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A review by jcstokes95
Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
CW: sexual assault, domestic violence, abortion
In this book, Joan Didion makes every sexual interaction with a man feel like rape. In fact, I would argue she makes every single interaction with a man feel like rape. At every turn, agency is taken away from Maria- again and again. Don't move when I have sex with you. Don't see your daughter. Have a forced abortion or I will take your child from you. Talk back to me and I will hit you. Have a life and I will film and exploit it. The only point where she seems to identify a women having agency is when she watches a movie scene where she walks away from the camera after being brutally gang raped. (this in opposition to the film of her life where she believe that girl "had no knack for anything".)
This book is fucking bleak. It's almost amazing how fucking depressing it can be in so short a novel. It took me a while to get on it's wavelength. But by a certain point, it was so revolting I felt like I had to keep going. I do feel a lot of it is very foggy. I think this matches the mood, but as a reader I found it difficult at times to understand what had happened. But when I was confused, I mainly just assumed that I could fill in the blanks by generalizing that everyone's behavior had been pretty malignant in what I'd missed.
I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone. I was interested but I'm not sure how I actually feel about it still.
In this book, Joan Didion makes every sexual interaction with a man feel like rape. In fact, I would argue she makes every single interaction with a man feel like rape. At every turn, agency is taken away from Maria- again and again. Don't move when I have sex with you. Don't see your daughter. Have a forced abortion or I will take your child from you. Talk back to me and I will hit you. Have a life and I will film and exploit it. The only point where she seems to identify a women having agency is when she watches a movie scene where she walks away from the camera after being brutally gang raped. (this in opposition to the film of her life where she believe that girl "had no knack for anything".)
This book is fucking bleak. It's almost amazing how fucking depressing it can be in so short a novel. It took me a while to get on it's wavelength. But by a certain point, it was so revolting I felt like I had to keep going. I do feel a lot of it is very foggy. I think this matches the mood, but as a reader I found it difficult at times to understand what had happened. But when I was confused, I mainly just assumed that I could fill in the blanks by generalizing that everyone's behavior had been pretty malignant in what I'd missed.
I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone. I was interested but I'm not sure how I actually feel about it still.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abortion
Moderate: Homophobia