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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
An art filled journal of reflective thought provoking reflections
At times I felt guilty of voyeurism by gaining such an intimate look into Frida's life. I don't know that she would support its publication were she alive.
Parts of the commentary I didn't read because they were dry and provided more insight into her art than her life, which is why I mainly chose to read Frida's own text. The evolution of her drawings and paintings throughout the book were fascinating to take in. Not only was her illness deeply reflected in her work, but her coping and ultimately overcoming as well.
"Feet what do I need them for
If I have wings to fly"
Parts of the commentary I didn't read because they were dry and provided more insight into her art than her life, which is why I mainly chose to read Frida's own text. The evolution of her drawings and paintings throughout the book were fascinating to take in. Not only was her illness deeply reflected in her work, but her coping and ultimately overcoming as well.
"Feet what do I need them for
If I have wings to fly"
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
If you're about to read this expecting a traditional 'what I did today' -diary, you're in for a big surprise. Then again, if you already know Frida Kahlo you wouldn't really expect that, would you? Originally not intended to be published, through Kahlo's diary you get inside her head in the form of letters, notes, automatic writing and sketches. So much so, that you feel a bit rude for invading her thoughts. I don't claim to understand automatic writing, and even though Frida isn't a Surrealist, she occasionally seems to be using the same technique in her writings. I'm so far only visually into Surrealism, so for me those passages were the most difficult and confusing.
But in the whole, is the diary really meant to be understood by someone other than her? Frida's writings and pictures together create a beautiful chaos, that helps you get a little bit closer to her art. Even you didn't understand everything, you can still feel the emotions that Frida went through when her health slowly deteriorated, and the love she had for Diego and pre-Columbian symbolism and culture. If you already admire Frida's art, this is a must read and a real gem of a companion piece to her paintings.
I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.
The book itself had a little problematic layout, because the explanations and translations are all stuffed into the back of the book, forcing you to flip through the pages. The Finnish translation also had quite a bit of problems in terms of spelling. Not a huge thing, but stuff like that always sticks out when it's repeated a few times.
But in the whole, is the diary really meant to be understood by someone other than her? Frida's writings and pictures together create a beautiful chaos, that helps you get a little bit closer to her art. Even you didn't understand everything, you can still feel the emotions that Frida went through when her health slowly deteriorated, and the love she had for Diego and pre-Columbian symbolism and culture. If you already admire Frida's art, this is a must read and a real gem of a companion piece to her paintings.
I don't paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.
The book itself had a little problematic layout, because the explanations and translations are all stuffed into the back of the book, forcing you to flip through the pages. The Finnish translation also had quite a bit of problems in terms of spelling. Not a huge thing, but stuff like that always sticks out when it's repeated a few times.
It's impossible, really to rate something that wasn't written to be read by anyone so this is for the book itself. I guess the idea was to reproduce the diary as it was and give you the feeling of seeing the original. Only problem is that unless you read Spanish you don't understand it anyway, so you have to go to the back and keep flipping back and forth between the translation and the commentary which interrupts the flow much more than it would to have a larger size page with the translation right there. And it's also not really a diary in the sense one usually thinks of a diary, it's more sketches and poems. As these reflect the last years of her life they are pretty poignant and sad--the cumulative effect was kind of depressing for me.
I'm sorry Ms. Kahlo, I thumbed through your diary.
Four stars because I havent decided on the morality of it.
Very interesting! All the pages were beautifully restored and I literally felt like I had stolen it from her bedroom. The translations in English were very helpful.
Again, I am still deciding on my morality. Every entertainer deserves a little privacy...
Four stars because I havent decided on the morality of it.
Very interesting! All the pages were beautifully restored and I literally felt like I had stolen it from her bedroom. The translations in English were very helpful.
Again, I am still deciding on my morality. Every entertainer deserves a little privacy...
I went into this knowing very little about Kahlo except for her self-portraits. I thought this was an interesting look into her mind and her concerns (cough, Diego, cough). It made me very sad when I read of the things she was struggling with. By the end of the diary, I really felt that I had an idea of her personality and her style. I want to learn more about her in the future.
Frida’s life and work is fascinating to me, so reading her diary felt very necessary. The way she writes is simple, sudden and still very captivating and emotional. I felt like I learned a lot about her life throughout the diary, which was what I wanted. I just wish that the explanation of the pages would immediately follow them, instead of being at the end, since I kept going back and forth in the book.
Wonderfully intimate and personal look into the life and thoughts of one of history's most impressive and mysterious women.
This book is an awesome concept and we should all feel privileged to get this kind of look into Frida Kahlo's innermost thoughts. Having access to her diary essentially gives us access to her mind.
I only gave it four stars because I didn't love the format. The entire diary makes up most of the book in full color and, obviously, in original Spanish. This was awesome, but then the translation and interpretation portion of it was printed after the journal with black and white thumbnails of each page. It would probably have been better (for an English-only speaker like myself - wish I could read/speak Spanish!) if each full page of the journal was immediately followed by the translation and interpretation. I think that might've made for a better flow.
This book is an awesome concept and we should all feel privileged to get this kind of look into Frida Kahlo's innermost thoughts. Having access to her diary essentially gives us access to her mind.
I only gave it four stars because I didn't love the format. The entire diary makes up most of the book in full color and, obviously, in original Spanish. This was awesome, but then the translation and interpretation portion of it was printed after the journal with black and white thumbnails of each page. It would probably have been better (for an English-only speaker like myself - wish I could read/speak Spanish!) if each full page of the journal was immediately followed by the translation and interpretation. I think that might've made for a better flow.