Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (1968) - April 2022

[Judy]

Interesting discussion. I think we talked about the subjectivity and the contemporary focus of the writer when discussing The Hotel Years: Wanderings in Europe between the Wars by Joseph Roth.

Obviously these were originally published much longer ago, but, in his case too, the articles were all published in magazines or newspapers originally and were largely opinion pieces, assuming a lot of factual knowledge and a whole context which most readers won't have now.

But most of those pieces were still worth reading for the power of Roth's writing and the personality that comes across, and I think the same applies to Didion's 1960s pieces, even if readers now are sometimes baffled by some references and/or taken aback by her views. I remember a comment about Dickens's journalism by Walter Bagehot: "He describes London like a special correspondent for posterity."

I've just finished reading the section of more personal pieces - some of these feel rather slight, but I was blown away by "On Self-Respect" - probably my favourite piece in the book so far. I looked this up and I see Vogue magazine republished it in tribute to her after her death. It says she wrote it to exact length on deadline when another promised piece fell through. You would never know - there's nothing rushed about it at all.

https://www.vogue.com/article/joan-di...