Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Clarice Lispector December 10, 1920 – December 9, 1977) was a Brazilian novelist and short story writer acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories.

The legendarily beautiful Clarice Lispector, tall and blonde, clad in the outspoken sunglasses and chunky jewelry of a grande dame of midcentury Rio de Janeiro, met our current definition of glamour. She spent years as a fashion journalist and knew how to look the part. But it is as much in the older sense of the word that Clarice Lispector is glamorous: as a caster of spells, literally enchanting, her nervous ghost haunting every branch of the Brazilian arts.

As a professional fashion writer, Clarice (as she is known by) reveled in her characters’ appearances. And then she disheveled their dresses, smudged their mascara, and deranged their hair. But it’s best to approach her with some caution. For the ordinary reader — that is to say, for most of us — immersion in the teeming mind of Clarice Lispector can be an exhausting, even a deranging, experience, not to be undertaken lightly.
Her writing was called “It’s not literature. It’s witchcraft.”

Her Best:
1. Near to the Wild Heart Her first, award-winning novel was published in 1943, when she was 23. The title is a quote from Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: “He was alone. He was unheeded, happy, and near to the wild heart of life.”
2. The Hour of the Star in which all her talents and eccentricities merged and folded in a densely self-conscious narrative dealing with the difficulty and odd pleasures of storytelling.
3. The Passion According to G.H. comes the most famous and most genuinely shocking scene in Brazilian literature. It’s a brilliant and hypnotic book.
4. Água Viva “Lispector at her most philosophically radical” Plotless and essentially characterless, Água Viva is a prolonged meditation on the nature of life, time, and creation. As challenging as it might sound, it’s profound and immensely rewarding.
5. The Chandelier is an intense novel following the story of one woman’s life as she seeks freedom and meaning, but it’s also stands out as a strange and difficult body of work.

Clarice has written 85 stories of which are from her earliest story, published when she was nineteen, to the last, found in scratchy fragments after her death.

Please share what read you are thinking about tackling.
Join us on this mysterious read that I am not sure if I will make it through!

My library had Near to the Wild Heart so that’s going to be my read.

(Edited to add link.)

I am happy you decided to read this one Annette. I have it on my wish list.

I have her The Hour of the Star and wishing this month had 90 days in it!

My library system has The Besieged City, so I’ll be reading this toward the middle of the month.

Glad your joining in Kathy!

I look forward to comparing reads!

Annette wrote: "I look forward to comparing reads!"

Yes so far 3 different works!

Anyone else thinking of reading one of Clarice's books or a short story? Água Viva is only 88 pages! and I found a free PDF of it online.

I've reserved The Hour of the Star at our local library so I'll be reading it in Dutch. I've never read any of Clarice Lispector's books so I look forward to being introduced to her writings.
Now just to wait until the present reader finishes and returns the book (due date is 17 March) so I can start :-)

edit: I just found out that the library has The Passion According to G.H. available now so I can pick it up tomorrow.

Glad you were able to find The Passion. Mikiko I hope you let us know what you think of her style.

(6:40 am EST)

The Hour of the Star starts out something like wondering about how the world came about.

I've put The Hour of the Star on hold at my library, Lesle, because I want to see what it's like compared to the book I just read, The Besieged City. I read The Hour of the Star before but can't remember anything about it. Hope you enjoy it, Lesle.

The Besieged City is a book I just had to give up making sense out of and go with the flow of the sentences, some of which were beautiful. The story created a series of images in my mind, but I don't think I comprehended what the author wanted to say. In the story are: the main character Lucrecia, the city of Sao Geraldo, horses, the changing city, "things" and their importance, seeing and being seen.

This is said to be Lispector's most difficult novel. It was difficult.

Back from the library with a copy of De passie volgens G.H., a Dutch translation of The Passion According to G.H..
Even though I'd prefer to read in English, since it's not the original language of the novel, I thought why not read it in Dutch. Besides, it was the only version that was available in my local library.

9:45 am EST

I finished The Hour of the Star it is very different than what I thought it would be in the style of the story.

I felt horrible for Macabea and the life she endured.

I will look into others stories of Lispector.

I am working my way through Near to the Wild Heart. I am a little over halfway and I am encountering not just one stream of consciousness but two and maybe 3 based on the last few pages.

Sounds interesting Annette!

Enjoy your retirement years ahead.