motifenjoyer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
5.0
"Words precede and surpass me, they tempt and alter me, and if I am not careful it will be too late: things will be said without my having said them... My entanglement comes from how a carpet is made of so many threads that I can’t resign myself to following just one; my ensnarement comes from how one story is made of many stories."
mroznere's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wincher2031's review against another edition
4.0
Although these stories are (for the most part) separate from each other, in being collected together they form the larger story of the writer's journey. The changes in voice and theme throughout life are mirrored in each part, from the amateurish First Stories to the poignant portfolio of Via Crucis of The Body.
Lispector's writing often straddles the line between commercial and literary fiction, bringing the criteria for either into question. In her own words "Someone read my stories and said that's not literature, it's trash. I agree. But there's a time for everything. There's also the time for trash."
And this is a collection which can go from trashy-pulp style yarns to hard hitting, introspective think pieces on a dime, surprisingly without an overwhelming tonal whiplash.
These collected stories are a mystery bag (much more good than bad), a bag that's at home both on the spinning rack of a transit lounge and under the scrutiny of a college seminar.
My favourite line:
"People look for reasons to live as if life alone doesn't justify itself."
Lispector's writing often straddles the line between commercial and literary fiction, bringing the criteria for either into question. In her own words "Someone read my stories and said that's not literature, it's trash. I agree. But there's a time for everything. There's also the time for trash."
And this is a collection which can go from trashy-pulp style yarns to hard hitting, introspective think pieces on a dime, surprisingly without an overwhelming tonal whiplash.
These collected stories are a mystery bag (much more good than bad), a bag that's at home both on the spinning rack of a transit lounge and under the scrutiny of a college seminar.
My favourite line:
"People look for reasons to live as if life alone doesn't justify itself."
whogivesabook's review against another edition
5.0
If you love short stories, you can't help but love Lispector. She manages to be both deeply honest and willfully deceptive Within each story the surreal meets reality head on.
Most writers have a default character they write about often. For Lispector it is the housewife. It is the child. It is the young woman searching for the truth about herself. It is a chicken. It is a country. She transcends that idea of a default. Instead there is a mood at work. An undercurrent.
Loneliness.
There's a depth to her writing but it always orbits that vacuum within the human heart: loneliness. Isolation peppers the stories, the same way it does with her novels.
To me this feeling is acute. It haunts me a great deal. To read it expertly dissected and examined, while at the same time sympathetically presented as an integral aspect of being alive rather than a failing of the person suffering... That's the key here.
Some stories are a few pages. Every single one has the potential to linger in the mind for far longer.
Particular favourites:
Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady
A Chicken The Solution
Profile of Chosen Beings
Boy in Pen and Ink The Waters of the World
In Search of Dignity
(I have 21 other stories tabbed)
Most writers have a default character they write about often. For Lispector it is the housewife. It is the child. It is the young woman searching for the truth about herself. It is a chicken. It is a country. She transcends that idea of a default. Instead there is a mood at work. An undercurrent.
Loneliness.
There's a depth to her writing but it always orbits that vacuum within the human heart: loneliness. Isolation peppers the stories, the same way it does with her novels.
To me this feeling is acute. It haunts me a great deal. To read it expertly dissected and examined, while at the same time sympathetically presented as an integral aspect of being alive rather than a failing of the person suffering... That's the key here.
Some stories are a few pages. Every single one has the potential to linger in the mind for far longer.
Particular favourites:
Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady
A Chicken The Solution
Profile of Chosen Beings
Boy in Pen and Ink The Waters of the World
In Search of Dignity
(I have 21 other stories tabbed)
lazylarry's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
canadiantiquarian's review against another edition
5.0
When writing about Lispector's style, many discuss its magic, lyrical nature, strangeness... But what really stands out is how alive and bright it is. She writes of the female and human experience like her contemporaries, but with a vibrancy not seen in the writing that generally breaks into the 20th century boys' club of It writing and writers.
As I wrote of one of the story collections also included in this book:
"Reading Lispector is exhilarating. Hers is a stream of consciousness not about blurting everything on paper, immediate and unkempt -- but about finding the humanity and interior by letting herself muse about and follow the obvious and disparate connections her mind would make. She is, at once, whimsical and intellectual, cold and empathetic.
The stories in this collection -- and her work as a whole -- deal with 1900s womanhood in a thoughtfully fierce way. There is passion, power, and life to her stories -- talent that should have firmly placed her among the literary stars of her time."
As I wrote of one of the story collections also included in this book:
"Reading Lispector is exhilarating. Hers is a stream of consciousness not about blurting everything on paper, immediate and unkempt -- but about finding the humanity and interior by letting herself muse about and follow the obvious and disparate connections her mind would make. She is, at once, whimsical and intellectual, cold and empathetic.
The stories in this collection -- and her work as a whole -- deal with 1900s womanhood in a thoughtfully fierce way. There is passion, power, and life to her stories -- talent that should have firmly placed her among the literary stars of her time."