lilahs_literacy_corner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ihyuca's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
booccmaster's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
asherahe's review against another edition
I can’t even rate this, it is the most eccentric little book I have ever read. It overwhelmed me with emotion and I am still mulling over the meaning of the title. I was captured by the line “she wanted to vomit something that wasn’t her body, to vomit something luminous. A thousand pointed star” and think it refers to the title, her symbolic death as a turning point essential to her identity? I don’t know?? This whole novella felt contradictory from the narrator’s unstable perspective, but I suppose that’s the point?
The prose was baffling and peculiar and I felt the drops of Macabea’s existential ecstasy. It was so strange and philosophical and somehow achieves a certain wordless quality that the insufferable narrator was striving for. The words aren’t sparkly or floral, the prose is just so strangely constructed as well as her word choices, so in that sense it was somewhat difficult to read. That last passage cut me to the bone and I am forever changed - it’s very absurdist. I need to reread it immediately. I don’t think this review makes any sense because the book itself didn’t.
The prose was baffling and peculiar and I felt the drops of Macabea’s existential ecstasy. It was so strange and philosophical and somehow achieves a certain wordless quality that the insufferable narrator was striving for. The words aren’t sparkly or floral, the prose is just so strangely constructed as well as her word choices, so in that sense it was somewhat difficult to read. That last passage cut me to the bone and I am forever changed - it’s very absurdist. I need to reread it immediately. I don’t think this review makes any sense because the book itself didn’t.
evancdent's review
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mkatski's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mtomchek's review against another edition
5.0
"Forgive me but I'm going to keep talking about me who am unknown to myself, and as I write I'm a bit surprised because I discover I have a destiny. Who hasn't ever wondered: am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?"
"Yes, my strength is in solitude. I'm not afraid of pouring rains or great gusts of wind, for I too am the darkness of the night."
"Because she had within her a certain fresh flower."
"Meditation doesn't need results: meditation can be an end in itself. I meditate wordlessly and upon the nothing. What trips up my life is writing."
"...and don't forget that the structure of the atom cannot be seen but is nonetheless known. I know about lots of things I've never seen. And so do you. You can't show proof of the truest thing of all, all you can do is believe. Weep and believe."
Clarice Lispector...I feel so lucky to read her words and to laugh with her, feel with her, and follow her lines. This was a tale about a girl, Macabéa, told by her author, Rodrigo S.M. We follow his tale, whilst he interrupts himself, preaching his philosophical thoughts, and continues on to tell the story of a sad girl who is oblivious to life.
I like this book. I like Clarice. She is so unique, real, and peels away all of life's mundaneness, giving us a peek into her magical mind. She helps me think more, to open the pockets of my mind to see what else there is besides the day-to-day.
"Yes, my strength is in solitude. I'm not afraid of pouring rains or great gusts of wind, for I too am the darkness of the night."
"Because she had within her a certain fresh flower."
"Meditation doesn't need results: meditation can be an end in itself. I meditate wordlessly and upon the nothing. What trips up my life is writing."
"...and don't forget that the structure of the atom cannot be seen but is nonetheless known. I know about lots of things I've never seen. And so do you. You can't show proof of the truest thing of all, all you can do is believe. Weep and believe."
Clarice Lispector...I feel so lucky to read her words and to laugh with her, feel with her, and follow her lines. This was a tale about a girl, Macabéa, told by her author, Rodrigo S.M. We follow his tale, whilst he interrupts himself, preaching his philosophical thoughts, and continues on to tell the story of a sad girl who is oblivious to life.
I like this book. I like Clarice. She is so unique, real, and peels away all of life's mundaneness, giving us a peek into her magical mind. She helps me think more, to open the pockets of my mind to see what else there is besides the day-to-day.
clevermor's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rachel_the_managing_editor's review against another edition
4.0
4.3 stars
A slow start, but we did get there, thanks. "And whatever was going to happen, would happen." A curious study of an unremarkable young woman "in an impersonal limbo" with some (explosion) bad luck.
Clarice Lispector, you intrigue me.
A slow start, but we did get there, thanks. "And whatever was going to happen, would happen." A curious study of an unremarkable young woman "in an impersonal limbo" with some (explosion) bad luck.
Clarice Lispector, you intrigue me.