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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Weird and short. This shouldn’t work, but it does. Recommended for adults who enjoy unusually crafted literature.
This is one of the most meta stories I have ever read. It is extremely short coming in at around 90ish pages ( I have the centennial edition). The story narrates a narrator who is detailing the life of a tragic woman named Macabea. The narrator yearns to learn what makes Macabea so free. She is ugly, illiterate, gullible, clingy, and utterly unlovable, but somehow happy. The book does a great job of testing our empathy and trust, and really challenges us to see which perspective we trust and believe. The book is very quick but is written with somewhat difficult syntax and punctuation. This could be up to the fact that it was translated from Portuguese, but it doesn’t affect the overall experience at all. I absolutely loved this book, it’s hilarious, it’s devastating, and it’s lush. My favorite section is towards the end with the brothel fortune teller she’s fucking hilarious and great.
reflective
medium-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
i must've missed something because why is everyone talking so highly of this
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
Intricate and complex language. She always hits a word right in its centre and tells it with such sincerity, like she’s sure she created it completely by herself. And the relevance in the way she uses some of them, I’d believe it. Each one is significant, even when she repeats them (or a phrase) twice or thrice in her usual style. I want to consume it all at once
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Maybe I read it at the wrong time or in the wrong mood, but this just wasn't my cup of tea. I almost stopped reading multiple times. The first third of the book was quite difficult to get through because it felt like it was the same sentiment being expressed over and over again for 30 pages. I expected a lot more from Lispector since I've heard such high praise of her so I was quite let down. I will give her other works a try, though. This one just wasn't for me, I guess.