Blue Nights by Joan Didion (2011)

 This is very much Part II of the story that began in her previous book The Year of Magical Thinking. It covers not only the death of her daughter Quintana, but the first inklings the author has of declining capabilities as part of her ageing. Much of the same territory is compassed in a similar way, which means we have punchiness here also, concern with family modes here also, self-criticism to a strong extent here also. I pondered after having read the previous book whether she would feel able, once the focus shifted entirely onto Quintana, to address that daughter's nature and experiences more directly, particularly the alcoholism which seems to have been key to understanding her. In a sense she does, and then again doesn't. She tiptoes carefully to her sometimes drinking too much, and explores timidly the pressures that may have brought that about, but that's as far as it goes. There are also hints online at potential sexual abuse of Quintana, which as far as I can determine are unsubstantiated - she does not address these, and perhaps didn't need to? I'm not an expert. I will say I don't feel any more enlightened about Quintana after this episode of the story; she's still an enigmatic figure whose personality is not overly clear to me. Subsequently, Didion is good at picturing the unsteadying quality of the first realisations of her own frailty. When energy starts to get compromised, and interest in/hunger for the world and its machinations (her stock in trade as a journalist) starts to flag, she feels disarranged, her anchor dragging, certainties failing. On the whole, this doesn't quite have the bright thwack of the previous volume, and its sense of structure. And I will admit to one particular writing trope starting to pall a little: she uses repetition for effect often. A phrase will be considered telling, either something somebody said which seems significant, or a summary line which 'encapsulates perfectly', which will be used again later (in a separate paragraph, or in italics, or both) to harden emphasis. This trope is great when used judiciously - I got the emerging feeling here that there were occasions which could have done without the repetition, particularly when there are a string of them, old ones compounding more recent examples; the sense of significance lessening just when it ought to intensify.