Comments (32)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 32 items
Oct 30, 2023batrickpateman rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Joan's voice in this book is different then what I'm used to. She's always left me with a sense of daring; taunting me to sift through the deeper meanings she leaves behind. She does some of that here, but the overarching voice projected,…
Aug 12, 2023
From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion that explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage--and a life, in good times and bad--that will speak to anyone who…
Jul 04, 2023CareyMacaulay rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I am a life-long library frequenter. I also happen to work beside a library. I read a LOT of library books. But, like all book lovers, I also buy a lot of books and am given a lot of books. My mom was visiting not so long ago and was…
Feb 26, 2023
I am not sure about this book, so I am not going to rate it. Wish I could be articulate. I read it after a loss and found some parallels. I wish she had written a sequel after the 2nd year or longer after her husband's death.
Dec 31, 2022mynovelesquelife rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
RATING: 4.5 STARS I have had The Year of Magical Thinking on my TBR since it first came out. I remember it being quite popular when I worked at the library and it still seems to be a book everyone wants to read. Having finally listened to…
Dec 07, 2022mattyscult rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The experience of grief is so universal. This book showcases exactly the mindset it brings you to. If you've been through grief or loss recently, the pages feel like a mirror. I encourage you to read this one. It helped me feel less alone…
Oct 20, 2022beezed01 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
In the author's own words, "I just can't see the upside of this". The book gave me a sense of melancholy as I could not grasp why, after 40 years of obvious mutual collaboration of life together with John, that she could not celebrate him…
Mar 27, 2022Marimee rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
There is a page in this book, and if you have experienced lost of a loved one, you will wish to have lived the moment she describes. John is rereading a complicated sequence of her novel A Book of Common Prayer, trying to figure out the…
Jan 24, 2022operaguy52 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Any of us who have lost a loved one, especially a spouse, will find many moments of resonance in Joan DIdion's account of the year her husband died. And most of us will not feel resonance with her constant references to the places they…
Apr 24, 2021MT60 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is the first Didion book I have ever read. A gripping read that I finished in just a few sittings. I loved her recollections about the various localities of Southern California, especially San Pedro and Palos Verdes. It's hard to…
Apr 22, 2021peacebenow rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A heartfelt story a close marriage and family when death and severe illness strike w/o warning. Ms Didion retraces here steps to try and make sense of of theses tragedies and wondering if they might have been prevented. Or thinking that…
Apr 08, 2021
I had read this before, but it struck a powerful nerve after I unexpectedly lost a loved one last year. I identified with her struggle to make sense of the sudden death of her husband after a long marriage and close working relationship,…
Dec 30, 2020MillieBT rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A powerful story about loss and grieving
Dec 29, 2019sgcf rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
After the sudden death of her beloved husband, Didion begins her year of deluded thinking. She imagines he might come back, looks for omens and messages, gets sucked into the vortex of memory, unable to release innocuous mementos. She…
Oct 17, 2019fred98115 rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
Powerful reflection by a woman who lost her husband and daughter in a one year period. Ponders the irrational behavior of the year.
Jun 30, 2019DoctorVine rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I really enjoy re-reading anything by Joan Didion. The times she writes about are also the times in my life.
Mar 04, 2019
This book gives you a different perspective of death. Joan Didion explains the grief she went through when her husband died. She researched death and grief to try and overcome the death of her husband. She views death differently after all…
Oct 25, 2018Dictionary1 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I did not like this book at all. I had to force myself to keep reading and then started skimming and finally just put it away. If you like alot of name dropping (she and her husband were involved with Hollywood people) than you will love…
Apr 08, 2018KMJ_ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a beautifully written, depressing book. Joan Didion describes the year in her life her husband dies and her daughter is struck by two different health emergencies. Although a short read, this book is heart-wrenching and raw.
Jan 30, 2018RoyalSemaphore rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
We have been given a gift in the form of a narrative of what life is life in grief, then mourning. The pages turn quickly; the feelings are authentic and poignant.
Cynthia_N
Aug 24, 2017Cynthia_N rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written. Didion ends the year with her daughter in a medically induced coma and her husband having a fatal heart attack while eating dinner. The book chronicles her first year of grief.
Jul 25, 2017ArapahoeHollyR rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A moving, exceptionally-well written account of unthinkable loss.
xaipe
Mar 02, 2016xaipe rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
For anyone who has suffered the death of someone deeply loved - parent, partner, child, this is a deeply moving and personal account of how one brilliant writer dealt with her personal tragedy.
Jan 24, 2015WVMLStaffPicks rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Didion turns the subject of this memoir -- the year following her husband's death and her adult daughter's serious illness, into what a New York Times reviewer described as a page-turner. Her painful reaction to these events leads to…
Jan 28, 2014Terre9 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I also found the book hard to put down. I also have been told I appear to have it all together when internally I feel far from whole. I found Joan Didion's insights thoughtful, as they were thought provoking.