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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
ya a good sad short little book you can read in an hour
challenging
medium-paced
fiz uma releitura para poder escrever um trabalho pra faculdade.
acho a crítica social do livro maravilhosa, e a Clarice é maestra com as palavras mas esse lance de torturar o personagem o máximo que puder tipo como é feito em A Little Life (que veio muito depois) não é muito do meu agrado se eu não tiver no animo de ler sobre a desgraça alheia, e a coitada da Macabéa só sofre.
acho a crítica social do livro maravilhosa, e a Clarice é maestra com as palavras mas esse lance de torturar o personagem o máximo que puder tipo como é feito em A Little Life (que veio muito depois) não é muito do meu agrado se eu não tiver no animo de ler sobre a desgraça alheia, e a coitada da Macabéa só sofre.
I feel like if I could go on a date with Clarice Lispector, she would ensure that I had a good time. We'd probably visit a simple but lovely place in Brazil, where we could walk and talk about various topics. I imagine listening to her insights on sex, love, art, and life and being completely absorbed by them. I also feel like even on seemingly random subjects, her words would be penetrating and insightful. Anyway, I love this book. It's a story that centers around Macabéa, a young woman living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, who lacks both beauty and financial means and works as a typist. Her life is narrated through the perspective of S.M. Rodrigo - another character in the story. While narrating Macabéa's life, he also reveals the complexities and thrills of the writing process by breaking the fourth wall. It's so layered, and I thoroughly enjoyed its style. It's messy, but it's so clear. It's absurd, but it's so engrossing. Lispector has a brilliant way with words, and they're just so stunning to me. Reading it overall gave me this really nice emotional experience. Definitely something I will read again.
choked this down because the thought of an entire month without logging a book sucked. honestly this was kind of lost on me idk baby’s first lispector maybe i need more exposure to understand ?
3.5 - I couldn't figure out how the parallel stories of the erratic narrator and the naive Macabea went together, but I did find Lispector's writing poetic:
"She'd never forget that when they first met he'd called her 'missy,' he'd made her a somebody. Since she was a somebody, she'd even bought a pink lipstick."
"But I also think she was crying because, through the music, she might have guessed there were other ways of feeling, there were more delicate existences and even a certain luxury of soul."
"When she woke up she no longer knew who she was. Only later did she think with satisfaction: I’m a typist and a virgin, and I like coca-cola. Only then did she dress herself in herself, she spent the rest of her day obediently playing the role of being."
" 'I think I don't need to conquer in life.' "
"His dream was to have money to do exactly what he wanted: nothing."
"Who hasn't ever wondered: Am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?"
"I'll miss myself so bad when I die."
"She'd never forget that when they first met he'd called her 'missy,' he'd made her a somebody. Since she was a somebody, she'd even bought a pink lipstick."
"But I also think she was crying because, through the music, she might have guessed there were other ways of feeling, there were more delicate existences and even a certain luxury of soul."
"When she woke up she no longer knew who she was. Only later did she think with satisfaction: I’m a typist and a virgin, and I like coca-cola. Only then did she dress herself in herself, she spent the rest of her day obediently playing the role of being."
" 'I think I don't need to conquer in life.' "
"His dream was to have money to do exactly what he wanted: nothing."
"Who hasn't ever wondered: Am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?"
"I'll miss myself so bad when I die."
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Hour of the Star was a uniquely formatted short story in which the narrator kept inserting himself as he described the life of a young Brazilian woman named Macabea. I didn’t know how to separate the narrator’s confused work from my assumptions about what Lispector hoped to accomplish with this tale. What first appeared to be the dry observation of a specimen undergoing a poor and simple existence turned into something much more bittersweet, like watching a flower finally bud only to meet with nature’s apathy and abandon. The story stumped me and moved me, and has occupied a corner of my mind since I read it. Those ~80 pages were the perfect snack, something much more approachable than the Complete Stories, which I enjoyed when I read it years ago, even though it was quite the undertaking. I thought I had outgrown these reflective, poetic, meta, existential literary puzzles from Lispector, but maybe I still have some appetite in me. Now, I almost regret giving away my copy.
"quem já não se perguntou: sou um monstro ou isto é ser uma pessoa?"