The Imitation of the Rose

by Clarice Lispector

Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith

Thirteen short tales from one of the most blistering and innovative writers of the twentieth century.

The small incidents of life become moments of inner revelation in the luminous writing of Clarice Lispector. A woman contemplating a vase of roses after a nervous breakdown; a tangled mother-daughter relationship; a man's abandonment of a dog; an animal in a zoo: each one leads to mystery and self-discovery, delight and devastation.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, Womens, Novels, Literary Fiction, Literature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Clarice 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.

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) continues to intrigue me. In this collection of short stories, she again demonstrates her unique focus: almost all the main characters are intensely preoccupied with their existence, and by that, they primarily mean the bare fact of their existence: Why am I here? Why am I the way I am? How do I relate to the world, to other humans, to animals, and to things? The emphasis is thus on the mental processes of people, especially women, and we see this through the technique of "interiority": in almost all the stories, we are constantly inside the narrators' heads. Again, animals often provide a trigger or a gateway to the reflections, just as in her masterful "The Passion According to G.H." (there it was a cockroach, by God). In one of the best stories in this collection, "Buffalo" a woman even visits the entire zoo, hoping to arouse intense feelings of hatred within herself through that alien (non-human) element. Indeed, Lispector primarily focuses on women, with a particular eye for the female condition (as her husband's subordinate, as too old to be seen by others, as an unwanted mother-in-law...). The longer story, "Brasilia," is an odd one out in that respect, with an extensive analysis of the city's essence and how it affects the narrator's emotions. Frankly, it appealed to me the least. But the opening story, which also gave this collection its title, is a brilliant evocation of a woman with (we assume) mental health issues, a housewife who has devoted her life entirely to her husband, and is left alone at home to her fears and obsessions. Or "The departure of the train," in which an elderly, respectable woman and a young woman—both fleeing an untenable situation—delve deeply into their own psyches during a train journey, seemingly in dialogue with each other, but without exchanging a word. What a wonderful writer Lispector was! (rating 3.5 stars)

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

egg

[Bob Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sommige van de ‘verhalen’ zijn geniaal (Brasilia!), andere iets minder. Over het algemeen erg graag gelezen.

[andreea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous selection of Lispector's short-stories & probably the best way to get into her writing!

[Amy Drozdowicz · Rating 2 out of 5]

surprisingly high amount of egg

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well rounded collection of stories that showcase a lot of the main themes of Clarice Lispector's writing, from the philosophical ramblings of what it means to exist, to the surreal introspective explorations of a woman's mind. I didn't connect to all of the stories in the same way, and felt some were a lot weaker than others, but still a strong collection and the ones that affected me the most really did pack a punch.

My favourites being,
The Imitation of the Rose
Covert Joy
The Departure of the Train
Beauty and the Beast or The Enormous Wound

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1973, various stories from Lispector's first three collections: Family Ties (1960), The Foreign Legion (1964), and Covert Joy (1971).

The Egg and the Chicken
Love
The Imitation of the Rose
Evolution of a Myopia
Eat Up, My Son
Mystery in São Cristóvão
A Chicken
The Disasters of Sofia
The Smallest Woman in the World
The Crime of the Mathematics Teacher
Daydream and Drunkenness of a Young Lady
The Foreign Legion
Monkeys
Forgiving God
Happy Birthday

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second book by Clarice Lispector and I’m already worrying about the day I will have no more Clarice Lispector books to read (might have to learn Portuguese)

[Shain · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Imitation of the Rose is a short story collection of 13 stories Lispector wrote between the years 1951 and 1973. These stories were the first Lispector work I've experienced, and the first thing I noticed, as will anyone when they start getting into her work, is Lispector’s unique and idiosyncratic voice. Perhaps more so than other authors she is concerned with total interiority; most of the space in her short stories are dedicated to the thoughts of a character, and whether there is action or external events happening in a story, these only serve, so it seems, to prompt further thought and introspection.

Her interest in thought and language seems almost psychological, and so this strength of hers, this focus on interiority, comes through the most when she writes about disordered thought—either nightmarish recurring thought-loop thoughts, high-strung anxious thoughts, or the confused thoughts of an aged, degenerating memory, which are all reflected in characters which appear throughout this collection. There is, perhaps, an element of psychoanalytical inspiration with this focus, a lot of sentences seem to string together subconscious word associations—it’s much more than a simple stream-of-consciousness as there is no feeling, visual or tactile, other than thought and the memories of feelings—it is because of this singular obsession that Lispector’s associations in her work either ‘hit’ or are (to me at least, a non-creative person) completely incomprehensible.

But when they hit, god. Because of her unique style, she has a way of cutting through right down to the core of the human experience, of our observation of the world, that every few pages there will be something written that you would put on typewriter paper and post it on social media. I called her one of the most quotable authors I’ve ever read. This isn’t an incidental quality but a clear consequence of the way she chooses to write about people and the world. In her associative musings you’ll read a sentence that seems to sum up an experience in a way so accurate that you’d wonder whether the thought had always been there in your head, just waiting to be expressed. And in these associative games there’s a playful quality: sometimes it feels you’re just along for the ride around her brilliant mind and, beyond everything, you can clearly tell that she’s having fun when she’s writing.

Beyond just the style there are themes of love, grief, age, time, and fate. In one word, ‘purpose’, and in this aspect Lispector is not didactic in assigning a responsibility for people. In fact, it’s rather the opposite: Lispector celebrates life, whether that life is bounding towards opportunities or, having reflected on one’s past and future, whether life’s greatest pleasure is to just lie down, enjoy the bliss of monotony. The humanistic impulse reflects a semi-religious soul of her stories, which is mostly Christian in its treating every human as beings separated only by circumstance, but doesn’t commit deeply to the rigid Catholicism of Brazil. It’s an agnostic optimistic view of people, people (and animals) being loved for the sake of them Being—an optimistic view in a world that needs optimism.

I’m not sure if this is the best place to start with Lispector, I’ll have to read more to find out. But her praise is well warranted, and I will definitely read more of her.

[Alma Edith López · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clarice Lispector is an amazing, professional over-thinker. A bunch of complicated short stories, my favorites: The Imitation of the Rose, Report on the Thing, and The Crime of the Mathematics Teacher. 😁 I learned so MANY new words…

[Teodor Lorisov · Rating 3 out of 5]

clarice lispector is so great, so talented, so precious.

a veeeery large number of these stories didn’t interest me at all though. her writing remains immaculate and at times even metaphysical considering the absolute absurdity of the chicken and the egg for example, but some of the stuff here just feels.. pretentious? at times tedious, even.

still a decent read. covert joy in particular is a genuine highlight.

[Felix · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Just not my type of thing, I am afraid.

[♡ waniya ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lyrical treat, although I must say I need a second read to parse the themes better; the most prominent one I felt was mental illness and a dash of religious guilt, my catnip.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

V fun introduction! Might try and read novels now

[Tom Donlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really hard hitting stuff in here, Brasilia especially is gut wrenching - but equal parts brilliant and beautiful

[Iza Cupial]

🩷

[sofiia · Rating 4 out of 5]

i will need a hundred re-reads to grasp more than half of this little powerful book. i cannot read more of Clarice. i need more of Clarice.

an iridescent collection of 13 short stories written between 1951 and 1973. each story is charged with tumultuous philosophical, lyrical and vulnerable cogitations. the writing is not quite stream of consciousness, at least, not of one person, or a person at all, perhaps a higher being, a naked soul. it reads, it feels like a frantic capturing of something ungraspable and impossible to transmit through language. utterly mesmerizing despite incomprehension, or agonizingly chaotic — i find Clarice’s writing to be enticing only at a particular, short-lived state; otherwise, there’s too much life and no laws.

i have a few favourites, a few good ones, and a few that i just cannot wrap my head around, it’s like they exist in a different dimension. actually, i think all of Clarice’s writing exists, or at least extends into a different dimension, that of introspection and the most intimate feeling of being alive and being a human and being a woman and being mortal and being.

***

some recurring themes/attributes: femininity/female body, eggs (and sometimes chickens), men who overintellectualise, fever-dream narrative style, shifting perspectives, fertility/pregnancy, beginnings vs ends, awareness, perception, truth.

***

favourites:

- the departure of the train
- the sound of footsteps
- the imitation of the rose

good ones, but didn’t “hit”:

- family ties
- the crime of the mathematics teacher
- the buffalo
- covert joy
- in search of dignity
- beauty and the beast, or the enormous wound

and… the total mysteries (which at times made me wanna pull my hair out):

- the egg and the chicken
- mineirinho
- report on the thing
- brasilia

***

any further details to be added later/upon a re-read.

***

i have not been eating eggs the same.

***
pre-read

busy with the academic year, but who said we can't micro-indulge in Clarice on rare free evenings?

[Isabel Fontes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clarice Lispector is, without doubt, one of my favourite authors. Her writing is not merely storytelling – it's an act of soul-baring. The Imitation of the Rose is no exception. This beautifully compact collection of thirteen short stories captures what makes Lispector so unique: her ability to transform seemingly insignificant moments into profound, often disarming revelations.

Her prose glows with emotional intensity. It's not always easy or linear – and that's precisely what makes it so enthralling. These stories are alive, intimate, and unmistakably marked by Clarice's voice: lyrical, introspective, and searingly honest.

There's something about the short story format that suits her perfectly – each piece feels like a quiet explosion, a sudden window into the complexity of being human. Whether it's a woman staring at a vase of roses after a breakdown, or the understated grief of a dog left behind, Clarice peels back the surface of everyday life to reveal raw vulnerability and existential questioning.

