Ungainly so, but many moons ago, I wondered what made Joan Didion kill the narrative distance between the reporter and what’s reported. What purpose did it serve, I asked of myself. The antithetical viewpoint—what does it take away if the distance is eliminated—helped bring some clarity. Of late, reading Anjan Sundaram’s Breakup: A Marriage in Wartime (Simon & Schuster) ended this personal dilemma.