I can't help but compare [b:Blue Nights|10252302|Blue Nights|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1319148558l/10252302._SY75_.jpg|15152485] to [b:The Year of Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878638l/7815._SY75_.jpg|1659905], but I also can't help wondering if that's really fair to [a:Joan Didion|238|Joan Didion|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1640504428p2/238.jpg]. How do you compare the grief of losing a husband to losing a child? Can you compare them?

If I look at this analytically, I think [b:Blue Nights|10252302|Blue Nights|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1319148558l/10252302._SY75_.jpg|15152485] is less linear and has less of a concrete focus than [b:The Year of Magical Thinking|7815|The Year of Magical Thinking|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878638l/7815._SY75_.jpg|1659905]. I felt more connected to her grief of losing a partner, likely as a result of that being closer to my lived experience as I have no children. And all things considered, I think Didion acknowledges the more haphazard style in [b:Blue Nights|10252302|Blue Nights|Joan Didion|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1319148558l/10252302._SY75_.jpg|15152485]. She isn't afraid to admit its "shortcomings," if you can call them that: "Let me again try to talk to you directly."

Analytical brain aside, how much grief she experienced is devastating. To outlive your partner and your only child with a heart that feels as deeply as hers is unimaginable. And wherever she is, I hope she knows we are grateful to share a small portion of the load of that grief whenever we open these books.

I liked it all, but most of all I liked the fact that although the play was entirely focused on Quintana there were, five evenings and two afternoons a week, these ninety full minutes, the run time of the play, during which she did not need to be dead.

During which the question remained open.

During which the denouement had yet to play out.

During which the last scene played did not necessarily need to be played in the ICU overlooking the East River.

Blue Nights - Likewise Book Reviews

3 Reviews