Joan Didion has been a legend to me, for about 16 years. At the bookstore, when we hired new staff, we always gave a book quiz. It separated the run of the mill readers from the literati. And there were always a few titles on the list that I never expected anyone to know. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion was one of them.
Her new book (relatively - and certainly new to me) tells the story of the year that begin in late December 2003, and ends one year later. It starts the night her husband, John Gregory Dunne dies of a heart attack, while having dinner. Simultaneously, their only daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, just a month younger than I, is struggling for her life. One health crisis after another consumes her.
And Didion lays it all bare. She shares the grief. The magical thinking (like not giving away John's shoes, as he'll need them when he comes back). The heartache of having to tell her daughter three different times that her father is dead. (She was in a coma when he died, then she relapsed and forgot, then she had a brain hemorrhage, and lost the information again).
As I continue to struggle with my own grief over Jim's death, and I as I watch the diocese struggle with it's grief, this book spoke to me.
1 comment:
Hey Fran, I read this book a month or more ago. Very sad, very lonely, and also very human. How we all hope..and wish. I try not to get involved in emotions ( a big surprise, eh?) And also think that we can't change a thing. That would be the opposite of "Magical Thinking".
Otherwise, for reading..Sue Hubbel on Bees and the terrible but terrific Jack Reacher novels by Lee Childs. Escapism and also a conquering warrior in these political times. I'm needing somebody to do the right thing at the right time...these work for me.
LIfe is odd enough without having to think overly much..
LJBrock
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