Customer Reviews

The Passion According to G.H. (Emergent Literatures)

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I know that "human gender" sounds weird in English.I'm trying to persuade you to see the H. and the G., now invert it as it would be in Portuguese G.H. I also know that the word "Gospel" does not have the double "entendre" that "passion" evokes in Portuguese. If you read the King James version of the Bible, you may find "The Passion according to Mark, Luke, Matthew..." If I mention these aspects of the title is because this book should be read with a spiritual approach of some sort. Clarice uses language in the most unorthodox manner, a stylistic trait that the translator unfortunately neglects. He actually tries to "conform" to a more mainstream presentation of the text so the average reader understands it. He way didn't get it. Two thumbs down for him. In spite of that, Clarice's supernatural ability to pierce the soul comes across intensely whenever her fluid words challenge our preconceived, static understanding of what things mean. Biblical allusions (both in the Jewish and Christian sense, mixed with Eastern and Western mistical traditions can be subtly and overtly detected in G.H.'s (Genero Humano, Human Kind)inward exploration and personal revelations. The text is fluid and, as such, serves as a changing mirror to the reader, that is, as you read it the narrative transforms itself to reflect your inner projections. Whatever meaning you attribute to Clarice's words comes from your inner life. But, as she said, "don't worry about understanding. To be alive is much vaster than understanding..." Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the vision of your soul.
P.S. I strongly recommend this book to the dying, to those facing major life transitions, and to the truly living.

Clarice writes beautiful poetry, but in prose. She permanently talks about solitude in large cities, most the times about woman solitude.

There is a totally trivial incident. Someone is alone in a flat that gives a view of granite hills (a very common sight at Rio de Janeiro, where she lived). Suddenly she finds a huge cockroach and has to fight or flee. And facing it, reviews her whole life, identifies with the cockroach and takes the decision to fight her fears.

The above script may not sound much, but Clarice is a master of the word, writes marvellous short stories and, as Guimaraes Rosa, another brazilian writer tells, "the Devil is on the details".

Clarice Lispector is certainly the best thing we have concerning to women literature in Brazil.She is able to touch our hidden feelings. This small book contains every thing one must reads over a lifetime.Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it tastes delicious.

Clarice Lispector combines philosophy, autobiography and sociology when whe writes her turning around books. They are short, compact, evocative. They challenge old concepts of what makes fiction/reality.

The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector is a provocative piece of writing that defies categorization. It is built around a literary framework in that the reader follows a fictional character through one day of her life, yet the book lacks conventional narrative techniques in its approach. In terms of plot, a woman walks into a room that used to belong to her maid, sees a drawing on the wall that disturbs her and instigates a series of musings, and eats a cockroach to unite with the basic matter of creation. Interior monologue then is the focus of the book, a deeply personal, philosophical journey that culminates in a sense of enlightenment for the narrator. The book is a haunting one, sometimes paranoid, sometimes exultant, but always in motion, undergoing an evolution of thought that leads the narrator, at least, to a state of inner peace. Brilliant philosophizing, not much fun as a work of fiction. This one's for a very select audience.