books 2016: The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion

[supercheesegirl]

Finished this on 4/4. Painful to read, but well worth the effort. It served as a reminder to me to treasure my loved ones, and to treasure where I am in my life (as the time in her life that Didion most often reflected back on was when her daughter was a small child, like mine). And despite the fact that her husband John, near the end of his life, declared all his work "worthless" despite a prolific career, the book still reminded me that my work is important, that time is limited. I don't want to come to my end and look back regretfully on all the hours I spent on Facebook; I want to see a full life fully lived, including work done to the best I can do it.

Comments

[bulleteyes.livejournal.com]

Joan does that for people, women especially. She had such terrible losses and as she sorted through them and gave herself to us I felt like a great teacher of the art of life had decided to peel away their protections so their wounds could help me. Terrible to read and in some ways, necessary to read.

I also think back when my daughter was small. Since I will never be a grandmother I notice the small children of others. I also admit I am not drawn to them. Freya though, now that girl has that spark in her. She is a fascinating person already and that is really, really rare.