kate's review
Play It As It Lays: A Novel
by Joan Didion
kate's review
Play It As It Lays: A Novel by Joan Didion
kate's review
rating:
The bookjacket describes Play It As It Lays as "a profoundly disturbing novel."
Well, that's true, but it's also a very good one. Didion tells the story of one woman caught in the midst of a vicious Hollywood society lifestyle in the 60's, with all the sex, drugs, depression and alienation that entails. Unlike other novels about the 60's, though, Didion moves quickly and unrepetitively through her story, refusing to wallow in the meaninglessness of her characters' lives and instead letting the plot speak for itself. There's no moral here and there's even less hope for redemption, but an incredibly engaging novel that takes only a couple of days (or only a day, if you get really hooked) to read.
Well, that's true, but it's also a very good one. Didion tells the story of one woman caught in the midst of a vicious Hollywood society lifestyle in the 60's, with all the sex, drugs, depression and alienation that entails. Unlike other novels about the 60's, though, Didion moves quickly and unrepetitively through her story, refusing to wallow in the meaninglessness of her characters' lives and instead letting the plot speak for itself. There's no moral here and there's even less hope for redemption, but an incredibly engaging novel that takes only a couple of days (or only a day, if you get really hooked) to read.
