My first introduction to Joan Didion’s writing was in The Year of Magical Thinking, a memoir chronicling her grief over her husband’s sudden death and a departure from her typical writing ventures. I had complicated feelings about my experience with that book, and decided to give her writing another try with her more well-known contribution, Play It As It Lays. And as it would turn out, her fictional writing is just as complicated for me. Let’s get into it!
The Gist
Maria's life is in shambles; her daughter is in a long term care facility due to a brain chemical aberration, her husband is both aggressive and absent, and the pseudo friends in her life are so vain and self-serving that she can't stand their company. What follows is Maria's reckless pursuit of more fulfilling stimulation and the unfortunate consequences of such a mental state.
The Take
Play It As It Lays is a disjointed and disorienting story, one that does not take the time to provide much context to the reader. This confusing narrative style helps connect with Maria’s deteriorating mental state once you get your bearings on the writing style. The opening chapters, told from the perspective of an institutionalized Maria and her alarmed loved ones, provide a mystery that unfolds throughout the short novel. It lends a sense of foreboding as the story moves through the flashes of Maria’s life, witnessing her increasing disconnection from her world and the people around her.
This is yet another story full of terrible characters. Maria’s life is filled with selfish Hollywood industry types, from her abusive and absent husband Carter to her gossipy friend Helene. There is obviously some bad blood between Maria and her loved ones at the start of the story, but through the bulk of the plot I was convinced they were in the wrong because of how self-centered and vapid they were when she encountered them. The reality is much more complicated, and no one comes out of this story with the moral advantage. I can handle complicated and unlikable characters, but coupled with the fractured storyline, I had trouble understanding their motivations enough to connect with any of them.
This novel reminded me a lot of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath; both protagonists are encountering a mental collapse as they navigate their unsatisfying lives and encounter people who want to use them for selfish gain. Maria has a more frenetic energy to her, with her reckless driving throughout California as she tries to outrun the wreckage that is her home life. Her so-called friends and acquaintances reject her when she shows complicated emotion, as though she is only desirable company when she is naively happy. This entire story showcases women who suffer more than their male counterparts and are expected to bear everything without complaint. Even the abortion scene is punctuated with the doctor minimizing the trauma Maria’s body experiences during and after the procedure.
My main struggle with this novel stems from the purposelessness of all of these characters; while Maria’s struggles felt real enough, the story as a whole felt inconsequential. The characters seem too unreal, too much like faint caricatures of the socialites Didion is critiquing. The lean and fast-paced structure of the story, while beneficial in immersing the reader in a disorienting state of mind, ultimately fails to make the story bear much weight for me.
This is known as an important novel, and I am chalking it up to a story that I just don’t “get.” The nihilism that permeates the writing and character interactions provides too much apathy for me to really connect with Maria or any of the people in her circle. The writing is interesting and inventive, but story is really important to me and it felt lacking in Play It As It Lays.
Rating: 5/10
Memorable Moments
"I am just very very very tired of listening to you all."
“I am what I am. To look for ‘reasons’ is beside the point.”
The supermarket scene where Maria buys a ton of groceries she doesn't eat just to not look like one of "those" divorced women is both humorous and heartbreaking.
Try It If...
You want to challenge yourself with a sparse narrative story.
Feminist foundational stories are appealing to you.
You want a short read that can be completed in one sitting.
Avoid It If...
Discussions of abortions are triggering to you.
Reading about characters with mental illness or suicidal thoughts does not appeal to you.
You prefer a straightforward narrative.
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