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An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures
What to make of a writer who follows the metaphysical heights of her great Passion According to GH with a book that looks suspiciously like a romance novel?
In The Apprenticeship, or The Book of Pleasures, Clarice Lispector tries to discover how to bridge the gap between people, or how to even begin to try.
A woman struggles to emerge from solitude and sadness into love, including sexual love: her guide on this journey is Ulisses, who (yes) leads her patiently into the fullness of life.
The Apprenticeship was a bestseller and, as her biographer Benjamin Moser writes, "This accessible love story surprised many readers. When it came out, an interviewer said: 'I thought The Book of Pleasures was much easier to read than any of your other books. Do you think there’s any basis for that?' Clarice answered: 'There is. I humanized myself, the book reflects that.'”
In The Apprenticeship, or The Book of Pleasures, Clarice Lispector tries to discover how to bridge the gap between people, or how to even begin to try.
A woman struggles to emerge from solitude and sadness into love, including sexual love: her guide on this journey is Ulisses, who (yes) leads her patiently into the fullness of life.
The Apprenticeship was a bestseller and, as her biographer Benjamin Moser writes, "This accessible love story surprised many readers. When it came out, an interviewer said: 'I thought The Book of Pleasures was much easier to read than any of your other books. Do you think there’s any basis for that?' Clarice answered: 'There is. I humanized myself, the book reflects that.'”
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Clarice Lispector
208 books5,597 followersClarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Podolia in Western Ukraine, she was brought to Brazil as an infant, amidst the disasters engulfing her native land following the First World War.
She grew up in northeastern Brazil, where her mother died when she was nine. The family moved to Rio de Janeiro when she was in her teens. While in law school in Rio she began publishing her first journalistic work and short stories, catapulting to fame at age 23 with the publication of her first novel, 'Near to the Wild Heart' (Perto do Coração Selvagem), written as an interior monologue in a style and language that was considered revolutionary in Brazil.
She left Brazil in 1944, following her marriage to a Brazilian diplomat, and spent the next decade and a half in Europe and the United States. Upon return to Rio de Janeiro in 1959, she began producing her most famous works, including the stories of Family Ties (Laços de Família), the great mystic novel The Passion According to G.H. (A Paixão Segundo G.H.), and the novel many consider to be her masterpiece, Água Viva. Injured in an accident in 1966, she spent the last decade of her life in frequent pain, steadily writing and publishing novels and stories until her premature death in 1977.
She has been the subject of numerous books and references to her, and her works are common in Brazilian literature and music. Several of her works have been turned into films, one being 'Hour of the Star' and she was the subject of a recent biography, Why This World, by Benjamin Moser.
She grew up in northeastern Brazil, where her mother died when she was nine. The family moved to Rio de Janeiro when she was in her teens. While in law school in Rio she began publishing her first journalistic work and short stories, catapulting to fame at age 23 with the publication of her first novel, 'Near to the Wild Heart' (Perto do Coração Selvagem), written as an interior monologue in a style and language that was considered revolutionary in Brazil.
She left Brazil in 1944, following her marriage to a Brazilian diplomat, and spent the next decade and a half in Europe and the United States. Upon return to Rio de Janeiro in 1959, she began producing her most famous works, including the stories of Family Ties (Laços de Família), the great mystic novel The Passion According to G.H. (A Paixão Segundo G.H.), and the novel many consider to be her masterpiece, Água Viva. Injured in an accident in 1966, she spent the last decade of her life in frequent pain, steadily writing and publishing novels and stories until her premature death in 1977.
She has been the subject of numerous books and references to her, and her works are common in Brazilian literature and music. Several of her works have been turned into films, one being 'Hour of the Star' and she was the subject of a recent biography, Why This World, by Benjamin Moser.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,256 reviews
March 10, 2024
The heart has to present itself to Nothing alone and to beat in silence from a tachycardia in the darkness.
The protagonist's experience shows affinities with the beautiful Psyche's trials, from the Greek myth, and with the mystical adventure of the soul when going through the night in the "Spiritual Song" of São João da Cruz.
Like a painting whose main lines cut it out from the great mystery that contains everything, this book that asked for greater freedom is the narrative of initiation and an extraordinary hymn to love. Lóri, the woman, takes a long journey to her depths and comes to the full awareness of being. She says: I am the man, Ulysses, a philosophy professor who has formulas to explain the world, who becomes something more straightforward, a simple man. Both will initiate: Ulysses closes his ears to the other mermaids because he is only available to Lóri, whose real name is Loreley, as the character of Heine and Apollinaire, an undine or mermaid who used to attract the boatmen from the Rhine to the rocks. Each one will find himself in the face of the other.
Because it is work, asceticism, and travel, the love of Lóri and Ulisses overcomes the difference, the strangeness, and even death or the fear of death. The characters' final physical delivery takes place with a tantric force of ecstasy and epiphany. For Lóri, the atmosphere was miraculous; Ulysses suffered from life and love.
Nothing ends; however, the moment announces a new dawn: Both were pale and beautiful. Clarice inserts herself wisely and closes the narrative with a comma with two points.
The protagonist's experience shows affinities with the beautiful Psyche's trials, from the Greek myth, and with the mystical adventure of the soul when going through the night in the "Spiritual Song" of São João da Cruz.
Like a painting whose main lines cut it out from the great mystery that contains everything, this book that asked for greater freedom is the narrative of initiation and an extraordinary hymn to love. Lóri, the woman, takes a long journey to her depths and comes to the full awareness of being. She says: I am the man, Ulysses, a philosophy professor who has formulas to explain the world, who becomes something more straightforward, a simple man. Both will initiate: Ulysses closes his ears to the other mermaids because he is only available to Lóri, whose real name is Loreley, as the character of Heine and Apollinaire, an undine or mermaid who used to attract the boatmen from the Rhine to the rocks. Each one will find himself in the face of the other.
Because it is work, asceticism, and travel, the love of Lóri and Ulisses overcomes the difference, the strangeness, and even death or the fear of death. The characters' final physical delivery takes place with a tantric force of ecstasy and epiphany. For Lóri, the atmosphere was miraculous; Ulysses suffered from life and love.
Nothing ends; however, the moment announces a new dawn: Both were pale and beautiful. Clarice inserts herself wisely and closes the narrative with a comma with two points.
April 19, 2021
Like every Clarice Lispector book, it feels like wading through the densest most beautiful prose on the planet and just submitting to the fact that her writing is so meticulous and loaded with meaning that you'll never fully understand it all on a first read. Clarice never missteps and I loved it!! Imagine if people read this, a book about learning to live and be deserving of love and exist in the world, instead of lame self-help books!! The world would be that utopia meme.
Want to read
February 24, 2024i just know this is going to be a good read. february books have all been deliciously good so far.
January 31, 2023
what a beautiful, beautiful book
December 3, 2021
Five stars would be an understatement. This book is the embodiment of "a perfect book at a perfect time", for I came to struggle on the quest of loving and being loved by someone, and how deserving I am to hold the title of happiness, that which is, to love, and being loved. But does happiness only really fathom such way? Does happiness really meant, putting a huge importance on finding someone, and pouring every bits of ourselves into them? Do we, in order to truly love, and be loved, must first find one's way to exist; find our own solitude and there forth, sharing it with one another? Why so, when human life is so very superficial, do we need love; and how does it complete us, when we are flawed, in our own way, and the mere possibility of ruining others, with our own flawed self, how do we find peace in loving, peace in moments of joy, when we never thought we deserve them?
Lispector has always been incredibly alluring, eloquent, spiritually profound in her prose, for how she elaborated feelings or petty aspects of life as a human, sensually grounded yet incredibly congenial. This slim but intense volume is definitely much more straightforward than her other works. The plot, such as it is, involves a man and a woman—Lori and the aptly named Ulisses—who love each other but can’t be together. At least, not yet, until they find their own meaning of existing; of living; of being human.
I can't help but to bear such a strong resemblance on Lori, of how she; in many instances, wonder about why she is living; existing, of how to let herself being flooded by joy, and how she manage to find peace with gradual acceptance of it. Lori knew, that her happiness is Ulisses, a wise professor of philosophy who, is waiting, and always being there for Lori, for her to find freedom within herself, in order for them to love each other. Maybe, in a sense, I desired to find the Ulisses to my Lori. Of how he is able to patiently, and relentlessly extend his hands to Lori, even when Lori struggled to find her way of existing. I always find myself, unable to give in to someone in fear of being the act of burden to them, and how I would ruin; taint them with my incredibly flawed self, and this book told me that well, that's what being human is all about; learning and accepting the gradual moments of joy even though we hardly understand it, just existing, even of how absurd it is; and to love, after we find the way to be worthy of life itself. Indeed, the prize of becoming a human; a few private moments between ourselves and the universe, that is the struggle toward love, is presented as an apprenticeship, and we will always remain as apprentices, for we will constantly learn, feel, and struggle, and that's on being human. This book will always hold a special place in my heart.
Lispector has always been incredibly alluring, eloquent, spiritually profound in her prose, for how she elaborated feelings or petty aspects of life as a human, sensually grounded yet incredibly congenial. This slim but intense volume is definitely much more straightforward than her other works. The plot, such as it is, involves a man and a woman—Lori and the aptly named Ulisses—who love each other but can’t be together. At least, not yet, until they find their own meaning of existing; of living; of being human.
I can't help but to bear such a strong resemblance on Lori, of how she; in many instances, wonder about why she is living; existing, of how to let herself being flooded by joy, and how she manage to find peace with gradual acceptance of it. Lori knew, that her happiness is Ulisses, a wise professor of philosophy who, is waiting, and always being there for Lori, for her to find freedom within herself, in order for them to love each other. Maybe, in a sense, I desired to find the Ulisses to my Lori. Of how he is able to patiently, and relentlessly extend his hands to Lori, even when Lori struggled to find her way of existing. I always find myself, unable to give in to someone in fear of being the act of burden to them, and how I would ruin; taint them with my incredibly flawed self, and this book told me that well, that's what being human is all about; learning and accepting the gradual moments of joy even though we hardly understand it, just existing, even of how absurd it is; and to love, after we find the way to be worthy of life itself. Indeed, the prize of becoming a human; a few private moments between ourselves and the universe, that is the struggle toward love, is presented as an apprenticeship, and we will always remain as apprentices, for we will constantly learn, feel, and struggle, and that's on being human. This book will always hold a special place in my heart.
August 27, 2023
pretends she’s alive and not dying since in the end living was no more than getting ever closer to death… pretends that everything she has isn’t pretend… pretends she isn’t crying inside…
There was the sea, the most unintelligible of nonhuman existences. And there was the woman, standing, the most unintelligible of living beings. She and the sea.
