wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 13, 2021 16:12:09 GMT
The only work of hers I'm familiar with is the adapted screenplay she co-wrote for The Panic in Needle Park. I haven't read it, just seen the film (really good).
Just curious if anyone had any to thoughts on Didion, favorite works, etc.?
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Post by sloopjohnc on Feb 13, 2021 17:09:24 GMT
I discovered her in college when I bought a compilation of new journalism with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Norman Mailer and Didion was in there.
I've read a few of her books:
Slouching Towards Bethlehem Play It as It Lays The White Album Let Me Tell You What I Mean
I like her writing. She draws you in while keeping a distance in her subjects and is a master of doing both with a reader. I was listening to a podcast a couple weeks ago and the two people were saying the essay form is on its downturn since the early 20th century. I automatically thought of Didion, James Baldwin, Joyce Carol Oates, and the slew of current African American essayists like Toure' and Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates. It certainly isn't dead.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2021 17:35:41 GMT
I read her about 30 years ago, but can't remember too much now. I would like to give The White Album another read.
I watched the Netflix doc on her, which wasn't that interesting, except she had a really weird habit of just waving her hands around randomly as she answered a question. There were interviews from her younger days and she didn't do it at all then, so it must have been a habit she developed in old age.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 13, 2021 18:22:47 GMT
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Post by sloopjohnc on Feb 13, 2021 19:14:44 GMT
I read her about 30 years ago, but can't remember too much now. I would like to give The White Album another read. I watched the Netflix doc on her, which wasn't that interesting, except she had a really weird habit of just waving her hands around randomly as she answered a question. There were interviews from her younger days and she didn't do it at all then, so it must have been a habit she developed in old age. It was disappointing.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2021 19:19:21 GMT
I read her about 30 years ago, but can't remember too much now. I would like to give The White Album another read. I watched the Netflix doc on her, which wasn't that interesting, except she had a really weird habit of just waving her hands around randomly as she answered a question. There were interviews from her younger days and she didn't do it at all then, so it must have been a habit she developed in old age. It was disappointing. I felt I learnt more about her husband than her.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 13, 2021 23:23:58 GMT
Slouching Towards Bethlehem was good. So many weirdos in the late '60s. I think I'm going to spend the next few days reading Didion essays.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 14, 2021 12:16:37 GMT
Just finished Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream - also excellent. Loved this line:
"...time past is not believed to have any bearing upon time present or future, out in the golden land where every day the world is born anew."
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 14, 2021 13:46:20 GMT
On John Wayne: "...when John Wayne rode through my childhood, and perhaps through yours, he determined for ever the shape of certain of our dreams. It did not seem possible that such a man could fall ill, could carry within him that most inexplicable and ungovernable of diseases. The rumour struck some obscure anxiety, threw our very childhoods into question. In John Wayne's world, John Wayne was supposed to give the orders. 'Let's ride,' he said, and, 'Saddle up.' 'Forward ho,' and, 'A man's gotta do what he's got to do.'"
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Post by oleandermedian on Feb 15, 2021 22:12:40 GMT
I’ve read a few of her books. We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live has all the essential non-fiction including Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album. I’ve read a few of her novels too - some more forgettable than others, and the only one that stands out is Play It as It Lays, which is great.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Feb 15, 2021 22:29:02 GMT
Just downloaded Play It As It Lays. Thanks.
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wobblie
god
Just a prick out to make a name for himself.
Posts: 1,230
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Post by wobblie on Dec 23, 2021 19:12:31 GMT
A unique voice lost. I've really enjoyed getting into her work this year.
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