DaveNash3 reviewed Democracy by Joan Didion
Review of 'Democracy' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
This novel centers on an affluent, politically connected Hawaiian family in 1975 as Saigon falls and the husband's political career and marriage crumble. The kids flake out, put their empty heroin bag in their Snoopy Wastebasket, go to Saigon, dodge the draft, stage a war protest. The wife skips town with the man she should have married instead of going to her sister's funeral.
But what's most interesting is how Didion writes directly to the reader as the Didion the author. She's struggling with her narrative, her style, but she finds space to quote a text book that highlights her skill as a writer. I loved that.
She's able to weave in some comedy among all the newspeak of the day while telling us this difficult story. In many ways, this is the 1975 Pacific version of the The Last Think He Wanted which in 1984 in the West Indies. …
This novel centers on an affluent, politically connected Hawaiian family in 1975 as Saigon falls and the husband's political career and marriage crumble. The kids flake out, put their empty heroin bag in their Snoopy Wastebasket, go to Saigon, dodge the draft, stage a war protest. The wife skips town with the man she should have married instead of going to her sister's funeral.
But what's most interesting is how Didion writes directly to the reader as the Didion the author. She's struggling with her narrative, her style, but she finds space to quote a text book that highlights her skill as a writer. I loved that.
She's able to weave in some comedy among all the newspeak of the day while telling us this difficult story. In many ways, this is the 1975 Pacific version of the The Last Think He Wanted which in 1984 in the West Indies. Great artists are never satisfied and keep going back trying to tell it better. I think the The Last Thing He Want was and improvement, but Demoracy is still outstanding.
