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zoldyeck's review against another edition
4.0
May 2nd, May 4th, May 7th.
He doesn’t see the color. He has the color.
I make the shape. He doesn’t look at it.
He doesn’t give the life he has.
He has life.
Warm and white is his voice.
He stayed but never arrived.
I’m leaving.
F.K
I've always been interested in Frida Kahlo as a person. I think that the first time I saw her works was in The Art History class and although we didn't focus on her that much, I ended up liking her paintings and the way she represented herself through her art. But I also liked the way she looks (dress up and everything). When it comes to artworks, I usually focus more on the work than on the artist, but with regards to Frida, I felt more intrigued by the artist and wanted to know more about her especially that the works were so self-expressive and beautifully painful. So, to me at least, Frida seemed like an interesting person and so when I found out that her personal diary has been published and is available I thought that it would be the best place to start.
I took my time with Frida's diary because there were so many things to consider and to enjoy while reading it. I'm fortunate because I can read Spanish lol I'm not that good because it's been so long since I stopped learning the language but I can still read it. And so I tried to read the diary without the translation at first. I had to do that to feel the words and also to see how she wrote them. The colors she chose the words she erased and the ones she wrote in big letters it's just really beautiful.
The way Frida let the ink and paint slip through the pages and mix all together showed how carefree she was when it came to handling this canvas, but on the other hand, her words and sketches reflected how much she truly cared about a few things/indv. especially DIEGO!
Reading the translation and notes was fun and deepened my understanding but the fact that I had to flip back to the original pages to see the colors again was slightly annoying. I also didn't like the fact that the essays were positioned at the beginning of the book because they deal with the layout and analyze the diary before you get the chance to even look at it (so I advise you to skip that part and read them once you're done with the book), a general introduction about her would have been more suitable I guess!
So, that's the reason why I didn't rate it 5 🌟.
I had an issue with the layout of the book but not with the diary itself and I honestly feel that no one has the right to judge the diary. It was something intimate, it was meant to be read by Frida and we are lucky to have it in our hands. Even if we happen to not enjoy it it's okay but again it was not written to please anyone.
So, to sum it up, I loved Frida's diary so much and I have enjoyed every moment I spent reading it and looking at its beautiful pages. Frida suffered a lot throughout her life. She had to deal with physical pain and to undergo many surgeries and despite this, she used that body to express her pain and so she painted "[her] own reality". This spoke to me personally because I suffer from chronic pain and she inspired me to turn that pain into something beautiful (in my eyes of course) instead of keeping it within.
I highly recommend it!
keelinreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
hollykeegan's review against another edition
4.25
“Everything experienced in the minutes of the non-clocks and the non-calendars and the empty non-glances, is him. You felt it, that’s why you let that ship take me away…”
“Who would say that stains live and help one to live? Ink, blood, odor. I don’t know what ink he would use so eager to leave his mark in such a way”
“We were born for the same thing. To discover and love what has been discovered. Hidden. With the grief of always losing it.”
“I am him from the most primitive… and the most ancient cells, that with time became him”
“I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”
“Who would say that stains live and help one to live? Ink, blood, odor. I don’t know what ink he would use so eager to leave his mark in such a way”
“We were born for the same thing. To discover and love what has been discovered. Hidden. With the grief of always losing it.”
“I am him from the most primitive… and the most ancient cells, that with time became him”
“I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.”
themermaddie's review against another edition
3.0
interesting introduction, and beautifully reprinted versions of frida's diary in full colour printed on sturdy paper. i thought the analysis in the back was helpful for someone like me who went in with close to no knowledge about frida's life, although i do feel like some analyses verged on unnecessary assumptions (e.g. "she must have been in a bad mood when she painted this" or "these ink splotches illustrate her declining health bc her hands must have shook") but what do i know, i do comparative lit not art history, maybe that's how all AH books are. as someone writing an essay on this book, i would also like to say that referencing this and having to flip back and forth to find the corresponding page and analysis was hell, and don't even get me started on trying to track down one specific drawing.
alecarrillogl's review against another edition
4.0
Enamorada del libro, y de su letra y los dibujos. Aunque es el punto, por ser una edición facsímil a veces sentí que las descripciones estaban súper en desorden y no lograban su cometido de comunicar el contexto en el que Frida escribió :( ni la secuencia que seguía en su cuaderno. Eso sí. Está preciosa!
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
I love journals, but this was my introduction to how beautiful they could be. I’d like to say it made my journals more creative and artistic, but...