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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The prose in this is excellent, even in translation. Things like explaining the life of the girl with the intent of absorbing her like a cloth, or describing life as a thin slice of watermelon, or the woman getting dressed and ready for her job of "being". Beautiful stuff.
The story is about a "simple," poor woman from the north-east of Brazil (a place with an especially fierce reputation of poverty that also suffers from a peculiar type of Brazilian discrimination). But, interestingly, the story of her is told from the perspective of a rather soul-less, well-off man who struggles to articulate why he's even interested in telling the story. What is it about this woman's simple life that compels him to inform us about it? The insertions of himself and his philosophical values end up telling us as much about him as it does the character the story is allegedly about, creating a dynamic depth.
In a bit of sly humor, the male narrator, written by female author Lispector, claims that if a woman were telling this story it would be too "weepy and maudlin." So we have the story of a woman told by a man written by a woman. Fun stuff.
Since I know a bit of Portuguese, I could sometimes feel where the phrases were coming from—like eating "guava preserves with cheese" which, in Brazil, would be called Romeo and Juliet—and could appreciate them more mentally translating them back into Portuguese. But the translation I read was excellent, and no knowledge of Portuguese is required.
This is a very touching story, one that explores poverty and existentialism and life itself with a beautiful pen.
The story is about a "simple," poor woman from the north-east of Brazil (a place with an especially fierce reputation of poverty that also suffers from a peculiar type of Brazilian discrimination). But, interestingly, the story of her is told from the perspective of a rather soul-less, well-off man who struggles to articulate why he's even interested in telling the story. What is it about this woman's simple life that compels him to inform us about it? The insertions of himself and his philosophical values end up telling us as much about him as it does the character the story is allegedly about, creating a dynamic depth.
In a bit of sly humor, the male narrator, written by female author Lispector, claims that if a woman were telling this story it would be too "weepy and maudlin." So we have the story of a woman told by a man written by a woman. Fun stuff.
Since I know a bit of Portuguese, I could sometimes feel where the phrases were coming from—like eating "guava preserves with cheese" which, in Brazil, would be called Romeo and Juliet—and could appreciate them more mentally translating them back into Portuguese. But the translation I read was excellent, and no knowledge of Portuguese is required.
This is a very touching story, one that explores poverty and existentialism and life itself with a beautiful pen.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what a deeply weird but enthralling little book
it’s meta, with alien, pseudo-modernist prose that beats its narrator’s existential crisis into the reader’s mind, but it’s also a very entertaining read. i’m honestly surprised that it took me this long to get around to reading lispector, and after this i’ll definitely be looking for more of her work.
it’s meta, with alien, pseudo-modernist prose that beats its narrator’s existential crisis into the reader’s mind, but it’s also a very entertaining read. i’m honestly surprised that it took me this long to get around to reading lispector, and after this i’ll definitely be looking for more of her work.