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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was one of those books where the prose is just so beautiful I would forgive it anything. I started underlining my favourite parts and I feel like I've underlined half the book at that point. It's true that nothing much happens, Lori's journey is very abstract and internal, but the way it is described has intense love for the human psyche. I've always loved existential themes and Lispector handles those with grace. Lori's intense anxiety and overwhelm at existing in the world and the way she slowly finds peace with it is special to me.
I'll just jot down some of my favourite parts:
"It seemed to her that Ulisses, if she plucked up the courage to tell him what she was feeling, and she never would, if she told him he'd reply more or less like this and very calmly: the condition can't be cured but the fear of the condition is curable."
"But there's something that isn't a good intention. It's a gentleness towards life that also demands the greatest courage to accept it."
"-Lori, said Ulisses, and suddenly he seemed serious though he was speaking calmly, Lori: one of the things I've learned is that we ought to live despite. Despite, we should eat. Despite, we should love. Despite, we should die. It's even often this despite that spurs us on."
I'll just jot down some of my favourite parts:
"It seemed to her that Ulisses, if she plucked up the courage to tell him what she was feeling, and she never would, if she told him he'd reply more or less like this and very calmly: the condition can't be cured but the fear of the condition is curable."
"But there's something that isn't a good intention. It's a gentleness towards life that also demands the greatest courage to accept it."
"-Lori, said Ulisses, and suddenly he seemed serious though he was speaking calmly, Lori: one of the things I've learned is that we ought to live despite. Despite, we should eat. Despite, we should love. Despite, we should die. It's even often this despite that spurs us on."
medium-paced
, I love a novel of absolute, unrelenting existential agony and no plot. Starting the novel in the middle of a sentence - nay, the first typed character of the entire novel being literally a comma - sure. Try ending the novel in the middle of a sentence, too. Boom. Pure genius:
what a pure and exact meditation on being alive. next time i read this it will be from cover to cover in one sitting
challenging
reflective
this book had me losing my mind a little at the airport. overall I really liked it, but it was always walking the line between "wow beautiful prose so insightful" and "oh boy this is melodramatic" and "what does this even mean"
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
as a lover of prose and introspective writing, i thought this would be for me but it actually infuriated me. it’s not my style of writing? the prose is beautiful but almost too fluid, weaved into every line which is not my cup of tea. i like when parts of writing flow then halt, slow then strike. it becomes more full-bodied and nuanced but this one felt unclear and arduous to read. i also think the topic of her struggles bored me and her lover’s language kept throwing me off. toxic words from a man in my opinion.