The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion
on February 9th, 2012 at 5:26 pmI think I’m moderately well-read, yet I’ve never read any Didion. I kept hearing how terrific The Year of Magical Thinking was, picked it up and read it fairly quickly. It’s true! She’s a master of the Strunk & White style of simple, powerful language, though she uses poetic rhythms and repetition to keep the reader a little off-balance and disoriented – perfect for her subject.
She had a hell of a year (and a life since that year) in which her daughter dropped into a coma during which her husband died suddenly. She narrates these events and her interior life perceptively, and makes her grief real, if necessarily indirect. If you’re planning on experiencing grief, this is an excellent guide that lays out what you should expect. If you’re not planning on it, this is a great wake-up call – it’s coming for you.
