Book AND Movie

Now reading An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame. My wife watched the movie and thought it was quite good, so she reserved the book for me.

It's been difficult reading, going from a minimalist deconstructionist last few books, to a foreign used of English, and places I've never heard of, nor relate to, a person I can't relate to, a family situation I can only vaguely relate to, and the very rawness and vulnerability, like a soft girl hating and needing at the same time, which to me is revolting. It's been good though, it's a step further from me and my paradigm than Marya Horbacher's autobiography. At least Marya was tough and disillusioned. In Frame's book, I have to look hard for the crust formed by reality, such as Janet's relationship with Isabel, her freewheeling sister, in which she concedes that her view and expectations of her sister are her own and wouldn't be realized.

I have to add though, that in spite of my discomfort, it's a good journey into a new world, and it's well written, though discordant with my inner rhythm of language and description.