‘Play it as it Lays’ Review

“Play It as It Lays” is a novel written by Joan Didion, published in 1970. Set in Los Angeles during the 1960s, the story revolves around Maria Wyeth, a former actress dealing with her crumbling marriage, a troubled relationship with her daughter, and her own mental health struggles. As Maria navigates through a world of superficiality, nihilism, and despair, the narrative delves into themes of Hollywood disillusionment, identity crisis, and the search for meaning in an increasingly fragmented society. With its fragmented narrative style and introspective tone, “Play It as It Lays” offers a stark portrayal of a woman’s struggle to find her place in an indifferent world.” – Description provided by ChatOn AI.

The main character, Maria is so similar to other women we see portrayed in this subgenre of feminist books and more so what we call now on social media, “sad girl lit.” This is the first classic piece that I read that explores certain themes like mental health and strained relationships but I do think the characterization given by Joan Didion was definitely influential to characters we see in books by authors such as Ottessa Moshfegh and Taylor Jenkins Reid. These characters are typically not likable, they are going through a crisis after all, but I enjoy seeing how the human mind works and how humans all go through situations differently. That being said, these kinds of books and characters are enjoyable for me to read.

I loved the setting of California and Nevada. Reading a book that was contemporary to 1970, it was not filled with over the top pop culture references that you would now see in a historical fiction piece taking place in the same setting. It was just so natural not trying to be anything that it was not.

The writing was my favorite part of, ‘Play It as It Lays’. It was blunt and straightforward, no beating around the bush. Lately, I have been reading so many books that are lyrical or poetic. That writing style makes me question what the writer is trying to say, giving me a hard time understanding and having to go back and read paragraphs over and over again. With Joan Didion though, you do not need to worry about that at all. This gives an accessible and fast paced experience for the reader.

One thing that was not strong was the plot. This is a character driven novel and if you do not find those kinds of stories appealing then this will be a boring ride for you. This is a deep dive on the human mind of a woman who is going through quite a lot in life. Coming to terms with her childhood and past. She is also going through decisions to make on her marriage and a struggling relationship she has with her ill daughter. Maria is also a woman who is aging and in her line of work that is not viewed as a good thing even if it is inevitable. This book may have been published over fifty years ago but a modern woman can relate to the themes presented.

The main character, Maria is so similar to other women we see portrayed in this subgenre of feminist books and more so what we call now on social media, “sad girl lit.” That being said, these kinds of books and characters are enjoyable for me to read. I loved the setting of California and Nevada. It was just so natural not trying to be anything that it was not. The writing was my favorite part of, ‘Play It as It Lays’. It was blunt and straightforward, no beating around the bush. This gives an accessible and fast paced experience for the reader. One thing that was not strong was the plot. This book may have been published over fifty years ago but a modern woman can relate to the themes presented.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ Review

“The Scarlet Pimpernel is a novel by Baroness Orczy that takes place during the French Revolution. The story follows a group of French aristocrats who are being targeted by the revolutionaries and are in danger of being executed. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a mysterious figure who has been rescuing these aristocrats from France and bringing them to safety in England. The French authorities are desperate to catch the Scarlet Pimpernel, but he always manages to evade them. The main character is Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy Englishman who is secretly the Scarlet Pimpernel. Sir Percy’s wife, Marguerite, is a French actress who is caught up in the political turmoil of the revolution. Marguerite is initially suspected of being a spy for the revolutionaries, but Sir Percy eventually clears her name. The novel ends with the Scarlet Pimpernel successfully rescuing the last of the French aristocrats and returning them to England.” – ChatOn description of the book. ‘

By the description of the book, it states that Sir Percy is the main character of the book, yes, a lot of the story does revolve around him, but I more so think that Marguerite is the main character here. She is a woman in a foreign country, a country that looks down upon her own, and a woman who has no idea what is happening to her family across the channel. She is being black mailed and a strong and passionate woman in the situation that she is placed into within these pages. That being said, she was the most developed of the characters. This book does present themes such as anonymity and deception, that made it hard to tell the difference between the male characters.

The atmosphere is a common one for the Edwardian time period of when ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ was published. I am curious if authors of the time were inspired by the French Revolution like today’s authors are inspired by World War II. The descriptive writing gave this story a rich atmosphere and it was easy to picture the scenes that were playing out.

Playing in with the atmosphere, the writing was very descriptive, but it never over did it. It never made you feel bogged down and you could not get out. However, my mind did seem to drift off a lot, I think this is from either too many characters, or the lack of development on said characters. The writing was reminiscent of the likes of Dickens and Shelley with the ability at painting a scene inside of the reader’s head.

The plot sounds great in theory and when I first read this book it really did spark me interest in historical fiction. However, I have since read books that follow the same historical events, those books being Les Miserable and The Tale of Two Cities, this one just does not compare to those. It is very one dimensional and I do think if this book was published today, it would still be popular because of its main female lead.

