Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of the narrative. Read this excerpt from "Goodbye to All That" by Joa
n Didion. Part of what I want to tell you is what it is like to be young in New York, how six months can become eight years with the deceptive ease of a film dissolve, for that is how those years appear to me now, in a long sequence of sentimental dissolves and old-fashioned trick shots—the Seagram Building fountains dissolve into snowflakes, I enter a revolving door at twenty and come out a good deal older, and on a different street. How does Joan Didion's extended metaphor of comparing her time in New York to a movie affect the meaning of this excerpt? It subtly suggests that Didion's experiences in New York have been fictionalized, which calls the truthfulness of her account into question. It develops Didion's assertion that her experiences in New York were important and interesting enough to be worthy of being filmed. It highlights Didion's belief that all people who live in New York feel as though they are the stars of an epic film about their experiences. It helps establish the idea that Didion's experiences in New York feel somewhat surreal to her now, like those of a character in a movie.
It helps establish the idea that Didion's experiences in New York feel somewhat surreal to her now, like those of a character in a movie.
In the text, Didion says "that is how those years appear to me now, in a long sequence of sentimental dissolves and old-fashioned trick shots". This shows that her experiences in New York feel somewhat surreal to her now. They are brief memories of her time in New York, simple snapshots of her life.
This does not mean that what she says about her life in New York is untrue or fictionalized. It also doesn't mean she feels that she is worthy of being filmed. She is simply stating that her memories appear to her similar to the way a film would of her life. It also does not mean that she believes everyone living in New York feels as though the are stars of an epic film.
In this excerpt from "Goodbye to All That," Didion seeks to explain that the time she spent in New York went by so quickly she did not even notice. She compares her experience with that of a movie, in which several years may pass in just a minute.
She expresses that, looking back, it all feels surreal, like something that she saw on a movie.
