Katia N’s Reviews > Too Much of Life > Status Update

What a wonderful quote!!
I have several of Lispector’s books sitting on shelves… looking forward to reading her!
Thank you for this enticing reminder, Katia.

One of my favourite lines from Lispector <3 ! : ) Thanks for sharing and reminding me of it again, Katia (although I don't entirely with the latter half of that quote . I think people (always) need people, and should trust in the dependence/interdependence. Now more than ever, it would seem) . We share the same (universal) 'fabric' after all,

Michael wrote: "What a wonderful quote!!
I have several of Lispector’s books sitting on shelves… looking forward to reading her!
Thank you for this enticing reminder, Katia."

Thank you very much, Michael. I've read quite a few books by her and she never stopped exciting me with her daring, variety and originality. I hope you would enjoy reading her books as well.

emily wrote: "One of my favourite lines from Lispector <3 ! : ) Thanks for sharing and reminding me of it again, Katia (although I don't entirely with the latter half of that quote . I think people (always) need..."

Thank you, Emily. I am enjoying being with her so much and see so many different sides of her in these chronicles, not only a writer with a philosophical bend I've admired for long, but a woman, a chatty gossipy person, a mother etc. It is so interesting. I've actually have three books of her chronicles. The most full edition is Discovering the World translated by Giovanni Pontiero. Then this one that omits strangely more esoteric philosophic bits (like a mediation about an egg, for example :-)) And the translation is slightly different but both of them are good. And then a slim book by New Directions just a selection but wonderfully curated to my taste and with the little overlap with the Penguin edition. I've gobbled it all in one day:-)

Coming back to your point about the quote, I've read it in a way that she means a creative path, not to fall under the influences of more popular or successful people/creators, be faithful yourself type of thing. At least that is how I read it. But you are right of course on a broader level and as far as she is concerned this cronicles are the proof that she acts like this. It was the one piece when someone else is saying that he does not need and does not have friends and she replies something like when she was at the hospital she received a lot of visits so such thing exist. And in our days interconnectedness ideally would require better understanding between people. I hope it would happen one day. But what we see now that the older generation is driving us to wars and saying that we are all need to "belong' to the concrete geographical place that is supposed to define us. I do not believe it and I do not feel it either. But I guess some people do. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. It seems Clarice in her case has managed to combine harmonically many of those things.

Katia wrote: "emily wrote: "One of my favourite lines from Lispector

Thank you, Emily. I am enjoying being with her so much and see so many different sides of her in these chronicles, not only a writer with a ..."

So glad that you feel that way, Katia. I definitely want to read 'Discovery of the World' (that's the only one I've not (yet) got around to : ) Thanks for the reminder. I've browsed the 'selected cronicas' as well, but I think I slightly prefer the thicker/more complete edition? Both are immensely interesting though I feel : )

And yes, I appreciate your perspective on that, I'm with you on that fully : ) . I think the beauty of her writing is that she's just such a complicated, and complex human being who's had such a full life (but not in a 'conventional' / necessarily obvious/direct sense per say), and I love how she's so quick to try anything that interests her. And even loving 'football' without knowing why she loves it but just loving it just because? Her approach and 'passion' for living is so infectious. I also love how she can 'juggle' different feelings at the same time - like even though she's in a lot of pain/etc., she's not being avoidant (emotionally and mentally especially, she's so blunt yet beautiful about everything, not afraid of sharing her thoughts and feelings) about it, but she's also not closed off to feeling the 'pleasures' / beauty of life. On top of that, I really like her ever so 'sensitive' and empathic self (like how she just casually goes and get a degree in law just because she didn't like how the prison system was and wanted to be involved in changing that) . I'll have to stop here, because I know you and I can definitely go on forever and ever raving about her/her work haha .

emily wrote: "Katia wrote: "emily wrote: "One of my favourite lines from Lispector

Thank you, Emily. I am enjoying being with her so much and see so many different sides of her in these chronicles, not only a ..."

We can go on forever indeed, Emily:-) She is a universe. And I agree that she is very daring in terms of where she takes herself and us as her readers. She talks about death as if it is something so natural, and it is. But it is very hard to talk about it that way. And she is a very sunny human being. I guess it is her main gift, but a huge one.

"Discovery of the world' is just the full set of the chronicles you've read in "Too much of life" and translated by the different person. So many of them overlap. But I think as you are a completist (haha) you might find it quite interesting to read that one. I have them next to each other:-) I only have 1.5 years left - what I would be doing when I am done?