By the description of the book, it states that Sir Percy is the main character of the book, yes, a lot of the story does revolve around him, but I more so think that Marguerite is the main character here. This book does present themes such as anonymity and deception, that made it hard to tell the difference between the male characters. The atmosphere is a common one for the Edwardian time period of when ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’ was published. The descriptive writing gave this story a rich atmosphere and it was easy to picture the scenes that were playing out. Playing in with the atmosphere, the writing was very descriptive, but it never over did it. The writing was reminiscent of the likes of Dickens and Shelley with the ability at painting a scene inside of the reader’s head. The plot sounds great in theory and when I first read this book it really did spark me interest in historical fiction. It is very one dimensional and I do think if this book was published today, it would still be popular because of its main female lead. This book has nothing wrong with it but it could be so much more.

2.25 out of 5 stars.

‘The Sun Also Rises’ Book Review

In, ‘The Sun Also Rises’, we follow a group of friends who are expats in Europe after the end of the first world war. I feel like this book was supposed to be a character driven one, but I just could not get connected with them. There was a lot of dialogue, something I have found common in books from this time period, rather than internal thoughts. Overall, they were dull like much else in this story.

The atmosphere was cool and really reminded of books like ‘The Nightingale’ and ‘The Paris Hours’, Hemmingway is a character in that one. I really think this book did a good job at showing us what life in post war Europe was like and all the angst and questioning that came with it.

The writing was quite descriptive at times, and I think it was the highlight of the novel. Especially the descriptions of the travel between France and Spain, I could see the rolling hills and how beautiful they were. There were other parts with how a person was described maybe something as small as the look in their eyes, but I thought that it was beautiful and rather emotional in writing.

The writing might have been great, but this was a dull story. I just do not know what the plot was and that’s why I could not even write a synopsis for it. We just followed the lives of these characters day to day. Even with their dramas, I did not care because I could not connect with the characters. This book was boring and after reading it, I just wanted to go to sleep.

I feel like this book was supposed to be a character driven one, but I just could not get connected with them. I really think this book did a good job at showing us what life in post war Europe was like and all the angst and questioning that came with it. The writing was quite descriptive at times, and I think it was the highlight of the novel. I just do not know what the plot was. I have read two books from this author now, if I do not like the next one that I read from him, then I will not read anymore.

2 out 5 stars

‘The Call of Chthulhu and Other Weird Stories’ Book Review

The characters in this are nonexistent. Yes, there are characters, but they are interchange for each story. most of the time the character has no time, fears something, and ends up getting mauled by that something. There is no character development, and they are all one dimensional if even that.

The stories are usually set with Lovecraft’s native New England. Sometimes we will see stories set in other places like England or Egypt but for the most part, expect the United States. I have nothing to say about the setting, it was there and that’s that. You will see throughout much of this review, I do not have any major thoughts.

At first, I enjoyed the writing. It was descriptive and I was wanting full novels out of the first few short stories. As the collection went along though, the writing just felt as though it was getting lengthier and with little to no dialogue it was growing to be tiresome. a lot of the stories were told in first person, but I feel like so much more could have been done to them if third person had been used as a lot of the time the author used fade to black and we did not really get to see much of these monsters. I think that Lovecraft has a nice writing style but at times he got too carried away with it.

As stated before, I really enjoyed the plot of the first few stories that are in this collection. My favorites being Celephaïs, Dagon, and The Rats in the Walls. Since I enjoyed a few of the stories that is why I am adding half a star to the two-star rating. The descriptions of the monsters or other scary things were quite vague so I could not have a definite picture of them in my head. I do think at the time that these stories came out that they must have been shocking but for the most part they were lackluster for me.

The characters in this are nonexistent. There is no character development, and they are all one dimensional if even that. The stories are usually set with Lovecraft’s native New England. At first, I enjoyed the writing. I think that Lovecraft has a nice writing style but at times he got too carried away with it. I really enjoyed the plot of the first few stories that are in this collection. I do think at the time that these stories came out that they must have been shocking but for the most part they were lackluster for me. It was interesting to see the stories that inspired much of our modern-day fantasy and science fiction stories, but I will not be continuing with Lovecraft.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ Book Review

This was an interesting read. My classic of this cycle of books was Tess of the D’Urbervilles. This book had lots of good things about it and I would say only one downside that isn’t a major issue.

First and foremost I think the main plot or theme of this book is how trauma can impact a person and cause them to go into an endless cycle if they do not get the proper care. Now, this is set in the late 1800s where women did not get that care and were blamed for their issues or blamed for crimes committed against them. One thing that I find interesting is that a man wrote this novel, I think there are hints of feminism throughout the novel and how hypocritical Victorian society was to women. I wonder if there would be more of an outrage if a woman published this book in 1890 or if she would even be able to find a publisher for it at all.

Now that I have finished, there was a lot of foreshadowing and symbolism throughout the story. I won’t go into too many details about it as I do not want to spoil the book. Those are two of my favorite literary devices and I think they were well used in this story.

My one and only complaint is in the middle part of the story it seemed to drag. The start and end were quick but the middle just had really long and tedious sections that I didn’t feel like were necessary for the development of the plot.

I really liked that Wessex was the setting as this book takes near and around the same place that my family came from even though this is set roughly two hundred years after they were there. I thought that this book gave a good look into Victorian times as often we see London during that time period and not the smaller towns in England. The plot was fascinating as it was calling out the societal standards of the time. I need to research on how this book was received when it was first published over a hundred years ago. This book used plenty of literary devices and is a good example of what classic literature is. It did get stagnant at times but I think overall that this was a good read.

4 out of 5 stars.

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