stripped-down and deceptively simple: words and sentence structures are basic, but every word and every single detail is chosen and placed with such thought and precision that what you end up with is deep, moving, and psychologically complex in just a few lines. didion captures such a rich, anguished mixture of feelings with such brevity, and I like it a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Abortion, and Mental illness
samiisteffenn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Death, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Eating disorder
risemini's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Car accident, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization
infernosballad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
itscarleesmith's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
maja_vanska's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Suicide attempt
laurenleigh's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My initial response after reading this short book was that the main character—actually all the characters—were quite unlikeable. But I recognized that this was perhaps the point. Maybe Didion wanted to show us (in 1970) a female main character who isn’t fulfilling the expected wife/mother roles, who isn’t happy and cheerful and positive, who isn’t (and doesn’t need to be) likable. After discussing with my new book club, I found new appreciation for our MC, and a deeper appreciation for the book as a whole. Yay for finding a new book community!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
amilou's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Homophobia, and Drug abuse
aliwhaley's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The writing is 5 stars but the book is 3.
I really didn’t get on with it at the beginning, but then after about 70 pages the apathy moved from being a bit boring to being a force in the novel.
It’s a musing on loneliness, apathy, depression, vapidity, and I suppose, in a way, the nature of friendship / our long term relationships with those we carry with us through life.
There are so many little nuggets of truth, and beauty, in this book, but the blanket aura of sadness is so great that it makes for quite a depressing read. Even if the sadness itself is well observed and explored.
Moments were very clever - like when we don’t hear her scream during the abortion, we only hear the doctor to tel her not to scream.
It’s those clever moments of dissociation that kept me reading
I really didn’t get on with it at the beginning, but then after about 70 pages the apathy moved from being a bit boring to being a force in the novel.
It’s a musing on loneliness, apathy, depression, vapidity, and I suppose, in a way, the nature of friendship / our long term relationships with those we carry with us through life.
There are so many little nuggets of truth, and beauty, in this book, but the blanket aura of sadness is so great that it makes for quite a depressing read. Even if the sadness itself is well observed and explored.
Moments were very clever - like when we don’t hear her scream during the abortion, we only hear the doctor to tel her not to scream.
It’s those clever moments of dissociation that kept me reading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
uuuultraviolennnnt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Devoured in days. Joan Didion has a sharp pen and mind. with one clear path, she pins down the bodies of empty Americans, devoid of just — anything, and inserts a sort of magic into their persons, so as to expand them to the height of impressive marquis’, ones i love to filter through, feel the humidity pulsating off the plastic, human walls, the life inside these basic, basic bitches.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Minor: Homophobia