A review by imogenrose97
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector

2.5

Gripped from the beginning I deeply enjoyed the first half of this book. The writing is bold and introspective, and the characters are vivid and visceral. Our main character Joana is rough and independent, not understanding her place in the world as a young woman who follows her whims without a care for those around her. I found the first half to be much stronger writing than the second, the first half was clear and the stream of conscious style worked in conjunction with a child narrator. By the second half, the writing became muddy and convoluted. Strings of words that felt too heavy to bear, I ended up skimming the pages to find my way to the end. I lost the sense of clarity the beginning had held and that unfortunately made the second half of the book a bit of a drag. I'm interested to read some of her other work as she has a clear talent.