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yellowishresin 's review for:
An Apprenticeship, or the Book of Pleasures
by Clarice Lispector
It is beautiful. A story about the struggle of becoming a person capable of loving and being loved. The cold Ulisses, who intellectualizes everything, prods Lori into defining herself; their romance is of this dynamic. A dynamic that is ultimately reclarified. Their meetings are the high points of the book for me.
I typically enjoy moments of solitary thinking in novels—and here I loved the section on Lori’s agony over going to a party alone, which is so acute that she overdoes her makeup and leads to a wonderful dialogue on masks—however, some of her internal moments (which take up a large chunk of the novel) are inundated with a philosophy-speak that alienates me from Lori’s emotional struggle. At these times, I could sit back and admire the craft and beauty of the prose, but it didn’t get an emotional response out of me. Perhaps, I am prejudiced just against such philosophy-speak, I will have to see how I feel when I read this again.
I typically enjoy moments of solitary thinking in novels—and here I loved the section on Lori’s agony over going to a party alone, which is so acute that she overdoes her makeup and leads to a wonderful dialogue on masks—however, some of her internal moments (which take up a large chunk of the novel) are inundated with a philosophy-speak that alienates me from Lori’s emotional struggle. At these times, I could sit back and admire the craft and beauty of the prose, but it didn’t get an emotional response out of me. Perhaps, I am prejudiced just against such philosophy-speak, I will have to see how I feel when I read this again.