I think this was an amazing book because it was so unique in that Didion was willing to write about her most intimate and private thoughts, feelings, and experiences of her husband's death. They clearly were in love with each other and I see this book as not only a striking work of art but also a lo...
A brilliant, elliptical, sharp, moving look at grief and what it means to lose someone. Didion's sadness and inability to fully comprehend the situation suffuses every page and it is heartbreaking - and yet, there is a reassuring quality as she crosses Lexington Avenue at the end of the book and se...
I don't know. Legally am I even allowed to say I didn't love it? I feel like I'm rating her suffering and loss here, or the fact that I didn't feel invested in the characters. I just couldn't get into it and decided to let it go after 100 pages, with no ill will.
I can't imagine how much Joan Didion wept as she wrote this book. Yet, it must have been cathartic; those who grieve need to be able to tell their story. I had to keep putting this book down. Its raw honesty was too hard to take. I did find the lack of commentary on her daughter odd, though.
I read this book in three days! I found it compelling and engaging, and I have a feeling that this is exactly the book I would want to read if I were going through my version of Didion's ordeal. I had trouble keeping track of the chronology, as she jumped around in the timeline in unexpected ways,...
This book was recommended by someone else as an example of good non-fiction writing. I actually picked it up with no idea what was coming. At first I resisted. I dislike the "death memoirs" and how predictable they often are. But Didion avoids that and speaks honestly about her confusion, her sense ...
Fabulous. I think magical thinking is a normal reaction to losing a loved one. But Didion conveys her grief and these willful tricks of the mind with such lucidity and candor, and such sanity, that the story is exceptional.
Breathtaking, and not in a good way. It's absolutely excruciating. And that's part of why I give it five stars. I can't say it's a "good" book; it's more of a must-read.
When you have never read an author, a well-known author, a highly respected author, it is always a happy feeling to pick up that first read and find everyone was right. With Didion, for me, it wasn't a case of love at first sight; she grew on me. I finished the book last Sunday, but I thought about ...
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