“I think I’ll have to excuse myself and die a little. Excuse me, will you? I won’t take long. Thank you.” – Água Viva
The unmatched literary genius that is Clarice Lispector incessantly breaks walls that divide the real and the surreal, the formal and the intimate, the rational and the sentimental. She provides us with existential sympathy and itches that sweet spot in the brain, as the epitome of disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed. In under 100 pages, she manages to fill every paragraph, every verse, and every word with the uttermost content-full inventory in unparalleled dense prose.
From delightful short stories in Covert Joy to a thorough quest for the purpose of life in An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures, Clarice strips us to our bare essence. Reading her feels like simultaneously being in touch with your inner child and gaining insight from your older, wiser self.
A good gateway into her mind is her final work, The Hour of the Star, published shortly before her death in 1977. It reminds us of the natural simplicity of life and rids us of the weight of societal expectations, which are, afterall, just a fruit of the common imagination.
After nibbling on some other mainstream novels and chronicles, you’ll be ready for the ultimate brain-expanding, soul-soothing, all-encompassing literary experience: Água Viva – a plotless map of Lispector subconsciousness. She uses pen and paper for the unimaginable: writing paintings. “What do you mean, writing paintings?” Yes, she transcends from one art form to another, using the written word as a portal into visual art. You’ll have to read it to believe it.
The entire 79 pages comprise art in its purest form, cheating God and fate and the laws of physics. It even cheats the typical depression after finishing a really good book – instead, it sets you free, making you want to bounce in joy, climb a mountain, meditate, run a marathon, and contemplate the beauty of human existence. It makes you forget that you were ever miserable.
Lispector’s incomparable stream of consciousness is a gift to humanity, providing us with transparency into her inspired thoughts and troubled existence. She is an eternal breath of fresh air, a ray of sunshine in a dark room, the first sip of coffee in the morning with your eyes closed.
Clarice Lispector is a kiss on the forehead.
“Clarice Lispector (cropped)” by Bisilliat, Maureen is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.