The ultimate in nihilism: Play it as it Lays

As noted in previous posts, the writing in Joan Didion's Play it as it Lays (1970) is perfect-pitch - she has a way with dialog that is strangely elliptical, that always surprises us, but that always seems true to character and setting. The plot of the novel is thin - the gradual breakdown of a 30-something woman in a failing marriage and a declining acting career - though there are some truly powerful segments to the plot, most notably the horrific abortion and the hours on the LA-area highways, speeding along to wipe her mind clean - something you'd never do elsewhere, and from what I hear about LA traffic probably wouldn't do today, either. The David Thomson intro notes, as have in previous posts, JD's unusually stringent close third-person narration, bringing us right into the consciousness of the protagonist, Maria. All that said, however, this is one of the darkest novels of its time or of any time and is not for every reader: It's a purely nihilistic story; there is no redemption of resolution at the end, as Maria sinks ever deeper into drugs and despair. Though we feel sorrow and pity for her as we see her suffer w/ addictions, infidelity, and bad judgement, we never really like her - and we have to wonder about JD's interest in Maria and her fate. Obviously, JD is vastly different from her protagonist - a gifted and hard-working writer (and one who was lucky and happy in love, work, and marriage, as we know from her later autobiographical writing), but what after all is the point she's trying to make? Is Maria a ruined person - or is it the world that has failed her? Part of me just wants to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to get out of these horrible relationships and try to make something of her life. Easy for me to say, obviously - but I do feel that JD created a character who seems to be typical of a time and place but who perhaps is not: The world can't be that bad. It's actually harder and riskier to create a narrative of redemption than one of dissolution - the danger of sentimentality and schmaltz is omnipresent - but finishing this novel, a journey into one woman's version of hell, I only wish JD had taken the risk.