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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
Beautiful prose with a profound air of sadness. Also, a unique and interesting point of view. I think I am just scratching the surface when it comes to Lispector who I will certainly revisit in 2025.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the funnest narrator i had a very fun (and long) time reading this! dragged on a little in the beginning but once it had its footing down it was very quick to get through! first of many clarice lispector for me!
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found the sensual landscape of this book to be more lucid and vividly felt than anything I have ever read before, which might say more about what I have read.
Though I sincerely believe that it is a book whose imagery is able to make the invisible 4th dimension visible.
As someone who believes they have hypophantasia which is less than normal capacity for imaginative visualisation in the mind’s eye, this book very easily challenged that notion. Every line I was able to grasp as with granular sense detail as tactile as feeling sand in your hand.
And to do all that while also throwing in deeply philosophical and abstract thought as well. It feels primitive but not in the way a child writes but of a primal and biblical import and weight. Rusted and ancient, the feeling of respect for a mossy rock which has been here for ages, or a huge tree with its big trunk that must’ve been there an amount of time that one cannot reliably conceive of because we only have but our short lifespans to compare its with.
The texts main character feels real and like the author is able to see and has observed them for many years—but is all the more authentic and real because we have been told and it makes sense that he has not. It is like how we know how to pass through time: we just do.
Each interaction they make just makes sense.
And then the layers of this text: it has dimension in terms of who is writing, dimension in terms of the punctuation, dimension in terms of description, dimension in focus.
This text is as if you took the pulsating throbbing heart of art and squeezed the pure blood till it melded with the written word.
Art changing! Perspective changing! Life changing!
Truly and inescapably infectiously vibrant!
Though I sincerely believe that it is a book whose imagery is able to make the invisible 4th dimension visible.
As someone who believes they have hypophantasia which is less than normal capacity for imaginative visualisation in the mind’s eye, this book very easily challenged that notion. Every line I was able to grasp as with granular sense detail as tactile as feeling sand in your hand.
And to do all that while also throwing in deeply philosophical and abstract thought as well. It feels primitive but not in the way a child writes but of a primal and biblical import and weight. Rusted and ancient, the feeling of respect for a mossy rock which has been here for ages, or a huge tree with its big trunk that must’ve been there an amount of time that one cannot reliably conceive of because we only have but our short lifespans to compare its with.
The texts main character feels real and like the author is able to see and has observed them for many years—but is all the more authentic and real because we have been told and it makes sense that he has not. It is like how we know how to pass through time: we just do.
Each interaction they make just makes sense.
And then the layers of this text: it has dimension in terms of who is writing, dimension in terms of the punctuation, dimension in terms of description, dimension in focus.
This text is as if you took the pulsating throbbing heart of art and squeezed the pure blood till it melded with the written word.
Art changing! Perspective changing! Life changing!
Truly and inescapably infectiously vibrant!
funny
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:
Yes
“I want to declare that this girl doesn’t know her-self except from living aimlessly. If she was dumb enough to ask herself “who am I?” she would fall flat on her face. Because “who am I?” creates a need. And how can you satisfy that need? Those who wonder are incomplete.”
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: Physical book
Genre: Literary fiction, Classics
I have heard such incredible things about Clarice Lispector and her writing. I’m not quite sure what I expected when I picked this book up, but I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed the ways she played with language and found the prose hypnotizing. Not many authors could successfully make me feel such dread and despair while simultaneously making me appreciate life and art and being able to experience both.
Though I really enjoyed this overall, I rated 4 stars instead of five based on my subjective enjoyment of the “plot”, which I honestly DIDN’T enjoy in many places. I recognize that the narrative/story was not necessarily the point and the goal was not for it to be enjoyable. Still doesn’t change the fact that I thought the middle 20-30% dragged quite a bit, which is unfortunate to say about such a short book. I think a re-read will make me appreciate those slower sections more, since I know where things ended up going.
Absolutely worth reading, but this will be unlike anything you have read before.