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Wrestling With The Angel
Wrestling With The Angel | Michael King
3 posts | 2 read | 2 to read
Janet Frame, born in 1924, is New Zealand's most celebrated and least public author. Her early life in small South Island towns seemed, at times, engulfed in a tide of doom: one brother still-born, another epileptic; two sisters dead of heart failure while swimming; Frame herself committed to mental hospitals for the best part of a decade. Later, her surviving sister was temporarily felled in adulthood by a stroke, an uncle cut his throat and a cousin shot his lover, his lover's parents and then himself. . This, then, is an inspiring biography of a woman who climbed out of an abyss of unhappiness to take control of her life and become one of the great writers of her time. And to enable her biographer to write this book scrupulously and honestly, Janet Frame spoke for the first time about her whole life. She also made available her personal papers and directed her family and friends to be equally communicative. The result is a biography of astonishing intimacy and frankness.
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I‘ve spent two weeks inside this book, two weeks in Janet Frame‘s life and I‘m going to miss walking alongside her. An incredible woman, a sensitive, imaginative writer - her story has bleakness and then vibrant joys and loves. As a biography is it THOROUGH. Written with her permission, King is careful not to indulge in his own analysis,but quotes from miles of correspondence with others, where she, and they, comment on and critique each other.

Centique Illustration of Jacob wrestling with the Angel by Gustav Dore. 2y
rockpools Lovely review. 2y
LeahBergen What a great review! 2y
See All 16 Comments
Ruthiella Oooh! I‘ll have to check this out. 2y
Centique @Ruthiella there is a lot about moving house (she moves about forty times in her life) and catching planes and complaining about street noise etc etc. And a lot about her friends and family. Very little about the times inside institutions. Just so I haven‘t misled you! I think the first half has the really interesting parts. 2y
Ruthiella @Centique Thanks for the heads up! I‘m not that interested in her time spent in the hospital, so that‘s OK. I just find her an interesting person. I‘d like to think we could have been friends, though I‘m not half as smart as she was! (edited) 2y
Centique @Ruthiella oh yes I‘m sure you would have been friends! She was so annoyed at the grim fascination people had with her hospital time - especially book reviews and journalists tying it to her “genius” - I think that‘s why King wrote the book to show how much more there was to her life. 2y
Reggie From the comments I gather I‘m not suppose to get stuck on her institutionalizations but she was scheduled for a lobotomy that got cancelled because she won an award for her debut fiction! (Wikipedia) That‘s wild. Nice review. 2y
Centique @Reggie it is amazing isn‘t it? I think I‘m going to talk about this with Jenny myself in a few weeks. 💕💕 2y
batsy Lovely, thoughtful review! I've been interested to read Frame since I read a fantastic essay about her a long time ago in Poets & Writers. 2y
Centique @batsy I think you‘d like her! I‘m just rereading Owls Do Cry, her first novel, which is so full of metaphor and imagery 😍 2y
Suet624 I‘m embarrassed to say I don‘t know who this woman is but now you‘ve made me want to know her! 2y
Cathythoughts I‘ve never heard of this writer either. Great review.. wonderful title 💫💫💫 2y
Centique @Suet624 @Cathythoughts oh I‘m glad I piqued your interests. She‘s actually most famous for her autobiography of which a film was made (it‘s a trilogy but is often collected into one volume) 2y
Suet624 Oh, apparently I stacked your recommended book already, probably due to your intriguing review four years ago. 🥰 2y
74 likes16 comments
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Centique
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Currently reading this #chunkster. I‘m loving it though; I love Janet Frame and she had an incredible life, spending most of her twenties in mental hospitals - around 1945 - 1955 which was a dark time for treating mental health issues.

PS an update on #hiselderliness. I still can‘t see him as we are in lockdown but he is well cared for in his village. He isn‘t able to read since his latest hospitalisation unfortunately. ⬇️

Centique He can‘t concentrate he says. He is still causing mischief though and offering to race the other residents on walkers to the lunch room 😜 2y
Trashcanman 😘❤️ 2y
Centique @Trashcanman 😘 love back at ya George 2y
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LeahBergen And he probably beats them there, too! 💗💗💗 2y
Centique @LeahBergen 😘 he probably does! 2y
Ruthiella I really enjoyed my slow read of this earlier this year. 😀 2y
Centique @Ruthiella oh my goodness! I didn‘t think anybody else here was a fan of Janet Frame. So glad to hear it 💕 2y
MaureenMc Happy to hear your father is doing well. 💕😊 2y
Ruthiella I don‘t think I would like her fiction but I did love her autobiography. 2y
Megabooks Sending love to you and His Elderliness! 2y
Anna40 Read all her books in my 20s. Loved her 😊 2y
batsy Must be tough to be unable to see your dad but I'm glad to hear he's in high spirits 💕 2y
CarolynM Sending love to you, fellow sufferer in lockdown💕 I don't know about you, but I'm so over it. I'm glad to hear your dad us keeping his spirits up. Hope we can all see family again soon. 2y
Centique @Megabooks thank you Meg! 😘 2y
Centique @MaureenMc thank you Maureen! 😘 2y
Centique @Anna40 yay another fan! I still have three or four books to get to 💕 2y
Centique @batsy thank you Suba. He went for his first walk outside in the village grounds today (he had a toe amputated 7 weeks ago to add to his ailments) so that was positive. 👍💕 2y
Centique @CarolynM oh I know right?! 💕 We‘ve had a little bit of a loosening so we can get takeaways now and we‘re allowed to catch up with one other bubble outdoors for a “socially distanced picnic”. That‘s made this past week better but who knows what next week will bring? Certainly not getting out of lockdown anytime soon. Hopefully things improve for you guys 🤞🤞🤞 2y
batsy @Centique I'm sorry to hear he had to go through that. I hope he continues to improve and feel better ❤️ 2y
AlaMich I‘m glad to hear your dad seems to be adjusting well to his new home. Fingers crossed that you can see him soon! 2y
Centique @AlaMich thank you Lainie. How are you doing? I miss seeing your posts lately but I‘m glad you‘re still popping in 💕 2y
AlaMich @Centique I‘m fine, thank you. But I envy you your impending warmer weather…Chicago in winter does not joke around. 🥶 2y
Centique @AlaMich ive heard that! I visited Chicago a couple of times in late summer and it was one of my favourite places. I‘d love to see it in snow - but maybe from inside a heated car! 2y
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#bookhaul
I took four boxes of books and toys to the charity shop and came home with one box of books for $14. I think I‘m winning in the bookshelf battle? Maybe? 😂
Very excited to get Wrestling with the Angel. Janet Frame‘s life story is astounding and this is the gold standard in biographies about her.
I‘ve read Never Let Me Go and Girl with a Pearl Earring but now I have copies to lend to friends, yay! 😍

merelybookish Nice haul! And definitely winning! 5y
Lcsmcat Cat‘s Eye is amazing. 5y
LeahBergen That‘s a great haul! 5y
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batsy Nice haul! I'm with @Lcsmcat Cat's Eye is so good 👍🏽 (but I think I might have already said that repeatedly on Litsy 😆) 5y
Centique @batsy you‘re allowed to repeat! I‘m always raving about my favourite books over and over. (Sssh don‘t mention The Luminaries in front of Paula) 😂 5y
merelybookish Another Cat's Eye fan here! My fave Atwood. @batsy @Lcsmcat 5y
Emilymdxn Buried giant is amazing!! My fave Ishiguro 5y
Centique @Emilymdxn that‘s high praise! Can‘t wait 🙌 5y
84 likes9 comments