diaries
i love reading other people’s diaries. not when they don’t want me to, of course, but once they’re published for the world to see, that’s okay, isn’t it? i love the ‘covered wagon women-diaries and letters from the western trails’ series which goes from 1840-1903. there are 11 books in the series, i think i’m about half way through.
i just got an email from amazon saying a ‘best of covered wagon women’ book is coming out at the end of the month. you should read it!
another one of my favorites is also in this picture “i am the most interesting book of all-the diary of marie bashkirtseff vol. 1” i bought this as soon as it came out, having read the original translation from 1889 which had alot of portions removed before publishing. i was so excited after i read volume 1, i wrote to chronicle books asking when would the second volume come out, i couldn’t wait to read it, and they told me they would not be publishing it! i was so bummed. i read something online a while ago that the second volume may be published by another company. that may just be a rumor but i’m still clinging to hope.
do you have any good diaries to recommend? i really only read diaries written by women, but i won’t discriminate!
April 18th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
i have never seen any of those books. they look quite interesting. i will have to check them out.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Oh, I have a good one! http://www.amazon.com/Maud-Illustrated-Diary-Flora-Fraser/dp/0877014299/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208557947&sr=1-4
It is called Maud: the Illustrated Diary of a Victorian Woman, and it’s very interesting, fun and creative. Maud painted a lot and made little comics and drawings of her and her friends over the years. The drawings are accompanied by text from her journal, and photos and information about her and the people in her life. I found my copy at a thrift store, and it’s a great big book with lots to look at. Totally worth the $7 from amazon sellers!
April 19th, 2008 at 6:03 am
awww, i just looked at my library and they don’t have any of these books! dang it! i really need a good book, my last batch have disappointed.
April 19th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
thanks anja! i just bought a copy!
April 19th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
The diaries of Anais Nin are interesting. She’s a bit controversial because of a few issues (incest and bigamy) but I found her fascinating. Also, Once Upon a Time, the memoirs of Gloria Vanderbilt. The Heart Has Its Reasons, the memoirs of The Duchess of Windsor is fascinating as well, particularly how the royal family disliked her despite the duke being madly in love with her and declining the throne for her.
That’s a shame about the Bashkirtseff volume. I have a first translation in English of the diary from 1899 and loved it so much.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
thanks for the suggestions jennifer! i recently purchased a few volumes of anais nin’s diaries but haven’t started them yet. i couldn’t decide between starting with the earlier or later diaries-i ended up getting the first few later ones, i figured they were right in the middle so i’d start there.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:45 am
I read Private Pages, the diaries of women when I was 21 and it really influenced me and what I was interested in. If you can still find it I recommend it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
here is a link
http://www.amazon.com/Private-Pages-Diaries-American-1830s-1970s/dp/0345314719/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208888882&sr=8-4
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
thanks krissy! i just ordered a copy of it. can’t beat the price! a penny!
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Hi! Oh, good. I hope you like it!
May 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
Hi Hannah, this is my first time commenting but I have just discovered your blog today – I love ric rac!
One of my favourites is ‘The Diary of Frida Kahlo’. Its filled with drawings and poems with the original copies of pages in Spanish and the English translations added, its beautiful.
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Frida-Kahlo-Abradale-Books/dp/0810981955
Also, a good book to go alongside this is ‘Frida by Frida’ which is a collection of her letters to friends, family and lovers. Its amazing to read about how she felt in the moment of writing. I definitely recommend it.
http://www.amazon.com/Diary-Frida-Kahlo-Abradale-Books/dp/0810981955
Enjoy!
July 4th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Hi Hannah–I just hopped over here via Posie Gets Cozy, and absolutely had to recommend Milking the Moon, by Eugene Walter as told to Katherine Clark:
http://www.amazon.com/Milking-Moon-Southerners-Story-Planet/dp/0609809652/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215233511&sr=8-1
Eugene Walter was one of the craziest brilliant artists you’ve never heard of. He was a poet and a playright and a puppeteer, and he starred in a couple hundred Italian films in the 50s and 60s. He was friends with everybody worth knowing and has a story about them all. It’s not a diary, but it was dictated to Ms. Clark, so has a very distinct voice.