Towards the end of 2003, Didion’s daughter caught a flu that
then turned into a coma. While she was still under, her husband John died
suddenly at the dinner table. Her daughter recovered, but almost immediately
after had to go back in for surgery. This is an account of that year, and
Didion’s attempt to make some sense out of it.
This book is clearly written by a writer. Which sounds like
an obvious statement, but what I mean is that Didion clearly loves reading and
writing, and it shows here. There are numerous references to literary works
that discuss death and grieving afterwards. Her writing also flows easily, as
though this was a stream of her thoughts over the year. The sections don’t flow
chronologically, but there are underlying themes that connect the chapters.
There are many single lines of a few texts that repeatedly
are highlighted to demonstrate these themes. One good example is Gawain
predicting his own death, to connect anecdotes about how Didion thought her
husband must have known about his imminent demise. Or how the family
continually says to each other “more than one more day” to express their love.
It’s an honest and beautiful depiction of what it is like to
lose someone after having been close to them for years. You watch Didion’s
struggles to continue with her life, and the challenges she faced within her
head and out of it. I might check out her and her husband’s other works now, they
are probably as wonderfully written as this is.
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