Clarice Lispector

Benjamin Moser

Johnny Lorenz

"A mystical mediation on creation and death in which a man (a thinly disguised Clarice Lispector) infuses the "breath of life" into his creation [and] forms a dialogue between the god-like author and the speaking, breathing, dying creature herself: Angela Pralini"--P. [4] of cover.

A Breath of Life

“I don’t want to be only myself. I also want to be what I am not.” / “I want to re-inaugurate myself. And for that I’ll have to renounce my whole body of work and begin humbly, without deificaton, from a beginning in which there are no traces of any habit, foibles or abilities.” / “Angela, as I create you, I taste blood in my mouth.”

a meditation to the make-up of existence (creation v. creator, nature, language, organisms, culture, the void in the act of writing, escapism through another); not without its failings, exactly what you would expect from a philosophical fiction

shen

“I don’t want to be only myself. I also want to be what I am not.” / “I want to re-inaugurate myself. And for that I’ll have to renounce my whole body of work and begin humbly, without deificaton, from a beginning in which there are no traces of any habit, foibles or abilities.” / “Angela, as I create you, I taste blood in my mouth.”

a meditation to the make-up of existence (creation v. creator, nature, language, organisms, culture, the void in the act of writing, escapism through another); not without its failings, exactly what you would expect from a philosophical fiction

4.5 ⭐

a difficult text to read but mad. insane. genius. wise. existential. philosophical. brilliant. powerful.

jess

the perfusion, the justification, the separation, the acceptance, the reluctance - of a duality of human. occasionally we are Angela, a character full of luminescence, of life, of embracing as a whole, and some days we are the author, the exact opposite, the very slap-back-to-reality; sanctity of fatal darkness. some days we lie between both side of the spectrum, some days we exist as one. it is a book to read when you're ready to receive intensity; a dialogue of death and particulars, a crossing of two inextricable creations: author and text. she writes narrative epiphany, and you're carried; either in acceptance, or in reluctance; it affects you inevitably.

Wynter

- The book is obviously written by a dying person as reflection of life, which makes it hard for a reader like me, who lacks worldly experience to relate to it.
- The book has no plot, it is a book about nothing. instead, the narrative is pure stream of consciousness about feelings and associations.
- There is some interesting gender confusion when it comes to narrator. The "author" is implied to be a man, but Lispector's own voice sometimes breaks through and occasional feminine pronouns are used.
- I really liked "The Jewel" part, where Angela draws associations between precious stones and emotions. 
- The author states in the beginning, quite straight-forward, that the book is not for everyone to enjoy. In fact it was specifically written very confusing and full of personal references to weed out curious onlookers. Only selected few are supposed to really "get it". 
- I'm gonna be honest about it - I didn't get it. 
- I wonder why the New Directions editors elected to publish this book second in the series, since logically it should come forth and last.

A Breath of Life

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