Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
reflective
medium-paced
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Didionin nimi tuli ylistetysti vastaan useammassa antropologisessa teoksessa. Tämä kirja ei kuitenkaan iskenyt. Ehkä Amerikka ei kiinnosta tarpeeksi ja lukijalta jo oletettiin kulttuurisen kontekstin tuntemusta.
I always liked writers notebooks, their first thoughts on things, and the unpolished tidbits - the honest truth. Didion was able to capture the moment in just her passing thoughts. It is disappointing that she never wrote her book about the South because her musings were and still are spot on - 50 years later.
Some interesting notes, some presumptuous comments. It truly is a notebook filled to the brim with bits and pieces of Didion’s observations on life in the south. However, I would not mistake this for a deep dive or understanding into southern culture since she spent so little time there, it seems. Some of her conversations with folks of the south were truly fascinating, but not enough to give her a place to give insight on the cultural microcosm of the these towns, cities and states.
No stars because I feel indifferent about the closure of both parts of this book (south and west); much like parts of Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast.”
No stars because I feel indifferent about the closure of both parts of this book (south and west); much like parts of Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast.”
Didion's travelogue drips with humid atmosphere, and her way with words is enthralling. But the book's haphazard structure doesn't neatly lead to its professed conclusion. Interesting as a nice pair of steps into the past.
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
One of the best readings by her. And yes, I’m aware of Slouching towards Bethlehem.
Although I generally love Joan Didion, I wouldn’t suggest this particular book. Firstly because it’s not so much a “book” as it is a random assembly of notes she took on two trips in the 1970’s. Even Didion didn’t use these notes to fashion an article or memoir. Secondly, the title is misleading. Even though it’s called “South and West,” the majority of the text is notes in the South with about 13 pages of California (specifically Sacramento and San Francisco) notes in the back. Finally, although you can tell Didion’s notes about her southern roadtrip are intended to be an unbiased snapshot of things she saw and heard, Nathaniel Rich’s 2016 introduction to the book establishes some troubling moral architecture around the otherwise disorganized text, touting the 1970’s South as somehow superior in its frank racist and sexist values to California’s idealism (whatever its faults may be). Without the introduction, the text would have been potentially tolerable, but reading old plantation owners’ f***ed up opinions through the lens that evil honesty is better than naive idealism was too much for me.
