Chrissie's Books

Most of us know about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and how she suffered. Her suffering is unimaginable. The book begins with the details of her bout with polio and then her accident, when the bus she was riding in, in Mexico City, was hit by a tram. September 17, 1925. Her letters to her boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias, are excruciating to read. He attempts to escape (her); she hangs on with an unrelenting fervor. Letter after letter are included in this book. (Stricter editing please!) Her pain is both physical and psychological; painting is an attempt to fight back. I cannot but help comparing why she paints to Kandinsky's statement that he stopped painting when his pain ceased. Only for her it does not cease. She lives with physical pain and illness. There is more: her relationship with her husband Diego Rivera, the famed muralist, is not easy…..but neither is she easy to live with. Both have affairs. She is bisexual.

Both black and white photos and colored plates of paintings are included in the book. All are explained in relation to her physical and psychological state. This is interesting, but excessive. Need everything be explained, and is there only one true explanation?

After 200 pages, I realize I cannot go on with this book! Reading about a person that is so diametrically opposed to yourself and all that you value makes their behavior incomprehensible. Yes, she reinvents facts, but that is not all I object too.

Furthermore, I hate books of art criticism that instruct how you should interpret artwork. For this reason too, the book is not for me. I don't think the book is bad for others who react less negatively to her morals and personal choices. I don't think it is bad for those of you who want Kahlo's art explained. My two stars just reflects my personal reaction to this book. I cannot even wait to slam the book shut until after I have read about her affair with Trotsky. I will read about that quickly on Wikipedia instead.

She is such a whiner.......even if she has a lot to whine about! OK, punch me for not loving a book about a woman who suffered terribly.

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After 131 pages:
Oh my, it is good I have two books to switch between because Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo is at times harrowing and at other times frustrating. Her accident is harrowing, but her tendency to reinvent facts is frustrating. This book is detailed, sometimes excessively.