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A review by drdreuh
Frida's Bed by Slavenka Drakulić
2.0
Frida's Bed is a strange tale strangely written. Of course Slavenka Drakulić isn't entirely to blame, it IS Frida Khalo's life it chronicles, afterall.
Admittedly I'm not generally a fan of historical fiction because you just can't tell where the history leaves off and the fiction begins. But Drakulić's biography-slash-novel is even more egregious as she indiscriminately switches from first person to third and back again. The effect is, fittingly, surrealistic.
And this surrealist literary style carries through to the (bitter) end. For Khalo lead a pretty tortuous life - physically due to illness and injury as well as emotionally - and the book follows right along! The end was a slow death for poor Khalo and it feels like a slow death for the reader too. The final pages are an exhausting tirade that ultimately leaves us with a sense of relief at Khalo's departure.
As an interpretation of an artist's life, its an interesting read. A biography, however, it is not. For a slight book, it feels longer that it should.
Admittedly I'm not generally a fan of historical fiction because you just can't tell where the history leaves off and the fiction begins. But Drakulić's biography-slash-novel is even more egregious as she indiscriminately switches from first person to third and back again. The effect is, fittingly, surrealistic.
And this surrealist literary style carries through to the (bitter) end. For Khalo lead a pretty tortuous life - physically due to illness and injury as well as emotionally - and the book follows right along! The end was a slow death for poor Khalo and it feels like a slow death for the reader too. The final pages are an exhausting tirade that ultimately leaves us with a sense of relief at Khalo's departure.
As an interpretation of an artist's life, its an interesting read. A biography, however, it is not. For a slight book, it feels longer that it should.