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A review by emsemsems
Água Viva by Clarice Lispector
3.0
I went into this with quite high expectations. I don't know how I feel about it yet as it was a quick read - breezed through it very quickly. There were a couple of lines that caught my attention/stuck to me :
"I cut the pain of which I write to you and give you my restless joy."
"Look and me and love me. No: you look at yourself and love yourself. That's right."
Apparently a Brazilian musician was quite obsessed with the book and read it a hundred and eleven times. I've got a feeling that it's the kind of book that I might appreciate more the more times I read it. In an article from Sydney Review of Books, this book was referred to as : 'the blue meth of literature' (https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/clarice-lispector-shannon-burns/) which I think is a rather impressive compliment. I might have to give it another go to appreciate it more. There is an odd sort of musicality knotted through the lines in the book that I find quite appealing/attractive. The style of writing/the way it's structured is quite strange, but it did not bother me much as I quite appreciate the 'fluidity' of it. It reminded me of Maggie Nelson's 'Bluets' (a book I lov a lot) a little.
"I cut the pain of which I write to you and give you my restless joy."
"Look and me and love me. No: you look at yourself and love yourself. That's right."
Apparently a Brazilian musician was quite obsessed with the book and read it a hundred and eleven times. I've got a feeling that it's the kind of book that I might appreciate more the more times I read it. In an article from Sydney Review of Books, this book was referred to as : 'the blue meth of literature' (https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/clarice-lispector-shannon-burns/) which I think is a rather impressive compliment. I might have to give it another go to appreciate it more. There is an odd sort of musicality knotted through the lines in the book that I find quite appealing/attractive. The style of writing/the way it's structured is quite strange, but it did not bother me much as I quite appreciate the 'fluidity' of it. It reminded me of Maggie Nelson's 'Bluets' (a book I lov a lot) a little.