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natburg's review
5.0
I think i might have just read some of the most beautiful words ever! ok, so while it took me a super duper long time to finish this book, if i'm being honest, i already cannot wait to re-read it. somehow, this is both so whimsical and real at the same time and in such a magical way. the last fifty or so pages were just so wonderful - and the end kinda set my head on fire. made me laugh, made my cry, etc., etc., all the clichés (but in a way that was still mostly new for me)! the lispector novel with the most plot that i've read so far.
valentinserrano's review against another edition
4.0
Una de las mejores escritoras del siglo XX, dotada de un estilo introspectivo único.
Argumentos donde la perversión y la ingenuidad se mezclan con un aroma (pre)postestructuralista y escanciada de cierta feminidad agazapada.
Argumentos donde la perversión y la ingenuidad se mezclan con un aroma (pre)postestructuralista y escanciada de cierta feminidad agazapada.
yarnmaus's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thewhimsicalowl's review against another edition
4.0
"Now came the coffee, a little bread with butter and she was alone. She wasn't feeling unhappy. Especially she was feeling a haughty and cold sensation that nobody could take from her everything she'd lived; she was paying a certain intimate and dark attention to whatever was happening and then later, perhaps impossible to remember, would nonetheless be a part of her history" (231).
This one floats between four and five stars for me. It wasn't the narrative I wanted to read, but it was perhaps the one I needed at this time. I took my copy with me to Italy, and now it's a little worse for wear, though I think the creases and dogeared pages (gasp!) add a little character.
I couldn't sleep well last night because I kept thinking of the ~Great Gatsbyesque~ ending to this novel. How could it have ended this way? But then, upon looking back at Lispector's brilliant literary scaffolding, how could it not?
This is the tale of Virginia, a sculptor, a girl from the Farm, a sister, a daughter, caught between being a child and a woman. Lispector practically invented prose, so, yes, of course it's going to be a stunning and immersive experience. She's also a master of human nature, and that's perhaps what saved this novel for me, despite it delving less into philosophy than her others. She establishes an authorial dance between us pitying Virginia, disliking her, and also fiercely relating to her. There is something in her lostness that arises as uncannily universal.
This one floats between four and five stars for me. It wasn't the narrative I wanted to read, but it was perhaps the one I needed at this time. I took my copy with me to Italy, and now it's a little worse for wear, though I think the creases and dogeared pages (gasp!) add a little character.
I couldn't sleep well last night because I kept thinking of the ~Great Gatsbyesque~ ending to this novel. How could it have ended this way? But then, upon looking back at Lispector's brilliant literary scaffolding, how could it not?
This is the tale of Virginia, a sculptor, a girl from the Farm, a sister, a daughter, caught between being a child and a woman. Lispector practically invented prose, so, yes, of course it's going to be a stunning and immersive experience. She's also a master of human nature, and that's perhaps what saved this novel for me, despite it delving less into philosophy than her others. She establishes an authorial dance between us pitying Virginia, disliking her, and also fiercely relating to her. There is something in her lostness that arises as uncannily universal.
breadandmushrooms's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
nateweida's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful book that demands a lot from its reader but rewards constantly with spurts of intense beauty. Worth sticking it out despite the sting it might leave you with.
sarajoyceann13's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
made my eyes water
j_ata's review against another edition
4.0
Gorgeously written (I jotted down countless quotes & phrases), but wild & bewildering—there's something deliberately elusive & even evasive about the narrative technique, which often felt like trying to grasp at quicksilver as it flows between the fingers. Can only liken it to Woolf at her most ecstatic, only for 320 pages straight. Which is, to put it bluntly, both extremely impressive & a lot (perhaps too much?).
[Read #21 of "2021: My Year of (Mostly) Midcentury Women Writers"]
[Read #21 of "2021: My Year of (Mostly) Midcentury Women Writers"]
paigeweb's review
3.0
Didn’t connect to this as much as I have to Clarice’s other works, but was really touched by her exploration of themes like childhood memories and the mixed feelings that encompass leaving and then returning to a family home.
How horrible, pure, and irrevocable it was to live!
How horrible, pure, and irrevocable it was to live!
dierdrecsalz's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0