Frida Finished - so's my computer

The good news is I finished reading Frida. The bad news is my computer is kaput. Once again I'm posting from the library in timed sessions. The quick review, then, is this is a very good book. It seems even-handed and fills in a lot of the gaps left by the movie. More than before I want to go to Mexico and see her museum -- or just to the bookstore so I can buy a book of her paintings. The reproductions in my pocket-sized edition were small and many were in black and white. I did, however, get a lot out of them as well as the historical photos of Frida and her entourage. What an inspiring individual, always in the thick of the politics and social experiments of her day. This book is not for the squeamish, as many of her paintings are graphic and filled with blood and realistic body parts. (Frida once asked a doctor friend for a preserved foetus in a jar as a gift because she was obsessed by her inability to bear children.)

A good book that does its subject justice, written in a readable style. My favorite parts were excerpts from letters written to or from Frida. There's nothing like a primary resource to make the era come alive.

Happy reading.

Labels: