4.0
The Hour of the Star
ByPublisher Description
A new edition of Clarice Lispector’s final masterpiece, now with a vivid introduction by Colm Tóibín.
Narrated by the cosmopolitan Rodrigo S.M., this brief, strange, and haunting tale is the story of Macabéa, one of life's unfortunates. Living in the slums of Rio and eking out a poor living as a typist, Macabéa loves movies, Coca-Colas, and her rat of a boyfriend; she would like to be like Marilyn Monroe, but she is ugly, underfed, sickly and unloved. Rodrigo recoils from her wretchedness, and yet he cannot avoid the realization that for all her outward misery, Macabéa is inwardly free/She doesn't seem to know how unhappy she should be. Lispector employs her pathetic heroine against her urbane, empty narrator—edge of despair to edge of despair—and, working them like a pair of scissors, she cuts away the reader's preconceived notions about poverty, identity, love and the art of fiction. In her last book she takes readers close to the true mystery of life and leave us deep in Lispector territory indeed.Download the free Fable app
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Hour of the Star Reviews
4.0
“Reading The Hour of the Star felt like I drank five shots of tequila — I’m tipsy enough to be a bit woozy but still acutely aware of my surroundings. Lispector’s prose is intoxicating and hypnotic. I felt like I understood her on a soul-level even if her words still felt like it was shrouded in mystery.
Macabèa was such an uncomfortable character to read. It made me reflect on my own opinion on class, where I fit in the social structure, and the responsibility I have with my privilege. Do we avert our eyes when we’re approached by beggars on the street? How about when kids try to sell us bundles of sampaguita or a box crinkles to pay for their education? Do we choose to see the people we around us or are some of them rendered invisible by their unimportance?
Definitely a book you need to sit with to fully appreciate.”
“I felt for Macabea. but, I don’t think I understood this book enough for a review😃…. maybe, a potential reread???”
About Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector (1920–1977), the greatest Brazilian writer of the twentieth century, has been called “astounding” (Rachel Kushner), “a penetrating genius” (Donna Seaman, Booklist), and “one of the twentieth century’s most mysterious writers” (Orhan Pamuk).
Other books by Clarice Lispector
Benjamin Moser
General editor of the new translations of Clarice Lispector’s complete works at New Directions, BENJAMIN MOSER is the author of Why This World: The Biography of Clarice Lispector, and Sontag: Her Life and Work, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. His new book, The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters, will be published in October.
Other books by Benjamin Moser
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