Reading With Clarice Lispector (Theory and History of Literature) [Paperback]

Helene Cixous (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (July 31, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816618291
• ISBN-13: 978-0816618293
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #921,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars one extraordinary woman reads another, March 2, 2011

By 

bookish - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading With Clarice Lispector (Theory and History of Literature) (Paperback)

I think the prior review misses the point. Doubtless, Lispector is the superior writer. But one doesn't come to Cixous to read Lispector - rather to read Cixous. By all means, read Lispector! But there's a separate pleasure in watching one extraordinary writer devour another. Yes, there is a violence in the act - which precisely belies Cixous's own claims regarding the politics of "l'écriture feminine." For my part, always having found the claims suspect, I am more interested in observing both the pleasure and the violence.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lispector would turn over in her grave..., January 7, 2008

By 

M. DAGOSTINO - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reading With Clarice Lispector (Theory and History of Literature) (Paperback)

Cixous has been made famous for bringing attention to Clarice Lispector, but unfortunately, she completely misrepresents Lispector's work and uses it in a way completely antithetical to its purpose. Let me make clear that Lispector's work deserves attention, but it is far more intelligent than Cixous can comprehend. Cixous' work is completely disingenuous: celebratory of women writers while at the same time objectifying them. She hides behind obfuscation as a defense against appearing to objectify (at times sexually) Lispector, but her equivocations are nothing more than intellectual smoke and mirrors.

My advice. Skip this book, at least until you have read and come to love Lispector's work on the writer's terms. If you have to write about Lispector in academia, sooner or later you need to confront Cixous' take on Lispector, but don't take it for having substance.