Banal, vapid, ponderous…
Can there even be a more 'not me' book? This ain't Woolf. These are the worst tendencies of Elizabeth Bowen and Jean Rhys combined. I found out after starting this book that this is one of her most accessible ones, and maybe that's the issue? Without smoke and mirrors, it is revealed there's nothing there—except for cigarette smoke.
And what is it about? A very hysterical woman, an open wound of a person, who is barely able to function in this world, obsessing over a man and herself, of course
Suffer - 29 times
Pain - 85 times
Death - 44 times
Dying - 22 times
Pretend - 23 times
God - 96 times
Silence - 68 times
Grace - 23 times
April 17, 2018
Oops, I guess I'll be an exception with this one. There are some passages that are indeed beautifully written. Lispector relies heavily on synesthesia and metaphor, with various degrees of success. I was really looking forward to this one as I had heard great things about her modernist style (often compared to Joyce, no less) and her existential, internal approach to writing. The main problem I had with this is it reeked of new age mysticism and antiquated stereotypes of femininity and masculinity. Where some people seemed to have found fascinating insights into our human minds, I found tired symbolism and banal, shallow observations. There was quite a lot of male condescension too, which grossed me out more than once. All in all, the beauty of a few passages were not enough to make this a good read. Someone told me her short stories are vastly superior to her novels, so I might try that before giving up on her altogether.
April 13, 2020
Clarice Lispector empieza este libro con una coma y lo termina con dos puntos. No se puede ser más chula. Qué manera de decir: ojo, que no me importan las formas, que esto es un fragmento, esta es una historia que ni yo sé dónde empieza o dónde acaba, pero te va a dar igual porque es más grande que tú y te va a terminar eclipsando.
Qué genio era. Escribiendo desde la total introspección, perdiéndose en divagaciones existencialistas que la dejan a una con estupor y temblores (guiño, guiño): no encuentro otra manera de enfrentarme a ella. Especialmente cuando se pone tan densa que, con el cerebro confinado y a medio gas, sé que a pesar de entender la literalidad de lo que me cuenta, hay mucho más entre esas líneas. Algo que varía según el momento vital o el momento del día, si me apuráis.
Lori, la protagonista, se pregunta todo el tiempo "Quién soy yo" y Ulises, su pasión y, a ratos, su némesis le replica: "Eso no se responde, Lori. No te hagas la fuerte preguntándote la peor pregunta".
Pues eso, amigas, no nos hagamos las fuertes tratando de comprender todo lo que se plantea en este libro a la primera. A Lispector se la lee desde la intuición, no desde la lógica.
Qué genio era. Escribiendo desde la total introspección, perdiéndose en divagaciones existencialistas que la dejan a una con estupor y temblores (guiño, guiño): no encuentro otra manera de enfrentarme a ella. Especialmente cuando se pone tan densa que, con el cerebro confinado y a medio gas, sé que a pesar de entender la literalidad de lo que me cuenta, hay mucho más entre esas líneas. Algo que varía según el momento vital o el momento del día, si me apuráis.
Lori, la protagonista, se pregunta todo el tiempo "Quién soy yo" y Ulises, su pasión y, a ratos, su némesis le replica: "Eso no se responde, Lori. No te hagas la fuerte preguntándote la peor pregunta".
Pues eso, amigas, no nos hagamos las fuertes tratando de comprender todo lo que se plantea en este libro a la primera. A Lispector se la lee desde la intuición, no desde la lógica.
March 12, 2020
Leggere la Lispector è per me, ogni volta, come tornare a casa.
Le sue riflessioni (a volte così tormentate) le sento così mie.
In questo romanzo, Lori (diminutivo di Loreley) è una donna che si rimette nelle mani di Ulisse per apprendere l'amore. Lei che aveva avuto cinque amanti, non aveva mai detto "Ti amo" a un uomo, perché non si era mai sentita di appartenere a un uomo: "E “io ti amo” era una scheggia che non si poteva togliere con una pinza. Scheggia conficcata nella parte più spessa della pianta del piede."
"una delle cose che ho imparato è che si deve vivere nonostante. Nonostante, si deve mangiare. Nonostante, si deve amare. Nonostante, si deve morire. Anzi, molte volte è proprio il nonostante che ci spinge avanti. È stato il nonostante che mi ha dato un’angoscia che, insoddisfatta, è stata creatrice della mia stessa vita."
Lori, come gLoriosa, come gLoria, diminutivo di "Loreley è il nome di un personaggio leggendario del folclore tedesco, cantato in una bellissima poesia di Heine. La leggenda dice che Loreley seduceva i pescatori con i suoi canti e loro finivano per morire in fondo al mare."
Conosce Ulisse, un professore di filosofia, che la seduce completamente e diabolicamente. E così inizia il cammino di Lori dal dolore verso l'allegria, nel definire se stessa, nello scoprirsi e aprirsi all'altro per diventare amore. E ritorna al mare per abbandonarsi e prendere coraggio e liberarsi da ciò che la blocca, per farsi dono: "fin da allora ti ho desiderato, questo tuo corpo che non è nemmeno bello, ma è il corpo che voglio. Ma ti voglio tutta, anche con l’anima. Perciò non importa che tu non venga, aspetterò il tempo che sarà necessario”.
Fortunata quella donna che trova un Ulisse che è così paziente da aspettare e rispettare i suoi tempi, che sa cogliere nella sua anima quel bocciolo di rosa che fatica a sbocciare. Fortunata quella donna che, sedotta, non è abbandonata. Fortunata quella donna che, nel dono di sé e nell'accoglienza dell'altro in sé, si scopre meno diversa di quanto ha sempre creduto di essere: non più così diversa da essere scartata e abbandonata, ma diversa, perché unica, perché amata per ciò che è, nonostante le sue paure, nonostante le sue reticenze. Nonostante.
"Indovinò che si era quasi addormentato, e allora lentamente liberò la sua mano da quella da lui. Lui sentì subito la mancanza di contatto e disse tra addormentato e sveglio: “È perché ti amo.”."
C'è una Loreley in ogni donna, c'è una Loreley in ogni donna che si sente irremidiabilmente diversa, come se questa diversità fosse stato da sempre un anatema. C'è una Loreley che aspetta un Ulisse che la sa aspettare: "Amore è forse regalarsi l’un l’altro la propria solitudine? Perché è la cosa più estrema che si possa dare di se stessi,” disse Ulisse.
“Non so, amore mio, ma so che il mio cammino è arrivato alla fine: vuol dire che sono arrivata alla porta di un inizio.”
Tra 4 e 5 stelle.
Le sue riflessioni (a volte così tormentate) le sento così mie.
In questo romanzo, Lori (diminutivo di Loreley) è una donna che si rimette nelle mani di Ulisse per apprendere l'amore. Lei che aveva avuto cinque amanti, non aveva mai detto "Ti amo" a un uomo, perché non si era mai sentita di appartenere a un uomo: "E “io ti amo” era una scheggia che non si poteva togliere con una pinza. Scheggia conficcata nella parte più spessa della pianta del piede."
"una delle cose che ho imparato è che si deve vivere nonostante. Nonostante, si deve mangiare. Nonostante, si deve amare. Nonostante, si deve morire. Anzi, molte volte è proprio il nonostante che ci spinge avanti. È stato il nonostante che mi ha dato un’angoscia che, insoddisfatta, è stata creatrice della mia stessa vita."
Lori, come gLoriosa, come gLoria, diminutivo di "Loreley è il nome di un personaggio leggendario del folclore tedesco, cantato in una bellissima poesia di Heine. La leggenda dice che Loreley seduceva i pescatori con i suoi canti e loro finivano per morire in fondo al mare."
Conosce Ulisse, un professore di filosofia, che la seduce completamente e diabolicamente. E così inizia il cammino di Lori dal dolore verso l'allegria, nel definire se stessa, nello scoprirsi e aprirsi all'altro per diventare amore. E ritorna al mare per abbandonarsi e prendere coraggio e liberarsi da ciò che la blocca, per farsi dono: "fin da allora ti ho desiderato, questo tuo corpo che non è nemmeno bello, ma è il corpo che voglio. Ma ti voglio tutta, anche con l’anima. Perciò non importa che tu non venga, aspetterò il tempo che sarà necessario”.
Fortunata quella donna che trova un Ulisse che è così paziente da aspettare e rispettare i suoi tempi, che sa cogliere nella sua anima quel bocciolo di rosa che fatica a sbocciare. Fortunata quella donna che, sedotta, non è abbandonata. Fortunata quella donna che, nel dono di sé e nell'accoglienza dell'altro in sé, si scopre meno diversa di quanto ha sempre creduto di essere: non più così diversa da essere scartata e abbandonata, ma diversa, perché unica, perché amata per ciò che è, nonostante le sue paure, nonostante le sue reticenze. Nonostante.
"Indovinò che si era quasi addormentato, e allora lentamente liberò la sua mano da quella da lui. Lui sentì subito la mancanza di contatto e disse tra addormentato e sveglio: “È perché ti amo.”."
C'è una Loreley in ogni donna, c'è una Loreley in ogni donna che si sente irremidiabilmente diversa, come se questa diversità fosse stato da sempre un anatema. C'è una Loreley che aspetta un Ulisse che la sa aspettare: "Amore è forse regalarsi l’un l’altro la propria solitudine? Perché è la cosa più estrema che si possa dare di se stessi,” disse Ulisse.
“Non so, amore mio, ma so che il mio cammino è arrivato alla fine: vuol dire che sono arrivata alla porta di un inizio.”
Tra 4 e 5 stelle.
February 1, 2015
"Somehow everything comes with an expiry date. Swordfish expires. Meat sauce expires. Even cling-film expires. Is there anything in the world which doesn't?"
A bloodless-brother and former lover introduced me to Lispector nearly a year ago, though I've only recently become taken by the woman's emotive force. Her writing as an unfathomable intimacy, is treasured by both He and myself alike. I dusted this book pulling it from the library's small section of Clarice at the same time that I was told, "I love you like a sister." These words gnawed into a wound of which I am ashamed. The book chronicles a relationship between man and woman that borders the philosophical, platonic, sexual, romantic. The pair learn metaphysical truths from one another in their relationship as friends. Meanwhile, all dimensions of their relations come to fruition. The painful relatability of this story made it incredibly difficult to read. I am continually pulling quotes to share with my dearest as our experiences mirror theirs.
My life, this book a painful and shimmering shard.
A bloodless-brother and former lover introduced me to Lispector nearly a year ago, though I've only recently become taken by the woman's emotive force. Her writing as an unfathomable intimacy, is treasured by both He and myself alike. I dusted this book pulling it from the library's small section of Clarice at the same time that I was told, "I love you like a sister." These words gnawed into a wound of which I am ashamed. The book chronicles a relationship between man and woman that borders the philosophical, platonic, sexual, romantic. The pair learn metaphysical truths from one another in their relationship as friends. Meanwhile, all dimensions of their relations come to fruition. The painful relatability of this story made it incredibly difficult to read. I am continually pulling quotes to share with my dearest as our experiences mirror theirs.
My life, this book a painful and shimmering shard.
July 10, 2016
I feel....dazzled.
dazzled by language,
in awe of her ideas
and her command of unusual feelings&experiences
those fleeting moments in the middle of an ordinary day in which, looking at an apple, you feel the universe compressed into solid form and you want to take a bite and experience the universe and feel a part of it and also more like yourself than ever for having knowledge of yourself and control over your actions and you can sense your own presence in the world.
As the narrator becomes herself, the reader, too, becomes an "I"....
Reality is incredible
dazzled by language,
in awe of her ideas
and her command of unusual feelings&experiences
those fleeting moments in the middle of an ordinary day in which, looking at an apple, you feel the universe compressed into solid form and you want to take a bite and experience the universe and feel a part of it and also more like yourself than ever for having knowledge of yourself and control over your actions and you can sense your own presence in the world.
As the narrator becomes herself, the reader, too, becomes an "I"....
Reality is incredible
September 13, 2014
, o meu primeiro "Clarice", tomado como uma aprendizagem do prazer de ler um livro de Lispector:
, uma narrativa poética, que conta a história de amor entre dois seres. O nascimento e crescimento do amor na alma, no coração, na mente, ou seja lá onde ele se aninha antes de, pelo desejo, ser consumido por todo o ser, físico e mental:
"Nunca me sei como agora, sentia Lóri."
, o que diz Clarice é belo e perturbante. É como se se desnudasse e, simultaneamente, a quem a lê:
"- Amor será dar de presente um ao outro a própria solidão? Pois é a coisa mais última que se pode dar de si, disse Ulisses."
, os leitores que apreciam livros -
com descrições rigorosas do físico e outras características das personagens;
de leitura fluida que arrastam para um devorar de página após página;
com surpresas, segredos, revelações,...;
diálogos comoventes e amorosos;
....
...não se metam nisto:
, as 4 estrelas são irrelevantes, pois podiam ser 5. Sei que gosto de Clarice Lispector; mas quero saber mais:
" Então o que chamava de morte a atraía tanto que só poderia chamar de valoroso o modo como, por solidariedade e pena dos outros, ainda estava presa ao que chamava de vida. Seria profundamente amoral não esperar pela morte como os outros todos esperam por esta hora final. Teria sido esperteza dela avançar no tempo, e imperdoável ser mais sabida que os outros. Por isso, apesar da curiosidade intensa que tinha pela morte, Lóri esperava."
, uma narrativa poética, que conta a história de amor entre dois seres. O nascimento e crescimento do amor na alma, no coração, na mente, ou seja lá onde ele se aninha antes de, pelo desejo, ser consumido por todo o ser, físico e mental:
"Nunca me sei como agora, sentia Lóri."
, o que diz Clarice é belo e perturbante. É como se se desnudasse e, simultaneamente, a quem a lê:
"- Amor será dar de presente um ao outro a própria solidão? Pois é a coisa mais última que se pode dar de si, disse Ulisses."
, os leitores que apreciam livros -
com descrições rigorosas do físico e outras características das personagens;
de leitura fluida que arrastam para um devorar de página após página;
com surpresas, segredos, revelações,...;
diálogos comoventes e amorosos;
....
...não se metam nisto:
, as 4 estrelas são irrelevantes, pois podiam ser 5. Sei que gosto de Clarice Lispector; mas quero saber mais:
" Então o que chamava de morte a atraía tanto que só poderia chamar de valoroso o modo como, por solidariedade e pena dos outros, ainda estava presa ao que chamava de vida. Seria profundamente amoral não esperar pela morte como os outros todos esperam por esta hora final. Teria sido esperteza dela avançar no tempo, e imperdoável ser mais sabida que os outros. Por isso, apesar da curiosidade intensa que tinha pela morte, Lóri esperava."
Shelved as 'dnf'
May 21, 2024Would be greatly improved (i.e. made readable) by the adherence to some basic rules of grammar. The vapid pretension of writers who think that periods and quotation marks are beneath them is an immediate turnoff.
February 17, 2023
READING VLOG
Lispector is my religion.
I know so.
I often wondered why my mother went to church. Why she spent long days and hours sitting in silence, waiting for the presence of God to fill her, replenish her presence on earth like light, like a gift.
I get it now. And now, I feel a lot richer sitting next to my mom on a Sunday, on knees in pews, allowing her to feed and drink off on the body of Christ.
Because it happened. This holy feast, a moveable feast, and a vastness opened up in me, led me to answers without questions and questions without answers. Here is Lispector at her most vulnerable, searching for love. Not as receptacle or reciprocal, but as something that exists between pain and pleasure, that gray zone of the self where we reach beyond the humane and become, at once, human.
Because I want to be human too.
And I'm in love without loving myself enough. My enough-ness has been away for a while, but with these few pages, with such a normal narrative, I became anew with this bold-shy winter.
I can stand the cold, generating a warmth straight from my palms, tactile with the earth, and I am open to feeling.
So much so that I eat men like air.
Lispector is my religion.
I know so.
I often wondered why my mother went to church. Why she spent long days and hours sitting in silence, waiting for the presence of God to fill her, replenish her presence on earth like light, like a gift.
I get it now. And now, I feel a lot richer sitting next to my mom on a Sunday, on knees in pews, allowing her to feed and drink off on the body of Christ.
Because it happened. This holy feast, a moveable feast, and a vastness opened up in me, led me to answers without questions and questions without answers. Here is Lispector at her most vulnerable, searching for love. Not as receptacle or reciprocal, but as something that exists between pain and pleasure, that gray zone of the self where we reach beyond the humane and become, at once, human.
Because I want to be human too.
And I'm in love without loving myself enough. My enough-ness has been away for a while, but with these few pages, with such a normal narrative, I became anew with this bold-shy winter.
I can stand the cold, generating a warmth straight from my palms, tactile with the earth, and I am open to feeling.
So much so that I eat men like air.
August 21, 2020
Nije najbolji, ali je verovatno najjednostavniji Lispektorkin roman. U osnovi, ljubavna priča između učiteljice sa crvenim kišobranom po imenu Lori („I sad lađaru i čamcu/Ja mislim da je kraj:/A sve to sa svojom pesmom/Učini Lorelaj.”) i profesora filozofije Uliksa („Priđi, Odiseju slavni o ahejska velika diko/amo upravi lađu, da pevanje počuješ naše”), tako neko, savremeno ostvarenje erotskog susreta Lorelaj/sirene i mornara/Odiseja, iskazano laganijim modernističkim, čulnim izrazom. Ili je to barem bila pretpostavka pisanja na početku. U krajnjem rezultatu ispalo je sasvim drugačije; od karakterizacije Uliksa se odustalo, te je Odisej u reinkarnaciji profesora sveden na nezanimljivog sveznalicu, sva pažnja je usmerena na Lorin razvoj, a i ispalo je manje o ljubavi, a više o Lispektorkinim opsesijama: postojanju, metafizici i Bogu. Stoga, zaboravite na Uliksa, ovde je samo Lorelaj bitna. „Knjiga užitaka” nalikuje na njene druge romane iz 60-ih, na „Pasiju po G.H” i „Jabuku u tami”, ali se od njih se i razlikuje po tome što nije mračan, lepršaviji je (Obećanje slobode 1968. se oseća), a narativno i stilski je manje zahtevan. Takođe, ova roman se može gledati kao mogućnost izlaska iz mračnih problemskih čvorova postavljenih u prethodna dva pomenuta romana.
Donekle, „Knjiga užitaka ili učenje” liči na nešto što bi Hajdeger mogao da napiše da je seo i napisao ljubavni roman. Junakinjino učenje putem užitaka gotovo je uslovljeno spoznajom razlike između bivstvovanja i bivstvujućeg. Zbog unapred onemogućenog poistovećivanja biti (esencije) i egzistencije, čovek u svom bivstvovanju nije ništa bivstvujuće, nema unapred datu bit s kojom se mora u svom egzistiranju izjednačiti. Lori kroz užitke otkriva da nije ništa bivstvujuće, te potragu za „smislom života” (pitanja životne namene i značenja) zamenjuje bivstvovanjem. Ona uči da „nema dan-za dan. Već život-za-život.”. Stoga, otkrivanja mirisa ulovljenih riba, kupanje u moru, otkrivanje kruške ili dramatična spoznaja krompira na pijaci (za kojom sledi još dramatičnija spoznaja repe) jesu otkrovenja postojanja bez potrebe za naknadnim objašnjenjem. Život čoveka kao smrtnog, konačnog bića jedinstveno je i neponovljivo, pravo čudo nad čudima. A čudu da „jesam” nije potrebno naknadno objašnjavanje. A tako nekako biva i u ljubavi.
Navijam da Jelena Žugić nastavi da se usuđuje da prevodi Klarisu, jer se oseća ljubav. Baš bih voleo da čujem kako bi, recimo, „Pasija po G.H” zvučala na srpskom.
Donekle, „Knjiga užitaka ili učenje” liči na nešto što bi Hajdeger mogao da napiše da je seo i napisao ljubavni roman. Junakinjino učenje putem užitaka gotovo je uslovljeno spoznajom razlike između bivstvovanja i bivstvujućeg. Zbog unapred onemogućenog poistovećivanja biti (esencije) i egzistencije, čovek u svom bivstvovanju nije ništa bivstvujuće, nema unapred datu bit s kojom se mora u svom egzistiranju izjednačiti. Lori kroz užitke otkriva da nije ništa bivstvujuće, te potragu za „smislom života” (pitanja životne namene i značenja) zamenjuje bivstvovanjem. Ona uči da „nema dan-za dan. Već život-za-život.”. Stoga, otkrivanja mirisa ulovljenih riba, kupanje u moru, otkrivanje kruške ili dramatična spoznaja krompira na pijaci (za kojom sledi još dramatičnija spoznaja repe) jesu otkrovenja postojanja bez potrebe za naknadnim objašnjenjem. Život čoveka kao smrtnog, konačnog bića jedinstveno je i neponovljivo, pravo čudo nad čudima. A čudu da „jesam” nije potrebno naknadno objašnjavanje. A tako nekako biva i u ljubavi.
Navijam da Jelena Žugić nastavi da se usuđuje da prevodi Klarisu, jer se oseća ljubav. Baš bih voleo da čujem kako bi, recimo, „Pasija po G.H” zvučala na srpskom.
July 25, 2015
Estou completamente apaixonada por este livro. É tão tudo que dói. Encontro-me nas conversas de Loreley e Ulisses. E não me encontro apenas a mim própria, mas também a quem me apresentou a autora pela primeira vez. Não há palavras. É uma viagem que começa em todo o lado e acaba em mim, eu. Uma consciência extrema do que significa estar vivo, do estar vivo sem nunca ter vivido. O eu como o limitador, o inimigo, e também a salvação. É uma obra que consome mais do que é consumida.
Numa palavra? Sublime.
“O óbvio, Lóri, é a verdade mais difícil de se enxergar.”
If I were you, I would run for a copy of this novel.
Numa palavra? Sublime.
“O óbvio, Lóri, é a verdade mais difícil de se enxergar.”
If I were you, I would run for a copy of this novel.
November 17, 2020
Em honra do centenário de Clarice Lispector
Costumo dizer com veemência que ninguém escreve como Hilda Hilst, mas ninguém escreve como Lispector também. Transformando uma estória aparentemente banal num profundo exercício de estilo em termos literários e filosóficos, essa leitura rápida alimenta o corpo e mente para quem tem fome da mais pura arte.
Costumo dizer com veemência que ninguém escreve como Hilda Hilst, mas ninguém escreve como Lispector também. Transformando uma estória aparentemente banal num profundo exercício de estilo em termos literários e filosóficos, essa leitura rápida alimenta o corpo e mente para quem tem fome da mais pura arte.
April 26, 2022
Apparently you either get into 'Clarice' immediately or not at all. I seem to have fallen in the latter category.
I first tried 'The Hour of the Star' and I did not get very far until I shelved for another time. This time round I chose this one, deemed to be one of her most reader friendly. This one too turned out to be a chore even though it is such a short piece.
Fortunately I do not have to continue reading where I'm not invested, so my adventure with 'Clarice' stops here for now.
I first tried 'The Hour of the Star' and I did not get very far until I shelved for another time. This time round I chose this one, deemed to be one of her most reader friendly. This one too turned out to be a chore even though it is such a short piece.
Fortunately I do not have to continue reading where I'm not invested, so my adventure with 'Clarice' stops here for now.
January 13, 2009
Existem livros que nos pegam de surpresa e nos envolvem de tal maneira que parece que foi escrito apenas para nós mesmos. Só assim consigo descrever como foi prazeroso ler esse livro de Clarice Lispector.
O livro já começa com peculiaridades típicas dessa fantástica autora. Por exemplo, talvez seja o único livro a começar com uma vírgula, isso mesmo, uma vírgula e a terminar com dois pontos.
São apenas dois personagens: A Lori e o Ulisses. Lori, é uma mulher que está aprendendo a viver e a amar, daí o nome do livro. Mas para viver Lori terá que aprender a alegria e a dor de ir ao encontro do outro. Ulisses é seu guia nesse aprendizado. A cada passo de Lori, ele a espera e pacientemente a explica o que está se passando com sua amada.
Um das cenas que nunca mais vou esquecer é quando Lori sai de casa e toma coragem de conversar com uma estranha. Ela troca poucas palavras, mas para ela foi o suficiente para provar, experimentar a vida. Imediatamente depois de chegar em casa ela liga para Ulisses e diz:
- Que é que eu faço? Não estou agüentando viver. A vida é tão curta e eu não estou agüentando viver?
Através de Lori Clarisse consegue nos mostrar que o simples ato de encontrar alguém e conversar, pode ser algo intenso e profundo. Sua personagem vivia tão intensamente o encontro com o outro que isso chegava a ser insuportável tamanha era a carga de sentimentos contidos nesse ato. O livro é repleto de reflexões, como essa, sobre a vida, sobre não ter medo de viver ou sobre como a vida é, ao mesmo tempo, terrível e bela de se viver.
Eu recomendo este pequeno livro à todos os apaixonados pela vida. Inclusive à todos os que estão vivendo uma paixão neste momento. À todos que tem sensibilidade para entender que fomos feitos para nos relacionar uns com os outros e que não existe outro modo de fazê-lo se não for nos tornando vulneráveis.
O livro já começa com peculiaridades típicas dessa fantástica autora. Por exemplo, talvez seja o único livro a começar com uma vírgula, isso mesmo, uma vírgula e a terminar com dois pontos.
São apenas dois personagens: A Lori e o Ulisses. Lori, é uma mulher que está aprendendo a viver e a amar, daí o nome do livro. Mas para viver Lori terá que aprender a alegria e a dor de ir ao encontro do outro. Ulisses é seu guia nesse aprendizado. A cada passo de Lori, ele a espera e pacientemente a explica o que está se passando com sua amada.
Um das cenas que nunca mais vou esquecer é quando Lori sai de casa e toma coragem de conversar com uma estranha. Ela troca poucas palavras, mas para ela foi o suficiente para provar, experimentar a vida. Imediatamente depois de chegar em casa ela liga para Ulisses e diz:
- Que é que eu faço? Não estou agüentando viver. A vida é tão curta e eu não estou agüentando viver?
Através de Lori Clarisse consegue nos mostrar que o simples ato de encontrar alguém e conversar, pode ser algo intenso e profundo. Sua personagem vivia tão intensamente o encontro com o outro que isso chegava a ser insuportável tamanha era a carga de sentimentos contidos nesse ato. O livro é repleto de reflexões, como essa, sobre a vida, sobre não ter medo de viver ou sobre como a vida é, ao mesmo tempo, terrível e bela de se viver.
