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A review by jenniey3
Água Viva by Clarice Lispector
3.0
In Portuguese, água viva means jellyfish, but the phrase directly translates to "living water". That is the part of the book that makes the most sense, as jellyfish are shapeless creatures, moving with the water. This here is a shapeless book, bending with the currents of life.
This novel has no plot, no characters, and no atmosphere. It is a loosely formed slew of thoughts about writing, art, and life. It is a continuous stream of consciousness as Clarice tries to capture the very instant, the now. There is no structure to her thoughts and she aimlessly meanders from subject to subject, paragraph to paragraph. The entire book was an experience and it has never taken me so long to read and dissect a piece of literature under 100 pages. Clarice has almost humbled me. Almost.
I especially enjoyed her take on writing:
"I know that my phrases are crude, I write them with too much love, and that love makes up for their faults..."
Overall, the book feels equal parts Lana, Matty, and Sufjan
This novel has no plot, no characters, and no atmosphere. It is a loosely formed slew of thoughts about writing, art, and life. It is a continuous stream of consciousness as Clarice tries to capture the very instant, the now. There is no structure to her thoughts and she aimlessly meanders from subject to subject, paragraph to paragraph. The entire book was an experience and it has never taken me so long to read and dissect a piece of literature under 100 pages. Clarice has almost humbled me. Almost.
I especially enjoyed her take on writing:
"I know that my phrases are crude, I write them with too much love, and that love makes up for their faults..."
Overall, the book feels equal parts Lana, Matty, and Sufjan