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4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An den Bäumen hingen schwarze Früchte, süß wie Honig. Am Boden lagen trockene Kerne voller Windungen, wie kleine verfaulte Gehirne. Die Bank war mit violetten Säften befleckt. Mit sanfter Intensität rauschten die Wasser. An den Stamm des Baumes hefteten sich die prunkvollen Beine einer Spinne. Die Rohheit der Welt ruhte in sich. Der Mord war tief. Und der Tod war nicht, was wir dachten.
I’m honestly lost on how to rate this.
Lispector feels less like a storyteller and more like an artist. Reading her is an experience – like walking through a beautiful villa that’s also an upside-down funhouse. And the flowers smell sweeter than anything you’ve known, but every surface you touch is warm and sticky, and as you round a corner there is someone screaming into your face. Is that a good experience? Debatable.
The language is stunning and there were countless moments where a single phrase evoked an intense mental picture and emotion. However, over time, I found myself oversaturated on her prose – like eating a dazzlingly sweet dessert until it turns from delicious to sickly cloying. Still, I believe this book made an impression made to last.
To be continued.
I only had time to read a few of her short stories.
I only had time to read a few of her short stories.
Going from never having read Lispector to reading all 85+ of her short stories was a wild ride. I feel like I had a brain transplant! I've just never read anything like her work. I had this from the library but loved enough of the stories that I should probably own it. I started out keeping track of favorite stories but forgot to track them after a while. But I wrote down:
- The Fever Dream
- Interrupted Story
- **Letters to Hermengardo** (I think I read it 10 times)
- Family Ties
- The Buffalo
- The Disasters of Sophia
- The Egg and the Chicken
- Where Were You at Night
- **Report on the Thing**
- Brasilia
- Love
It was also interesting to hear from the translator about the innovative and wild things Lispector did with grammar and syntax. I know not all that can come through in translation, but I loved the stuff that did, and that off-kilter dizzy feeling it gave me.
- The Fever Dream
- Interrupted Story
- **Letters to Hermengardo** (I think I read it 10 times)
- Family Ties
- The Buffalo
- The Disasters of Sophia
- The Egg and the Chicken
- Where Were You at Night
- **Report on the Thing**
- Brasilia
- Love
It was also interesting to hear from the translator about the innovative and wild things Lispector did with grammar and syntax. I know not all that can come through in translation, but I loved the stuff that did, and that off-kilter dizzy feeling it gave me.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I experimented with this one, reading only one or two short stories a day, because of some advice I’d heard about consuming collections like that. While it did help my overall enjoyment of each, since I rate things by the expectations set by the book, it’s still pretty difficult for collections/anthologies to get higher than a 3 star rating for me, simply because some stories are more successful than others.
You can clearly see the themes Lispector was interested in and plenty of kernels of things that were used or expanded upon for her long form work. I’d probably have spotted even more, had I read more of them by now. But some stories included don’t feel like much of anything at all, too, conversely. So, like basically every collection it ends up being just fine, even with some that I really enjoyed immensely.
You can clearly see the themes Lispector was interested in and plenty of kernels of things that were used or expanded upon for her long form work. I’d probably have spotted even more, had I read more of them by now. But some stories included don’t feel like much of anything at all, too, conversely. So, like basically every collection it ends up being just fine, even with some that I really enjoyed immensely.
Going into this I thought there was no way that Clarice Lispector would live up to the hype. I mean, to be compared to Borges and Kafka is a pretty difficult to measure up to. She absolutely does.
Lispector is amazing, truly amazing. I am so glad that all her stories were collected in this, and I cant wait to work through her novels. She has a perfectly tuned prose style and a fantastic knowledge of the depths of the human soul.
Lispector is amazing, truly amazing. I am so glad that all her stories were collected in this, and I cant wait to work through her novels. She has a perfectly tuned prose style and a fantastic knowledge of the depths of the human soul.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
hard to review this as it is a collection of short stories written over the span of lispectors life. but a lot of them were thought provoking and interesting
The other side of alienation is freedom.
Not being devoured is the most perfect of feelings. Not being devoured is the secret goal of an entire life.
How living hurt. Living was an open wound.
Once in a while, groundless melancholy would darken my face, a dull and incomprehensible nostalgia for times never experienced would invade me.
Love? I wanted to go with him, to be on the stronger side, for him to spare me, like one who seeks shelter in the arms of the enemy to stay far from his arrows. It was different than love, I was finding out: I wanted him as a thirsty person desires water, without feelings, without even wanting to be happy.
The courage to be something other than what one is, to give birth to oneself, and to leave one’s former body on the ground. And without having answered to anyone about whether it was worthwhile.
That night I'd already had quite a bit to drink. I wandered from bar to bar, until, excessively happy, I was afraid I'd outdo myself: I'd grown too comfortable in my own skin. I was looking for a way to pour some of myself out, before I completely overflowed.
reflective
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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