The three books by Joan Didion are Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The Year of Magical Thinking, and Blue Nights. I’ve read all three before. I’ve read Slouching Towards Bethlehem possibly four times. It was a second time to read the other two.
First published 1968. My edition published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. First published 2005. My edition published by Vintage Books. First published 2011. My edition published by Vintage Books.
Slouching Towards Jerusalem is a volume of essays written in the 1960s. The volume holds 20 essays. Some of them have been referred to by other writers because they are well-known and often quoted. These well-known jewels are “John Wayne: A Love Song,” “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” and “On Keeping a Notebook.”
I love all the essays; it is difficult to not like something-anything Didion wrote.
I’ve read her essays are not relevant for our time. Blah blah blah. I disagree.
In the opening line of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, “The Center was not holding.” How often have I felt that the world as I knew it was not the same, changing to a point I don’t recognize it? How often have I felt my own personal life was not recognizable? Yes, and often.
The Year of Magical Thinking is written in order for her to understand what has happened in her life. Her daughter, her only child, is in the hospital and very sick. Her husband suddenly dies. And it is Christmas.
This memoir is sharing what is currently happening, the personal life she and John had, and her daughter’s wedding several months before.
Joan helps us to understand grief. At no point is this a textbook type of book on grief. It is the grief she experienced. Grief is an actual place. It is laborious. It is a period of intense reflection. It is a place to come to terms with the reality of what has happened.
Blue Nights was written after her daughter died. She is still in the place of grief after her husband’s death, but now she is also grieving the death of her daughter. This takes her to a deeper level of pain. It is like a pill that cannot be swallowed whole but must be instead crushed.
Joan reflects back on the memories of her daughter. She realizes things she had not back then. She had been looking at the positive instead of the reality of the whole picture.
Blue Nights is at times rambling and feels like she is searching for something or maybe a lack of concentration. It is also seeing her own mortality.
I have experienced grief. I perceive that Didion’s writing style in Blue Nights displays her symptoms of grief.
December 18, 2024
[Reviews] Three books by Joan Didion | Impressions In Ink
maximios Review
The three books by Joan Didion are Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The Year of Magical Thinking, and Blue Nights. I’ve read all three before. I’ve read Slouching Towards Bethlehem possibly four times. It was a second time to read the other two.
First published 1968. My edition published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. First published 2005. My edition published by Vintage Books. First published 2011. My edition published by Vintage Books.
Slouching Towards Jerusalem is a volume of essays written in the 1960s. The volume holds 20 essays. Some of them have been referred to by other writers because they are well-known and often quoted. These well-known jewels are “John Wayne: A Love Song,” “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” and “On Keeping a Notebook.”
I love all the essays; it is difficult to not like something-anything Didion wrote.
I’ve read her essays are not relevant for our time. Blah blah blah. I disagree.
In the opening line of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, “The Center was not holding.” How often have I felt that the world as I knew it was not the same, changing to a point I don’t recognize it? How often have I felt my own personal life was not recognizable? Yes, and often.
The Year of Magical Thinking is written in order for her to understand what has happened in her life. Her daughter, her only child, is in the hospital and very sick. Her husband suddenly dies. And it is Christmas.
This memoir is sharing what is currently happening, the personal life she and John had, and her daughter’s wedding several months before.
Joan helps us to understand grief. At no point is this a textbook type of book on grief. It is the grief she experienced. Grief is an actual place. It is laborious. It is a period of intense reflection. It is a place to come to terms with the reality of what has happened.
Blue Nights was written after her daughter died. She is still in the place of grief after her husband’s death, but now she is also grieving the death of her daughter. This takes her to a deeper level of pain. It is like a pill that cannot be swallowed whole but must be instead crushed.
Joan reflects back on the memories of her daughter. She realizes things she had not back then. She had been looking at the positive instead of the reality of the whole picture.
Blue Nights is at times rambling and feels like she is searching for something or maybe a lack of concentration. It is also seeing her own mortality.
I have experienced grief. I perceive that Didion’s writing style in Blue Nights displays her symptoms of grief.