Scan barcode
uglycherub's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely unbelievable reflection on life, death, and what it means to be aware of both. I needed to lay down after I finished it. If you can, only read it when you can do it all in one sitting.
souptime's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Ah if I had known that it were like that I wouldn't have been born. Ah if I had known I wouldn't have been born. Madness borders the cruellest good sense. This is a brain tempest and one sentence barely has anything to do with the next. I swallow the madness that is no madness-- it's something else. Do you understand me? But I'll have to stop because I'm so and so tired that only dying would release me from this fatigue. I'm leaving."
Agua Viva was exactly as Lispector herself describes it. This book made me reflect less on the content, in a way, and more about how I was consuming it: not even 100 pages, yet bearing so many reflections that you'd think you need to take a week to think about it before going over to the next page. Yet you can't stop: it's a train and you are on board. The opening words were exploding but little did I know the book would keep on exploding page after page. I did truly love it. So much that I'm writing about it, so much that I'm tearing up. I know Lispector is dead and gone, but it does feel like she's an ineffable being - even in front of death - she's fast and she's liquid. When she wrote "I'm not going to die, you hear, God? I don't have the courage, you hear? Don't kill me, you hear?" I felt like that was exactly what was going to happen.
Thank you so much Clarice Lispector, there is so much I cannot put into words about this-- you would understand.
Agua Viva was exactly as Lispector herself describes it. This book made me reflect less on the content, in a way, and more about how I was consuming it: not even 100 pages, yet bearing so many reflections that you'd think you need to take a week to think about it before going over to the next page. Yet you can't stop: it's a train and you are on board. The opening words were exploding but little did I know the book would keep on exploding page after page. I did truly love it. So much that I'm writing about it, so much that I'm tearing up. I know Lispector is dead and gone, but it does feel like she's an ineffable being - even in front of death - she's fast and she's liquid. When she wrote "I'm not going to die, you hear, God? I don't have the courage, you hear? Don't kill me, you hear?" I felt like that was exactly what was going to happen.
Thank you so much Clarice Lispector, there is so much I cannot put into words about this-- you would understand.
goob0o's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
gharialgirl's review against another edition
not really sure how to rate this… i enjoyed the ride for the most part and there’s real moments of brilliance. but a lot of it seemed to just wash over me, i guess? i would like to revisit this in the future
anaurrutia's review against another edition
5.0
"Lo mejor está en las entrelíneas". Para reelerlo muchas muchas veces. :D
woolfnabokov's review against another edition
My lack of rating does NOT mean I don’t like this btw. I actually really do! I just find that it feels so personal and nuanced that I couldn’t possibly give a rating from 1-5⭐️ simply because I don’t have a basis on how to. If you asked me to describe the book, I really wouldn’t be able to; and I fear that the lack of ‘plot’ might shoo potential readers away. I really think it’s ok to enter it even without any prior expectations. This feels like a diary of a singular and specific person yet somehow it manages to universally touch a collective identity. These aren’t just questions that one specific person asks, they’re actually very common, it just depends on what strikes us exactly to ask such, and what brief observations lead us to further introspection
zorrahipotensa's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0