In the second half, Jude spars with her cousin Kennedy, Stella's daughter, a spoiled actress. We are left to decide for ourselves any motive for the decisions made by Elena, who as the main character is not very well filled-out. As for the conspiracy stuff surrounding a thinly disguised versión of Iran-Contra, there's nothing new about shadowy figures moving arms around to support groups in which governments have an interest, and vag. Categories: It's an examination of America's ruthless role in Central America in the mid-'80s which serves as both mirror and microcosm for so much else. They may have different backgrounds, but their commitment to helping the people of Baileyville brings them together. Whatever writing devices are used to create mystery, suspense and anticipation - all the things that keep you turning the page, in other words - the reward in the end cannot come down to the ‘aesthetics’ of the writing alone. The crux of what went on in this book could have fit in a 15 page short story. Trouble signing in? It’s about a woman, a familiar Didion woman who is “remote even from herself,” but more significantly it is about the routines and protocols of the men around her—spooks and undercover crooks who cloak their chicaneries in a laconic, cowboy ethos that both Didion and her heroine plainly love.
Excellently complex! | Tending bar as a side job in Beverly Hills, she catches a glimpse of her mother’s doppelgänger. The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion is entertaining even if you are not interested in how the covert government works. The story centers around Elena McMahon, a reporter for the Washington Post who quits her job covering the 1984 United States presidential election to care for her father after her mother’s death. It would be impossible for a young person—say, a teenager—to comprehend the world of this book now. Her father, who is slipping into dementia, is a more interesting figure than she. When reading a book of conspiracy and intrigue, I do expect things to be unclear, but here the narrator is unidentified; we never know how she came by the information she is imparting. so what can you read after you've finished with Didion? She eventually escapes, using a fake passport, but on returning home becomes the subject of an investigation by State Department "crisis junkie" Treat Morrison. I read this specifically because of the Netflix movie. I.. think I mostly enjoyed this?? Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number). The narrative is also annoying when you consider that the narrator is supposedly some sort of journalist; the story is certainly not told in a journalistic-style. This is t. Re-read. I'll admit the impetus for reading this was hearing about the film adaptation, and then subsequently watching the trailer. She is so consistently good and so erudite that it is a joy to open the page and let the words flow over you.
The arms dealing is fairly easy to grasp if you are aware of the history the book is based on, but the weirdness of the main character hav. I don't know, I can't figure out if I'm putting too much thought into it or if I am missing something. There is only one paragraph in the entire book to even make you think these two people had some sort of connection. The Last Thing He Wanted (1996) is a roundabout novel of Central American intrigue, secret government lethality, and a strong, deep woman of integrity relying upon, attempting to rescue, betrayed and led astray by weak, shallow, amoral or marked-for-death men. With her spoiled daughter's complaints ringing in her ears, Elena reluctantly visits her father, an amoral hustler and deal-maker planning his last big score. The best thing about this book is the spare writing style. Even after finishing the book, I'm not really sure what the motives of the "bad guys" were. How fabulous is JD? Very annoying. These works feel from an America very far away, but I think they will be central to the literature of that now-falling-to-pieces nation, foundational texts of potential self-understanding. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. The movie looked interesting in the trailer, so I wanted to read the book first. I also felt I gained some insight into the US intervention into Central American crises and how the CIA and other agencies are used surreptitiously to affect change desired by the US govt. This is a romance. Halfway through I would have unhesitatingly declared this the secret summit of the entire Didion canon (alongside, I found this book very hard to follow. Basing her novel on the true story of the Pack Horse Library Project established by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, Moyes (Still Me, 2018, etc.) There are those writers who write well about life and then there are those writers like Didion who excel in documenting the in-betweenness of life. We’re glad you found a book that interests you! It’s my first Didion to read, won’t be my last! is further proof that she's a better journalist than novelist. You have entered an incorrect email address! Who is this narrator? At first, I really liked how she would select certain phrases uttered by various characters and repeat them to give them greater impact. ‧ The Bookish Elf is your single, trusted, daily source for all the news, ideas and richness of literary life. Start by marking “The Last Thing He Wanted” as Want to Read: Error rating book. This is a sort of INDIA SONG that accessed both the JFK hit and Iran/Contra at once. Kin “[find] each other’s lives inscrutable” in this rich, sharp story about the way identity is formed. The scene in which Stella adopts her White persona is a tour de force of doubling and confusion. In DEMOCRACY and LAST THING, Didion was obsessed with sinister business as usual. On a second read, crucial background details became more apparent and the love story that's slipped almost imperceptibly into the crux of the narrative made complete sense. On first reading, I went too fast, letting myself get pulled along by the rhythmic riptide of the prose. The recursive metering seen throughout this book can either draw ire or or get one’s groove. I love Didion's nonfiction, this was the first novel I've read by her. Rate accordingly. Bennett keeps all these plot threads thrumming and her social commentary crisp. The characters (when you remember who they are) are so flat that they are basically cardboard cutouts of real people. GENERAL FICTION, by But t. Lance Cleland (Captain): A friend who knows my literary predilections recommended a spy novel earlier this month. © Copyright 2020 Kirkus Media LLC. But it does seem to be intentionally cryptic. I also felt I gained some insight into the US intervention into Central American crises and how the CIA and other agencies are used surreptitiously to affect change desired by the US govt. Stella, ensconced in White society, is shedding her fur coat. In this sparsely written, quick paced narrative, Elena struggles to cope with the spies, American military personnel, and the consequences of her father’s errors that are waiting for her on a small island off the coast of Costa Rica. Joan Didion It’s one that you could easily read in a day or two if you were so inclined. She writes about Kentucky with lush descriptions of the landscape and tender respect for the townspeople, most of whom are poor, uneducated, and grateful for the chance to learn. The movie looked interesting in the trailer, so I wanted to read the book first. *I am not assigning star ratings in 2019 as a personal experiment*. There is an intriguing plot, lots of twists, some wonderful characters, plenty of clues, suspects, and a good dose of thrill. Heartbreak masks itself as politics. On a second read, crucial background details became more apparent and the love story that's slipped almost imperceptibly into the crux of the narrative made complete sense. It discombobulated me a bit more than I could quite keep up with though. Retrieve credentials. The writing is good but the subject is a Little dated by now, in an historical sense, and eternal in another historical sense. The story of a daughter and father and the arms deal that brings them somewhat together is told at such a clip that I was forty pages deep before I had the thought that, damn, this is Didion at her best. It's as if she doesn't really care about the story, even though she's spent 10 years researching it, and in the end, the reader doesn't really care either. by Jude, so Black that strangers routinely stare, is unrecognizable to her aunt. Bennett is deeply engaged in the unknowability of other people and the scourge of colorism. Now we don’t have any. To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.
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