obtuseblues 's review for:

Where I Was from by Joan Didion

3.0

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this is more like a 3.5 stars for me. i liked this better than i did the white album by her because the writing style seemed to flow better and the end of each chapter felt more cohesive with a message she was attempting to communicate. the first part and i think the few chapters about the pioneers ended up being quite interesting since she does cast a critical eye on the mythos of the pioneers and manifest destiny, which is very much her history, and i appreciate that. it started to lose me as i trudged on. you could really tell she was a reporter from her general writing style, the research invested into the topics she's writing on, and the kind of narrative she beings to form, which all culminate in a mostly straightforward and semi-concise manner. she gets to point a to b, mapping out her stories. i wish the last part packed more of an emotional punch. it was almost surprising it didn't when she was discussing the death of her mother. i remember one line from that part in which she says that when her father died, she kept moving, but when her mother died, everything stopped. it had to. that was a little more of the note i longed for, though i understand that was never really her aim with this book as she tried to throw into question her california heritage and all that might encompass.