Year of Magical Thinking

by Joan Didion

I just started it last night and right off the bat it jumps out at you how she handles death. I haven't read anything of hers (except maybe a short story a while ago) so I don't know much about her. But the first 30 pages tell me she's a very rational, emotionally even person. She reacted to the death of her husband with a frightening amount of reason, like something out of a textbook. She hides in research in order to give meaning to the things she's feeling. It's a little sad and scary, especially since I could see myself reacting this way to a death of that magnitude. Or at least I could until I read this. I think my emotions would swoop in and take control, no way I could be this "cold" and collected if my "other half" died.