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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
Reading for thesis. Loving the writing. Conflicted by conclusions. This dissonance between home and otherwise, places one wants to be and their treatment of places they don't. Willingness to give something a chance.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
South and West, made up of two separate excerpts from Joan Didion's notebooks, is a fascinating look at the American South through the eyes of a California native in 1970. The majority of this book is Didion's notes from the South; the West section makes up only the last fifteen pages or so.
Her travels through the South do not read like a plot-driven story. Instead, the book unfolds in a series of images, characters, impressions, conversations, town names, weather reports, observations, etc. as Didion makes her way through the Deep South. Its great achievement is not in telling a traditional story but in painting a striking picture of a time, place, and culture.
The short West section of the book was less thrilling to me as it reads much more like a personal reflection, a stream of consciousness journal entry. But in it, Didion acknowledges her background as an upper-middle class Californian, adding a layer of complexity to (though certainly not de-legitimizing) her extreme discomfort with the rural South. It made me reflect on my one critique of the book: I wish that, during her time in the South, Didion had sat down and interviewed a blue collar person. Her lengthier interviews and luncheons are reserved for the wealthy and powerful (who, in the South in the early 70s, are almost exclusively white). And while she is unabashed in her critiques of these elites, and while she does speak to a more average and diverse array of people throughout her travels, it would have been a worthwhile addition to hear from a member of the working class South at length.
That said, her notes on the South are excellent. Her observations are cool, calm, collected, and yet they cut to the core. It is the kind of writing that makes you want to read everything that this author wrote, the kind of writing that makes you want to write yourself.
Her travels through the South do not read like a plot-driven story. Instead, the book unfolds in a series of images, characters, impressions, conversations, town names, weather reports, observations, etc. as Didion makes her way through the Deep South. Its great achievement is not in telling a traditional story but in painting a striking picture of a time, place, and culture.
The short West section of the book was less thrilling to me as it reads much more like a personal reflection, a stream of consciousness journal entry. But in it, Didion acknowledges her background as an upper-middle class Californian, adding a layer of complexity to (though certainly not de-legitimizing) her extreme discomfort with the rural South. It made me reflect on my one critique of the book: I wish that, during her time in the South, Didion had sat down and interviewed a blue collar person. Her lengthier interviews and luncheons are reserved for the wealthy and powerful (who, in the South in the early 70s, are almost exclusively white). And while she is unabashed in her critiques of these elites, and while she does speak to a more average and diverse array of people throughout her travels, it would have been a worthwhile addition to hear from a member of the working class South at length.
That said, her notes on the South are excellent. Her observations are cool, calm, collected, and yet they cut to the core. It is the kind of writing that makes you want to read everything that this author wrote, the kind of writing that makes you want to write yourself.
reflective
fast-paced
Quite good. This is the second volume of Didion's nonfiction that I've read, the first being [b:The Year of Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878638l/7815._SY75_.jpg|1659905]. This collection, though fragmentary and impressionistic in places, is moving and, as is typical for Didion, beautifully written. Having lived in the south most of my life, Didion's impressions (she grew up in California) are interesting and, for the most part, on point.
South and West is not a book full of judgements. It's more a collection of deft observations, left intentionally understated. This gives it a certain filmic, documentary quality that is both enjoyable and effective. In fact, it leaves me wanting to read more of her work, if only to bask in her prose style, which I didn't fully appreciate in the former book, it's content being so engrossing on its own.
Didion spends most of her time, on this month-long trip undertook in 1970, in Mississippi and a bit in Alabama. I never lived in either--having grown up in Texas and Arkansas--but I've visited most of the towns she mentions, though quite a number of years later.
South and West is not a book full of judgements. It's more a collection of deft observations, left intentionally understated. This gives it a certain filmic, documentary quality that is both enjoyable and effective. In fact, it leaves me wanting to read more of her work, if only to bask in her prose style, which I didn't fully appreciate in the former book, it's content being so engrossing on its own.
Didion spends most of her time, on this month-long trip undertook in 1970, in Mississippi and a bit in Alabama. I never lived in either--having grown up in Texas and Arkansas--but I've visited most of the towns she mentions, though quite a number of years later.
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Really interesting exploration of the American South.
Really interesting to hear someone’s perspective on the South so shortly after the Jim Crow era, but I felt that Didion came across as a somewhat privileged and judge mental self- proclaimed outsider from the West without providing any basic commentary. The profiles she painted of individuals in the area were interesting but I just feel they came up short, and the California notes and the end seem somewhat out of place.
someone said that this felt like a reading a literary sketchbook and i fully agree. feels a bit incomplete but maybe that’s the point? idk need to read more Joan Didion to find out (also… she’s not a lesbian???)
reflective
fast-paced
I just don’t think she liked her husband that much. Or at least he wasn’t very nice. Call me Joan! Let’s talk about this.
Ah yes, nothing like reading someone else’s unfinished notes to really make you feel like you’re in on something special. This was exactly what it said it was and exactly what it should have stayed. The writing is sharp, the observations are interesting, but it never really goes anywhere. If you’re a Didion fan, it’s worth a look. Otherwise, you’re not missing much.