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A review by lewismillholland
A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion
2.0
What turned me onto this book is Holton Als' piece in the Dec. 2 issue of the New Yorker called "Out in the Blue: American womanhood in Joan Didion's early novels." Since I'd started making a conscious effort to read more women (my 2019 list was filled with penises) the article struck me extra hard -- especially the line about Didion's "...incisive view of uneasy friendships between women."
Well I read the book and didn't quite understand it. There were a lot of complicated characters all bleak in their own way (what did Leonard think of Warren? I can't noodle it out), and some of the sentences I'd kill to be able to write. There were times when the socialite narrative took over and after a few pages of that my eyes would glaze over and I'd have to go back and re-read what my irises had been trying to feed me, although sometimes I just kept going. The action ramped up well in the third bit and I found myself eager to keep reading until that socialite stuff overtook.
I'm re-reading Als' piece now and I'm appreciating some of the bits I didn't catch on my own. I think the real beauty of *A Book of Common Prayer* requires some literary and contemporary knowledge that I'm lacking, although hopefully not forever.
Well I read the book and didn't quite understand it. There were a lot of complicated characters all bleak in their own way (what did Leonard think of Warren? I can't noodle it out), and some of the sentences I'd kill to be able to write. There were times when the socialite narrative took over and after a few pages of that my eyes would glaze over and I'd have to go back and re-read what my irises had been trying to feed me, although sometimes I just kept going. The action ramped up well in the third bit and I found myself eager to keep reading until that socialite stuff overtook.
I'm re-reading Als' piece now and I'm appreciating some of the bits I didn't catch on my own. I think the real beauty of *A Book of Common Prayer* requires some literary and contemporary knowledge that I'm lacking, although hopefully not forever.