Comments on: april: notes on joan didion http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/ where a mother tries to cultivate creativity and a sense of wonder in her kids—and does a whole lot of wondering herself in the process Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:42:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: patricia http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-645 patricia Tue, 12 May 2009 03:31:37 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-645 Thanks, Kristin! Thanks, Kristin!

]]> By: Kristin http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-642 Kristin Tue, 12 May 2009 03:13:29 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-642 I enjoyed your analysis. Thanks for your insightful interpretation. I enjoyed your analysis. Thanks for your insightful interpretation.

]]> By: patricia http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-639 patricia Fri, 08 May 2009 00:50:48 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-639 Yes, that's my favorite line in the passage too. And "finding out how good writing works" is just why I started this project. I don't always analyze the writing deeply enough by just reading it. But writing these posts forces me to look more closely. (Then again, I often feel like I'm just glazing over the author--there's always so much more to notice.) In Magical Thinking, Didion writes recalls more than one time in which her husband--also a writer--was rereading a book, or a section in a book, to "find out how it worked". I found that endearing. Thanks for the kind words about the post, Susan. Yes, that’s my favorite line in the passage too.

And “finding out how good writing works” is just why I started this project. I don’t always analyze the writing deeply enough by just reading it. But writing these posts forces me to look more closely. (Then again, I often feel like I’m just glazing over the author–there’s always so much more to notice.)

In Magical Thinking, Didion writes recalls more than one time in which her husband–also a writer–was rereading a book, or a section in a book, to “find out how it worked”. I found that endearing.

Thanks for the kind words about the post, Susan.

]]> By: susan http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-637 susan Thu, 07 May 2009 16:06:30 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-637 I really enjoyed this post. I am putting Didion on my list. This is just the way to go about finding out how good writing works. Find the parts that speak to you and figure out what it is the writer is doing. I loved the "you might have been useful with the thermometer" the way the humor crackles in the anger and grief. I really enjoyed this post. I am putting Didion on my list. This is just the way to go about finding out how good writing works. Find the parts that speak to you and figure out what it is the writer is doing. I loved the “you might have been useful with the thermometer” the way the humor crackles in the anger and grief.

]]> By: patricia http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-636 patricia Thu, 07 May 2009 06:24:53 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-636 Yum indeed. I love that passage. That collection has more just like that one, including some great paragraphs about the Doors. So yes, find it at the library! Yum indeed. I love that passage. That collection has more just like that one, including some great paragraphs about the Doors. So yes, find it at the library!

]]> By: Carrie Pomeroy http://patriciazaballos.com/2009/05/05/april-notes-on-joan-didion/comment-page-1/#comment-635 Carrie Pomeroy Thu, 07 May 2009 04:12:29 +0000 http://patriciazaballos.com/?p=1098#comment-635 Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Didion and that wonderful passage about rock musicians from "The White Album." Yum. I love the deadpan tone. I'll have to get that one from the library. I read "The Year of Magical Thinking" a while back and was struck by how beautifully she "got" how grief affects the mind--and you were right, part of the power of the book is the way she uses detail that lets you the reader understand her relationships and memories, rather than actually describing her own feelings. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Didion and that wonderful passage about rock musicians from “The White Album.” Yum. I love the deadpan tone. I’ll have to get that one from the library.

I read “The Year of Magical Thinking” a while back and was struck by how beautifully she “got” how grief affects the mind–and you were right, part of the power of the book is the way she uses detail that lets you the reader understand her relationships and memories, rather than actually describing her own feelings.

]]>