by
Katie Roiphe
102
Joan Didion
4
terms
2
notes
lacuna
(en)
an unfilled space; a gap (plural: lacunae)
102
for memoirs, they still leave holes, pockets of deliberate vagueness, writerly lacunae
on Joan Didion's memoirs (Year, Blue Nights)
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
for memoirs, they still leave holes, pockets of deliberate vagueness, writerly lacunae
on Joan Didion's memoirs (Year, Blue Nights)
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
brio
(en)
(noun) brilliance, panache, quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous
106
Joan Didion, for all her stylistic brio, becomes straightforward
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
Joan Didion, for all her stylistic brio, becomes straightforward
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
elision
(en)
(linguistics) the omission of a sound or syllable when speaking OR the act or an instance of omitting something
106
portentous
(en)
(adjective) of, relating to, or constituting a portent / (adjective) eliciting amazement or wonder; prodigious / (adjective) being a grave or serious matter / (adjective) self-consciously solemn or important; pompous / (adjective) ponderously excessive
108
She did clipped irony and she did sentences swelling with portent.
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
She did clipped irony and she did sentences swelling with portent.
notable
7 years, 4 months ago
113
[...] Didion uses ironic, or what could be more accurately called skeptical, quotation marks fanatically and constantly. They highlight the fact that the journalist is not just telling a story, she is taking it apart; that the words we use are suspect, revelatory.
I'm a little bit skeptical myself about her analysis of Didion's style (a lot of these so-called elements of her style just seem like fairly common stylistic features) but this passage is interesting
[...] Didion uses ironic, or what could be more accurately called skeptical, quotation marks fanatically and constantly. They highlight the fact that the journalist is not just telling a story, she is taking it apart; that the words we use are suspect, revelatory.
I'm a little bit skeptical myself about her analysis of Didion's style (a lot of these so-called elements of her style just seem like fairly common stylistic features) but this passage is interesting
115
[...] After the famous first line of her collection The White Album, "We tell ourselves stories in order to live," [...]
reminds me of one of Douglas Coupland's major themes ... did Didion originate this concept? Or does it predate even her?
[...] After the famous first line of her collection The White Album, "We tell ourselves stories in order to live," [...]
reminds me of one of Douglas Coupland's major themes ... did Didion originate this concept? Or does it predate even her?