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Amor de una luna errante / A Love Letter from a Stray Moon
In this fictional tour de force Jay Griffiths, author of the acclaimedWild, creates a portrait of the artist Frida Kahloher devastating accident and her love for Diego Riverathat is also a celebration of the spirit of poetry and the art of rebellion.
135 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Jay Griffiths
32 books135 followersJay Griffiths was born in Manchester and studied English Literature at Oxford University. She spent a couple of years living in a shed on the outskirts of Epping Forest and has travelled the world, but for many years she has been based in Wales.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 29, 2011
I really wanted to like this book - I mean, it's billed as a poetic re-imagining of the life of Frida Kahlo; I expected a dense story with all the passion and intensity of Frida Kahlo herself.
However, having read Frida Kahlo's diary, a book of letters she wrote and others texts - having seen the film Frida and having recently read another take on her story, The Lacuna, I was disappointed.
At times there were glimpses of what I was looking for - in the description of her life during the times painting some of her most famous works (small images of said works at the back/front of the book would have been appreciated) and then again sometimes during the description of her love for Diego/inability to have a child.
However, overall if felt trite. Was the overuse of the word c*nt supposed to describe her passion for Diego or shock the reader? It seemed to be used for shock value and did little for me.
While there were moments of great interest - times when I hoped I'd curl up with the book and read through in one sitting - primarily this was laboured, repetitive and a little 'once over lightly' for my liking.
The problem with writing about someones life is that it's events have been set down already. If you've seen something like the excellent film Frida, then there's really not a lot left to say and for a re-imagining this wasn't very re-imagined.
A Love Letter from a Stray Moon seemed a lot longer than it's 100-odd pages and that wasn't a good thing.
However, having read Frida Kahlo's diary, a book of letters she wrote and others texts - having seen the film Frida and having recently read another take on her story, The Lacuna, I was disappointed.
At times there were glimpses of what I was looking for - in the description of her life during the times painting some of her most famous works (small images of said works at the back/front of the book would have been appreciated) and then again sometimes during the description of her love for Diego/inability to have a child.
However, overall if felt trite. Was the overuse of the word c*nt supposed to describe her passion for Diego or shock the reader? It seemed to be used for shock value and did little for me.
While there were moments of great interest - times when I hoped I'd curl up with the book and read through in one sitting - primarily this was laboured, repetitive and a little 'once over lightly' for my liking.
The problem with writing about someones life is that it's events have been set down already. If you've seen something like the excellent film Frida, then there's really not a lot left to say and for a re-imagining this wasn't very re-imagined.
A Love Letter from a Stray Moon seemed a lot longer than it's 100-odd pages and that wasn't a good thing.
December 12, 2011
Forced and incredibly self-conscious. I wanted to love this but really did not.
No plot to speak of, clearly derivative of the central autobiography of her life. This really does not do her justice.
No plot to speak of, clearly derivative of the central autobiography of her life. This really does not do her justice.
April 24, 2012
The language was beautiful for 47 pages and then it just got annoying.
August 16, 2018
The book is a poetic re-imagination of Frida Kahlo's life - written in first person as though narrated by her. While it has some really beautiful quotes, the language gets SO POETIC at times that it's a drag to read after a while, sometimes even bordering into plain annoying and I was tempted to skip pages.
However, the poetic narration did make a few incidences in her life quite a lot more emotional to read about - particularly, her accident and miscarriage. It probably wouldn't have been as gut-wrenchingly sad if it had been narrated in the deadpan voice of a biography. I also loved the part where she describes what motivates her to paint 'The Two Fridas' - and her description and interpretation of the painting itself. These are the parts where the poetic narration works so well.
Then there are parts where she just goes on and on... pages and pages full of abstract stuff that detracts from the story and I'm just like, OKAY, MOVE ON and tell me what happened next in her life! The last part is especially boring from the part where she caught her husband cheating on her with her own sister. That could have been written with so much more concisely and with poise but it went all over the place and everywhere, right till the end of the book.
The book keeps rambling on poetic stuff at places for far too long where it loses the story. Towards the end I almost forgot that this is supposed to be Frida narrating her story - it felt like this author's personal poetry-prose book. And the book does this in many places, it loses the story and rambles on about the poetry of things. It could have been shorter and crisper.
However, the poetic narration did make a few incidences in her life quite a lot more emotional to read about - particularly, her accident and miscarriage. It probably wouldn't have been as gut-wrenchingly sad if it had been narrated in the deadpan voice of a biography. I also loved the part where she describes what motivates her to paint 'The Two Fridas' - and her description and interpretation of the painting itself. These are the parts where the poetic narration works so well.
Then there are parts where she just goes on and on... pages and pages full of abstract stuff that detracts from the story and I'm just like, OKAY, MOVE ON and tell me what happened next in her life! The last part is especially boring from the part where she caught her husband cheating on her with her own sister. That could have been written with so much more concisely and with poise but it went all over the place and everywhere, right till the end of the book.
The book keeps rambling on poetic stuff at places for far too long where it loses the story. Towards the end I almost forgot that this is supposed to be Frida narrating her story - it felt like this author's personal poetry-prose book. And the book does this in many places, it loses the story and rambles on about the poetry of things. It could have been shorter and crisper.
January 8, 2020
Jay Griffiths has created a true portrait and merely has to call it fiction because Kahlo herself can't sign it off. When I die, I hope that someone with the skill, passion and confidence Griffiths owns will write something like this for me.
I think, as much as we can know someone, that knowing is a form of loving when you do it right. And you have to be in love, in order to accurately convey their essence to someone who cannot know them.
The text itself. Like a love letter shredded up and used as bedding. Like a poem set to the music of the cosmos.
And now for some accuracy...
