Letters
Knit to This: The White Album
Dear Kay,
In what is becoming a regular phenomenon, I’ve been simultaneously listening to and reading books. I just finished Joan Didion’s 1979 collection of essays, The White Album (book here, audiobook here), and I have to say, this hybrid read/listen thing is actually pretty great.
There are moments when I want just to listen. And other moments when I want to see the words on the page. Audiobooks are a river that you float along on, not all that great for stopping and reflecting on what you’ve heard. That’s usually an OK way to absorb a book—especially a novel with a lot of incident. With Didion, the writing is so crystalline and spare that there were moments when I’d go find my print edition so I could see exactly how, for example, she structured her essay about shopping malls.
It’s a great essay, the shopping mall essay. These are all great essays. Didion keeps her distance while simultaneously taking us deep into a world we didn’t know existed. An orchid farm in Malibu, for example. By the end of the orchid-farming essay, I was in tears. I wonder: was she ever in tears about the orchid farmer?
OK, so maybe I’m in tears on a regular basis. But the tale of the orchid farmer, and the surreal context in which he breeds orchids, is one of those classic Didion mashups of excess and beauty and horror.
The narrator, Susan Varon, is terrific. She captures the coolness of Joan Didion, but also the humanity. If you want to read an essay about what it’s like to suffer from migraines, this is such a fine piece of writing.
Or listening.
Or both, actually.
Love,
Ann
I just ordered it from the library as somehow I missed this one. Thanks!
When I saw your topic “The White Album”, I thought it would be about the Beatle’s masterpiece. Instead, I will be listening or reading Didion’s masterpiece – thank you. If you haven’t already seen it, there is a documentary about Didion (she participates!) that is excellent as well.
Yes, I was a bit disappointed.
Earlier this month Book Bub offered me Didion’s Collected Essays including White Album and two other books. I was blown away by how well these essays held up after so many years and so many changes in the world and in me. I read these when they were first published and I thought they were really good. Now, I am astonished at how amazingly good they are. Now, I will have to try hearing them read. Thanks for the suggestion!
I am totally addicted to audio books. They enable me to read and do something else at the same time, like knit, walk the dog, and do household chores, should that ever happen. What I miss is the ability to take notes or mark certain passages, see any inclusions in the print format such as maps or lists of major characters or photos, and I can’t participate in my on-line book club’s discussion without a print copy because I can’t spell the proper nouns. Still, more than 90% of my book consumption is by ear.
Did you see the biopic about Didion, called The Center Will Not Hold? You can stream it on Netflix. Fascinating.
I really enjoyed that doco after reading Kays piece last year. Wondering if I have enough courage to read The Year of Magical Thinking yet, as its themes are very relevant to me right now.
Yes, definitely! A writer’s life is always interesting to me, hers especially. Kay wrote about it last year: https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/57517-2/
I just re-read Slouching Towards Bethlehem for the eleventyeth time; Didion’s writing never fails to astonish. I want to slow down when I read her. I spotted her on the 57th Street crosstown bus a few years ago and couldn’t have been more thrilled if she was a Beatle.
i love reading and listening! Ive spent many summer evenings listening to Sedaris books (and he’s the narrator) and knitting. Summer of ease….
Not to mention I love Didion. I am overdueto re-read the White Album.
Thank you for your comments. I enjoy seeing your recommendations. I’m going to check this out & also like the listen/read idea.
I, too, have discovered the benefits of reading printed page and listening simultaneously, but was delighted to find the trifecta of knitting at the same time — if you lose your place in your knitting or on the page, the audio carries you along.