The title story, following Laura's fragile mental state after leaving the hospital, is particularly haunting. The narrative unfolds almost entirely within her mind – a stream of thought where anxiety, memory, and social expectation blur and twist. It's a quiet, interior drama, rich with themes of gender, identity, and emotional fragility. Laura's contemplation of a simple bouquet of roses becomes a mirror reflecting her deepest turmoil. And therein lies the brilliance of Lispector – she can turn a flower into a crisis, and a glance into an epiphany.

For those unfamiliar with her work, this collection is an excellent introduction. It might be one of her most accessible books, but don't mistake that for simplicity. Clarice never writes just to entertain – she writes to uncover. And while her stories often leave you with more questions than answers, they always leave you moved.

A small, irresistible volume – perfectly designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith – this is a gem of introspective literature that deserves to be savoured slowly. I adored it.

[Hector Worsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The majority of short story collections unfortunately suffer from being akin to a ‘best of’ music album. A collection of individual stories with no string tying them neatly together, no reason to read them chronologically or as a collective. Lispector fortunately does not fall into this category. As you progress through the collection, you acclimatise to her stream of consciousness style drifting into the metatextual. The stories aren’t all perfect (I had a particularly hard time with The Egg and the Chicken and Report on the Thing) and definitely not page turners, but I came out of the text with a thorough understanding of Lispector’s literary intentions. Highlights for me were The Imitation of the Rose and the Departure of the train. Suspect I’ll be rereading Brasilia to try to wrap my head around it fully, the story made me more confused about the city while even more keen to visit it one day.

[Stefannnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
A compact but meaningful collection. Each of Clarice Lispector's pages hides so much, yet fills one's brain continuum with wondrous, powerful, lingering shards of her ineffable but encompassing self. The translation itself managing to maintain the elegance and meaning in even the most meager of word posses Lispector weaves is commendable. The multi-faceted "The Departure of the Train", "Family Ties", the provoking, allegorical "The Crime of the Mathematics Professor" and the surrealistic, spiraling, ever-shifting "Brasilia" (presenting a prologue I cannot praise enough) remain some of my favourite reads from this selection.

[Castles · Rating 5 out of 5]

the wonderful Lispector in all her might. this book will not be anything new if you've read her complete stories, but it's nice to see a stand alone edition translated from portuguese.

about the story "Brasilia", I really preferred the other translation as it appears in the book "The Foreign Legion".

[Natalia Bielecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

there are a few stories here that feel quite random but this collection also has some of the most delightful prose I’ve recently laid my eyes on

[Alexandru Tilić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te amo, mamãe!!!

[Meghan Spangenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ bought this in London for my mother and annotated it for her🥰

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

liverpool libraries i am so sorry for the sand and sunscreen covered cloth bound book i will be returning

it would be nice if that was proof of a well loved read but i did not like this

[Taja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think the yellow wallpaper but CLARICE

[Clarise Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way I can best describe this book and Clarice Lispector’s writing, I think, is to say that it feels so alive— alive with the wild turbulence of the female inner life. I feel so seen. In fact, I feel a bit intruded upon.

[holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

favourites:
- the departure of the train
- the sound of footsteps
- brasília

[Robin Zia · Rating 4 out of 5]

new fav author alert.

[Ziyuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this 5* after reading the first (titular) story alone and having read the whole collection I certainly wasn't wrong. In the words of Colm Tóibín "Lispector had an ability to write as though no one had ever written before" and this distinction really came through in The Imitation of the Rose . Lispector's innovative use of language (reminiscent of Italo Calvino or Franz Kafka), astute perception into the hidden threads of everyday moments and obvious instinct for style made this a truly wondrous read, and to think it's not even among her major works... (which I believe are Água Viva, The Passion According to G.H. and The Hour of the Star)

The Imitation of the Rose, The Departure of the Train and Brasilia are my favorites and, at least for the first 2, among the more digestible of this collection's 13 works. Some, like The Egg and the Chicken and Report on the Thing are definitely more on the metaphysical, abstruse side, but this isn't to say they're bad but rather out of my depth. That said, this is a body of work highly up to interpretation that often plays with double meanings; even the 'simpler' stories aren't rigid, especially since Lispector's narrators are predominantly far from reliable. There's not a lot of analysis out there on this collection, which for me was a blessing as it gave me full agency of interpretation, and in my opinion the best works are those that lend themselves to mutable, concurrent interpretations.

Overall I don't really see a case in which reading this collection wouldn't be beneficial in some way..? Even if I didn't understand a single one of the stories here I would still have enjoyed Lispector's prose, and since the whole thing is less than 200 pages it's hardly a burden to read. Bonus points for a pretty cover and nice firm pages in the Penguin Clothbound edition (although watch out for the spine ink wearing!).

5/5, no notes