I just finished reading "The Year Of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion. Joan Didion is somewhat of a literary icon in this country. I have "Play It As It Lays" but haven't read it yet. I have to say that I was a bit mystified about why literary critics were so in love with "The Year Of Magical Thinking". Before I go into that, I'll give you a brief description of the book.
Joan Didion was married to John Gregory Dunne. He's a writer as well, whose works I'm not familiar with. His brother is Dominick Dunne, who I have read extensively. He covered the OJ trial for Vanity Fair and I waited impatiently for the new Vanity Fair to come each month when the trial was going on to read his summary of events. Anyway, Dominick Dunne's daughter, Dominique, who starred in Poltergeist, was strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend. Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne had a daughter, Quintana. She was in the hospital with an infection and septic shock around Christmas, 2005. Right before New Year's Eve, Joan and John sat down to dinner and he keeled over with a fatal heart attack. The book is about her struggle to come to grips with his sudden death.
Generally speaking, I tend to avoid morose and depressing reading when I'm happy. Why bring my mood down? So I was kind of surprised that I picked up this book because I knew what it was about. And I'm in a really happy place right now. I got it months ago at a library sale. The whole bag of hardbacks was $5.00. It sat in my garage until last weekend. I read the book in a matter of three days or so. And couldn't figure out why I was in a foul mood and feeling disconcerted for a few days after I read it. Then I figured it out. The book didn't have a resolution.
I did not start reading this book with the expectation that Joan Didion would teach me anything about death or grieving. What I did expect was that it would be a phenomenal meditation on death and those left behind. Uh...yeah. No so much. First of all, she writes it in an almost condescending way. She quotes poetry to show you she's erudite and education. And she uses literary devices and metaphors so much they practically jump off the page and smack you upside the head. I'm not the brightest person ever. But I can see a literary device and a metaphor without having it continually thrown at me. And yes, I realize I sound like a nit-picky snob.. But it interfered with the flow of the book for me.
Speaking of flow - the book was written in such a way as it covered jumped around to different times over that year. It got kind of confusing in places. But mostly, I think I was just disappointed that the book didn't offer more. It seemed antiseptic and one-step removed as though the person was writing in the first person, but thinking in the third person, if that makes any sense.
I've never lost anyone suddenly that was really close to me. So Maybe I just don't have that perspective to look at this book through. And, God forbid, if it ever does happen, maybe I'll pick up the book again and read it with a new appreciation. Until then, I'm just left feeling let down and disappointed.
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