Date: July 21, 2007
Author: Joan Didion
Title: The Year of Magical Thinking
Rating: 7/10
How I got a hold of this book: I bought it at Kramerbooks because I've been staring at the simple cover for months, and it won an award.
Where I read this book: Home, Metro, cafe in Georgetown
This book made me feel: Sad, life is fleeting, dealing with death is a common process that we hide.
Why I like it: Just over 200 pages, and the writing flows.
Why I didn't like it: It kept going back to the date of the death, but I guess that's what happens in a widow's mind.
The plot in five words: death/husband/wife/daughter/generations
This book made me think of: My friend, Helen, who was a widow at 42.
Memorable character: Joan Didion
Memorable quote: Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.
Person I met while reading this book: Wait staff at Kramerbooks.
Something memorable that happened in my life during the time it took to read the book: I finished a photoshop class.
If I could recommend this book to one person, it would be to: Helen
How has this book changed my life: I want to be married to someone for a long time.
Will I read it again: Most likely (If I need to read the words of the process. In other words a death has to happen. So, for me to reread this book means something bad has happened.
Notes: Joan Didion had a bond with a person for 40 years, and the physical is gone. No more answers to questions from another room, no more feedback on her writing. At the same time, her daughter was near death for most of the Joan's first year of widowhood. The person best to help her through the process of seeing her child sick died. It makes complete sense that a writer would write about this. A writer would have to in order to let go of the yesterday, not necessarily the memory, but any question that yesterday could be relived and remedied.
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