Blog Nº 54
“There was silence. Something real was happening: this was, as it were, her life. If she could keep that in mind she would be able to play it through, do the right thing, whatever that meant.”
Play It As It Lays is my first foray into the writing of famed twentieth-century writer Joan Didion. I agree with its label of an instant classic and can see why it is credited for helping to define modern American fiction.
The relatively short novel follows 31-year-old former model and actress Maria Wyeth. It is made up of Maria’s stream of consciousness after a stint in a psychiatric hospital as well as flashbacks which hint at her impending mental breakdown. We hear about several disturbing occurrences that play a part in Maria’s collapse and indicate why she chooses to withdraw from the world and become entirely numb to her surroundings, even when they are morally ambiguous.
Play It As It Lays is undoubtedly a blistering dissection of American life in the late 1960s. Set in California, the novel captures not only the illusory glamour of life in Hollywood but also the culture at the time – namely, an entire generation feeling the ennui of contemporary society in a swiftly modernising world. The sparse, intense prose further emphasises this, showing not only Maria in crisis but a whole society.
Divorce, illegal abortion, drug and alcohol abuse, infidelity, mistreatment by men and loneliness plague Maria and her friends’ lives. Maria begins compulsively driving into the Mojave Desert for hours at a time as well as suffering from delusions as a result. It is a compelling but disturbing look at the gradual shattering of a young woman who should be in her prime.
I would highly recommend Play It As It Lays – while not particularly joyful, it is a riveting look at the broken façade of the young Hollywood American Dream.
Happy reading,
Imo x
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