A review by nathansnook
Political Fictions by Joan Didion

informative fast-paced

3.75

โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‹๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ.โ€

- The last line of the book, which Didion wrote in 2000 in an essay titled ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ

Sadly though, this new generation is so cooked that it doesnโ€™t have the literary skills to stay competent in a turning country. Disappointment streaks these last days of 2024, and Iโ€™m glad I made the decision to leave the country that I wanted to call home for so long that it seems so foreign to me. It seems so foreign because ugliness has, once again, reigned truth of character.

Though mostly dry, a majority of the rub lies in points made on Reagan and Clinton and their character versus their overall person when it comes to campaigning, not until Clinton ruined that by misplacing morality with his scandal.

When it comes right down to it, I donโ€™t think the public is ready to admit that polices are actually what make the country when they spend so much time trivializing on character. On social media. On making appearances. All of this matters. It matters because it is public. It matters because 90% of success is showing up. But when you realize itโ€™s all grand show and big talk with very little work towards a good place for good people, the US has decided that history must repeat itself to show itโ€™s an old dog that knows no new tricks.

Didion predicted the divide. She saw it since Dukakis. She detailed everything out for us, only to be doomed in the end.

*so glad I saved this now for a better understanding of a country I want so much to love, but have left it [for good].