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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Joan Didion the writer, the particular writer of a particular era, a symbol and a chronicler of a certain and singular moment in American culture, is someone I like and admire and am frequently amazed by, for her wit, her style, her eye, her ability to be in the room or on the scene. But she's also someone I can't quite love in the way that so many do; her disaffected affectation, her tendency to flatten things even as she highlights their topographies, the sort of ironic stifled-yawn posture she to which she defaults--none of these diminish her power, her importance, or the sheer aesthetic and intellectual pleasure that reading her can be, but they kept me, I think, from breaking through into real affective attachment to these essays.
Loved! This book of essays, essentially a series of snapshots of Didion’s life in the 1960s, was a thought-provoking, enjoyable read covering some fascinating topics. Her writing style is elegant and expressive but uncomplicated - powerful!
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live...We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices. We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the "ideas" with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.”
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live...We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder of five. We interpret what we see, select the most workable of the multiple choices. We live entirely, especially if we are writers, by the imposition of a narrative line upon disparate images, by the "ideas" with which we have learned to freeze the shifting phantasmagoria which is our actual experience.”
ok continuing my first experiences of Joan the Oracle: obvis these are ESSENTIAL essays, “the white album” is a monolith of hope, i dream of adapting this piece for the pandemic era?? also appreciated “in bed” for the exposition of chronic illness. cant wait to revisit these. sublime.
In love with Joan Didion. Partially because I'm in love with California, but she's a fantastic essay writer.
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
reflective
slow-paced
It’s Didion’s pinpoint articulation that makes her such an arresting writer. Her more personal essays are the standouts of this collection—namely the titular “White Album” which serves as a eulogy for the ‘60s—but overall, this is knockout nonfiction.
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Even better on a re-read. No one observes better than Didion.