Eu recomendo este pequeno livro à todos os apaixonados pela vida. Inclusive à todos os que estão vivendo uma paixão neste momento. À todos que tem sensibilidade para entender que fomos feitos para nos relacionar uns com os outros e que não existe outro modo de fazê-lo se não for nos tornando vulneráveis.
November 14, 2023
To read Lispector is to examine what it means to be human, what it is to be alive; and what it means to simply be. You can’t review her work, you have to be absorbed by it.
Probably one of my favourite of her works that I’ve read so far (and I’ve loved all of them), there’s a line on p.53 of this edition that for me perfectly sums up this book, and perhaps much of her work… “What was a Nothing was exactly the Everything.”
‘An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures’ is a love story between Lóri and Ulisses, but unlike most love stories you might read, as Sheila Heti says in the Afterword of this edition ‘in order to truly love and be loved, one must find one’s way to the most difficult thing, which is a joyful relationship “with the mightiness of life.” And while most love stories do away with this requirement and don’t even recognise it – just have the lovers hurtling towards each other – this love story is a question about the requirement, and can it even be won?’
Lispector continues to win me over. She is a force of nature.
Probably one of my favourite of her works that I’ve read so far (and I’ve loved all of them), there’s a line on p.53 of this edition that for me perfectly sums up this book, and perhaps much of her work… “What was a Nothing was exactly the Everything.”
‘An Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures’ is a love story between Lóri and Ulisses, but unlike most love stories you might read, as Sheila Heti says in the Afterword of this edition ‘in order to truly love and be loved, one must find one’s way to the most difficult thing, which is a joyful relationship “with the mightiness of life.” And while most love stories do away with this requirement and don’t even recognise it – just have the lovers hurtling towards each other – this love story is a question about the requirement, and can it even be won?’
Lispector continues to win me over. She is a force of nature.
February 4, 2013
Prophetic at an intimate level.
May 29, 2021
3.5 bumped to 4 because Ulisses is an absolute fu*kboi
November 22, 2023
“With me you’ll speak your whole soul, even in silence.”
So much of this book is annotated and underlined.
So much of this book is annotated and underlined.
January 14, 2024
I wish I could express how hard-hitting this novel truly is: it is one of those titles I want to integrate into the deepest craters of my soul and never let go, constantly finding new comforts in Lispector's words and thoughts. Lispector exists for those in a transformative period in their life, big or small.
She quickly went to the mirror to find out who Loreley was and to find out if she could be loved. But she got a shock when she saw herself. I exist, I see that, but who am I?
nathan discusses it beautifully in one of his reading vlogs
She quickly went to the mirror to find out who Loreley was and to find out if she could be loved. But she got a shock when she saw herself. I exist, I see that, but who am I?
nathan discusses it beautifully in one of his reading vlogs
February 28, 2024
This is the most romantic book that I ever read
July 25, 2024
delicious
May 10, 2024
nobody can blend the mystical with the real like lispector
May 30, 2022
This book does a good job in trying to articulate those inexpressible things about our inner lives. The story is rooted in a man and woman exploring how they fit in each other's lives while one mentors the other. It’s filled with abstract philosophical discussion from the meaning of love to probing the nature of reality. Along the way the author does a good job in bringing to life all the existential anxiety, complex feelings, bewilderment, uncertainty, self-consciousness, push-pull tensions, etc that engulfs our lives when we seek deeper meaning; and when we try to bring some coherence to reality when leaning into the unknown in the search for ‘union’ (when the ‘I’ becomes ‘We’) both in a relationship and with the stream of life. A prerequisite for ‘union’ here is a sense of enlightenment about life and embodying one’s humanity better; also, that love involves waiting for another until their ready. The writing can be quite intoxicating and difficult to put down at times as she explores the deeper structures to our lives, so I get why people love her writing style despite it’s highly navel gazing nature and the esoteric elements. However, you have to be in the right mood and frame of mind for this which I wasn’t always in.
November 14, 2020
For such a short book, it really took me a while to finish. It's not a secret to me that I don't like philosophy and I don't like poetry and I feel this book has tons of those.
Favorite character: We only have two main characters so there was not much to choose from.
Least favorite character: It's a tie between Lori and Ulisses.
Favorite part: I can't deny the fact that the book is beautifully written, some scenes I liked but none made a great impact on me.
Least favorite part: Too much existencialism, poetry and philosophy for my taste. I found the two characters need to over-analyze and dissect every feeling and thought was really tiring.
I found this book really boring. I guess it has a lot to do with my current mood but I really had to force myself to pick it up. I think I'll give it a go with another book by Lispector but not now.
If I had to sum my opinion of this book, it would be:
Favorite character: We only have two main characters so there was not much to choose from.
Least favorite character: It's a tie between Lori and Ulisses.
Favorite part: I can't deny the fact that the book is beautifully written, some scenes I liked but none made a great impact on me.
Least favorite part: Too much existencialism, poetry and philosophy for my taste. I found the two characters need to over-analyze and dissect every feeling and thought was really tiring.
I found this book really boring. I guess it has a lot to do with my current mood but I really had to force myself to pick it up. I think I'll give it a go with another book by Lispector but not now.
If I had to sum my opinion of this book, it would be:
May 18, 2023
I can’t believe a book this beautiful exists
I cry
I cry
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