Phatgirl

Yes. Didion's writing is unmatched in its clarity, detail and wittiness. The subject matter is sometimes mundane and dated (Joan Baez, Las Vegas weddings, etc). However, the text is still engaging due to the excellence of Didion's prose. This is an especially good read for a writer who wants to see what can be done with everyday life using exceptional prose.

Any collection of essays by E.B. White, including classics such as "Once More to the Lake." Both writers are exceptional in capturing the details of everyday life and relating them to important ideas about human nature and our culture.

I love Diane's voice and reading style. She's great on screen or via audio.

Flashback to the 60s--Real Life Is Crazier Than Fiction

I’m not a big fan of To The Lighthouse. I dislike these stories and novels that are set in a time when the middle class seems to have nothing to do but sit around and think and be artistic while servants do all the labor. The characters speak multiple languages and can play the piano and recite poetry, but for what? To keep from being bored to tears, I think. But I am bored to tears when I read about their lives and thoughts. This focus on the characters’ thoughts vs. their actions is characteristic of the modernist style, so I supposed it’s something one can read just to appreciate the style of the time, but I am not a fan. Woolf does an admirable job with character, developing a level of psychological depth that is realistic and convincing; however, like real people, most of these characters are dull, dull, dull. The most interesting part of the story to me is Mr. Ramsay’s narcissistic tendencies. He's a jerk, and it's slightly entertaining to consider why he is such a jerk and why the other characters tolerate him. It's very interesting to think about why his wife supports his boorish behavior. The novel glorifies Mrs. Ramsay the mother-wife-martyr to an extent that is mystifying considering that her greatest accomplishments are throwing memorable dinner parties and stroking her husband’s ego. I do find it interesting that this novel is reputedly somewhat autobiographical, which means that Woolf’s father was possibly narcissictic and her mother an enabler, which may have contributed to Woolf’s mental illness and eventual suicide? I find that idea MUCH more interesting than Woolf’s novel.

I haven't listened to any of Woolf's other books.

Her reading is good; it's the novel that's terrible.

No. I can't imagine anything more boring.

This book is in the top 25% of audiobooks I've listened to, partially because race and ethnicity in America is a special interest of mine.

It's not really a story, more an analysis of American culture and race relations in the 1960s. Baldwin is clever, witty and entertaining even listening to him now, over 40 years later.

I don't pay much attention to the person reading. I focus more on the text itself, but I thought this was a good reading.

It's interesting that a lot of the problems that faced black Americans in the 1960s still face black America today. There has been a lot of progress, but race is still a significant cultural force in America today.

Great story of the resilience of human beings.

The protagonist was really the only character who one could follow throughout the story.

You an listen while you do other things.

When the men were in a life raft starving and fighting off sharks.