The Book Vipers discussion

This is the thread for the December 2013 Non-fiction read, The Year of Magical Thinking byJoan Didion.

Spoilers are allowed on this thread.

I started this today.

I thought it opened well, and I was immediately drawn in to the events and her thoughts on grief.

But having read almost 70 pages I am rather frustrated by the fact that it has taken her nearly all of that time to refer in any detail at all about the simultaneous near death situation of her daughter. I realise, of course, that she has been overwhelmed by her grief at her husband's sudden death, but even so, I am surprised by this. Perhaps I am judging too early.

I am also surprised, saddened perhaps, that the references so far to her daughter's critical condition - from which it was by no means certain she would recover - is explained in a very matter of fact, almost clinical fashion and any expression of love or concern or belief that she will survive is mostly portrayed by the author through her husband's eyes.

Does she blame her daughter in some way? I could be on completely the wrong track here, but I felt strongly enough about it to snap the book closed and come here to post.

(view spoiler)[ I think her daughter did die shortly after this book was published but I need to check that fact. (hide spoiler)] I've only read a couple of pages so far. Hope to read a bit more this evening, or tomorrow.

Elizabeth, I did read your spoiler which saddened me greatly. However, I still find her approach in the book unexpected but I will read on with interest tomorrow, since, as I said above, I may have jumped the gun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion

I wonder whether Joan Didion's subsequent book Blue Nights may address the issues more fully. It was written after this one we're reading.

Finished.

It left me a bit cold, which I can't believe is my response considering what she had gone through.

After the first few pages, I fully expected to be drawn in and swept along and left something of an emotional wreck by the read. I was almost apprehensive as to whether I would be able to contain my emotion at her description of her grief.

So, to have found myself going in the opposite direction, and quite early on in the book, really surprised me. I stand by my comment above re her reaction to her daughter.

I have been reading on this evening, reaching page 166, but I have come very close to giving up.

I've found myself getting quite irritated by her and reluctant to read on. She has lost my sympathy, and that was something I didn't envisage happening at all.

I read the last 60 pages or so in about 20 minutes, so I know that means I haven't done it justice, but I read enough to know what I could skim and what was potentially a bit more "meaningful". Just wanted it done so I could move on to something else.

That's exactly how I feel Jo. I've got the next book lined up and will make a dash to the end today. I'm just reading the more important bits and skimming the waffly bits where she wanders off talking about dreams and the books she's written etc.

Elizabeth, we did an identical job on this one it seems! Lots of "bla bla" as I so eloquently called it, and a few more relevant and interesting bits. And yes, I was desperate to get onto Angel's Game and A Christmas Carol!

Shame really, because I came to it really ready for it. I have a friend who was recently widowed unexpectedly (if that is the right word - ie. he died in a freak accident) and I thought that reading this lady's book might give me some more insight into how to support my friend, what she might thinking and having to face. But it didn't at all.

100 odd pages in so far, she comes across as impassive, almost cold, even though she is consumed completely by grief at times.

Interesting!

I ran out of life yesterday, but have penned a little review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I think you were rather kind, Paul.

It was almost one star. I think that the question that she was asking between the lines all the way through was, what if?. What if circumstances had been different, whAt if she had called the emergency services sooner, and so on.

It wasn't a very good book - so not what I was expecting. Your review was quite generous all things considered.

I'm sure there are much better books out there covering grief and loss in a more sympathetic manner.

Well it is Christmas, allegedly...

So they say :D

I would have to agree with the majority vote here, this was not an easy book to read. I felt it must have been an accurate account of grief. The family's lifestyle was very different to anyone I know. Do people agree that what she did was explain grief as something which is experienced similarly by all, across social boundaries/upbringing/faith etc? I have never experienced grief as this author has although I felt she gave a deeply honest account of how she began to process the event.

I finished today, and after hearing such good things about it for several years, I try to find explanations for why I didn't like it.

At first, I keep coming back to the idea of self-indulgence, which I don't think is an accurate criticism. I mean, of course she's being self-indulgent. That is basically the point of the book, and of grief in some ways - Didion examines her innermost feelings as she lives through this great tragedy of her life. But how else to describe a book which frequently inserts sections from her previous writing, and even goes so far as to have her late husband talk about what a great writer she is.

Instead, I think I'll go with shallow. Many of her asides and descriptions had much less to do with the life she led before her husband's death than with the things they were able to buy or famous people they knew. At the end, I don't feel like I knew John Dunne or Quintana very well - but I did know how much Didion likes to eat out at nice restaurants, why she enjoys the Beverly Wilshire hotel, the neighborhoods they owned houses in. Absolutely nothing is gained by learning which of her friends was able to get them Lakers tickets, but she includes it anyway. Parts that I wanted her to delve into further are brushed aside - such as mentioning they took a trip to Hawaii rather than get a divorce, or Quintana's adoption.

I do respect what she was attempting to do - chronicle her true grief experience. However, I felt that it needed a much sterner editing hand, which they were probably not going to push because of the sensitivity of the issue. I don't think it is possible to write a true account of grief without letting all of your guards down, which I don't think Didion did. There are plenty of guards up and that's why I think she comes off as cold or shallow throughout much of the book.

Kai wrote: "I finished today, and after hearing such good things about it for several years, I try to find explanations for why I didn't like it.

At first, I keep coming back to the idea of self-indulgence,..."

Kai: Extraordinary evaluation. I was wondering why I found it so-so, and you articulated for me exactly my own reaction. Thank you.

It does seem that this book has generally been disliked by most of us who read it.

Interesting that we've all had similar feelings about it.
Has anyone read anything else by Didion? If so what did you think?

I haven't so far, and have no real desire to do so now. She did write another book about her daughter; Blue Nights, which I will probably avoid.

Thanks, Jan. What a sense of relief to come here and find others who didn't enjoy it.

I'm not completely turned off by Didion's writing and will hopefully read The White Album one day. I attribute my feelings towards Magical Thinking less towards her writing than towards her muddled mind at the time (and possibly her personality). I definitely won't read Blue Nights, since it seems to be an echo/companion piece to this one.

A deeply moving book, beautifully narrated by Barbara Caruso. I was so impressed by the way she delivered page after page of heartache and bittersweet memories, as if they were her own. There is a sense of the author being somewhat removed from her grief, like she is watching her own reactions and analysing them without allowing herself to dwell in them. Using an audiobook rather than a paper copy helped bridge that separation a little, though the almost clinical analysis was ever present throughout. I did find the detail excessive at times. Not the dates and times when critical events happened, or the flashbacks to her earlier life with John. It was the name dropping of famous friends, exclusive restaurants and hotels, private jets etc. This removed her experience from the ordinary, which was one of the points I thought she was trying to make....that death comes out of the blue, breaking into the ordinary. Happens to us all, just an ordinary morning. This jet setting lifestyle (Malibu, LA, NY, Honolulu) made the story extraordinary, and her reaction more distant to the everyday kind of person.


*I wrote this before reading the other comments. I think having listened to the audiobook has somewhat softened my reaction to the book. In general I have agreed with what others have thought, but have been a little more positive, I think solely due to the wonderful narration on the css. She really did help bridge the gap between the author and the reader.