Every page has something worth quoting. If you wanted to pick a quote tattoo from a book.... Steer well clear of this one! Your body will have no bare flesh left. It's scrumptious and a deeply satisfying read.
If it was about someone I had never heard about, I'd immediately go and buy every book on them that I could. As it stands, Kahlo has been an inspiration to me for a long time.
I think, as much as we can know someone, that knowing is a form of loving when you do it right. And you have to be in love, in order to accurately convey their essence to someone who cannot know them.
The text itself. Like a love letter shredded up and used as bedding. Like a poem set to the music of the cosmos.
And now for some accuracy...
Every page has something worth quoting. If you wanted to pick a quote tattoo from a book.... Steer well clear of this one! Your body will have no bare flesh left. It's scrumptious and a deeply satisfying read.
If it was about someone I had never heard about, I'd immediately go and buy every book on them that I could. As it stands, Kahlo has been an inspiration to me for a long time.
May 1, 2018
I loved this wonderful poetic book so much I gave my lovely hardback away, and bought two others for friends. And now I sit, thinking, why didn’t I jealously guard this treasure, so I could reach for it whenever I feel the urge to pick it up and smile, opening a random page on some random memory.
I need another copy. Beautiful. Beautiful.
I need another copy. Beautiful. Beautiful.
July 11, 2023
“Are there simply too many of the others? Those who do not prize either poetry or flight. Who re-cork the bottle before we’ve finished drinking. Whose incuriosities close minds and books and conversations. Who never knew bewilderment or what it is to wonder.” […]
Loved it - short and passionate, made me feel less crazy somehow.
Loved it - short and passionate, made me feel less crazy somehow.
May 31, 2021
“And I walked away inconsolable until Walt Whitman whistled to me from the woods. You look like one of mine, he said, and hugged me.”
February 5, 2017
No fue lo que esperaba, especialmente la segunda mitad.
December 14, 2016
2.5 stars
I'm a lifelong lover of Friday Kahlo. Her life, her ideals, her work, all of it, always.
So this book intrigued me as a concept. I believe that this piece originates from in a similar state of reverence and admiration; giving Frida an omnipresent first person narrative with an idealistic stream of consciousness flow. However it consistently, and predominantly comes off as a vehicle for personal convictions and beliefs by the writer.
If you're an admirer of Kahlo and want to get a better sense of her spirit, skip this book and pick up a copy of her published diary instead.
I'm a lifelong lover of Friday Kahlo. Her life, her ideals, her work, all of it, always.
So this book intrigued me as a concept. I believe that this piece originates from in a similar state of reverence and admiration; giving Frida an omnipresent first person narrative with an idealistic stream of consciousness flow. However it consistently, and predominantly comes off as a vehicle for personal convictions and beliefs by the writer.
If you're an admirer of Kahlo and want to get a better sense of her spirit, skip this book and pick up a copy of her published diary instead.
Read
January 22, 2016I read this a year ago when I was sent an ARC that I had won from Text Publishing. As a reader who's 'real life' is as an art student, I fell in love instantly.
What I said then and still stand by today:
Lyrical, crude, engaging and rebellious. - A Love Letter from a Stray Moon is the essence, heart and art that was the life of Frida Kahlo. Jay Griffiths has captured and presented the tale in a way that isn’t just a story, but an adventure the reader experiences as they traverse the pages. For lovers of art, history and amazing stories alike.
What I said then and still stand by today:
Lyrical, crude, engaging and rebellious. - A Love Letter from a Stray Moon is the essence, heart and art that was the life of Frida Kahlo. Jay Griffiths has captured and presented the tale in a way that isn’t just a story, but an adventure the reader experiences as they traverse the pages. For lovers of art, history and amazing stories alike.
March 7, 2015
Beautiful language!spell binding language! I enjoyed the poetry of the words very much. I did feel like I was watching the movie..Frida...as quite a few of the quotes were in that movie. I am not sure it is an accurate picture of what Frida would think but it is a work of fiction, so who cares. Just enjoy the language.
August 10, 2018
The same as others have said - I wanted enjoy this book, but I alas. The provocative and beautiful prose are overshadowed by a feeling she is trying very hard to become Kahlo, to see the world as she saw it. This is an impossible task as she was a unique soul with her own worldview, and unfortunately this slightly misses the mark and comes across as very self indulgent.
February 12, 2012
This is a tiny book with a huge canvas. While it occasionally misses the mark, the language is startling. Frida Kahlo is the subject of the book and so all the things I know about her come into the novel, but Jay Griffiths adds more, adds an emotional level that grips you.
March 31, 2016
Tenía ganas de leer sobre Frida Kahlo, pero este libro no mostró todo lo que pensaba. No está mal, sin embargo hay partes donde se me hizo monótono y un poco aburrido. Quizás mis expectativas eran demasiado altas.
August 23, 2011
A beautiful poetic account of Frida's life...with Jay Griffiths use of language spilling from a spice box! This is a book that sings to you...felt as though I was breathing in a part of Frida Kahlo!
March 3, 2015
This book makes me want to go to the moon and kiss her cold, solitary lips.
April 8, 2015
pasable esperaba más
Want to read
July 22, 2017Siempre quise tener alas. Para volar a donde pertenezco, para convertirme en lo que soy, para decir mis verdades, alada y bajo la influencia de la luna...
December 20, 2018
Beautiful. Vivid imagery and passages overflowing with both subtle and intense emotions are the main draw of it for me and not because of Frida Kahlo, although when I realized that it was about her (life), it elicited a fascination in me to know more about her.
I don't know anything about Frida's life so I cane to this collection unbiased and without expectations. I think my opinion of it would've been different if I knew something about her.
I don't know anything about Frida's life so I cane to this collection unbiased and without expectations. I think my opinion of it would've been different if I knew something about her.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews