The Hour of the Star

by Clarice Lispector

Book Overview

Narrated by the cosmopolitan Rodrigo S.M., this brief, strange, and haunting tale is the story of Macab a, one of life's unfortunates. Living in the slums of Rio and eking out a poor living as a typist, Macab a 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811219496
• ISBN13: 9780811219495
• Release Date: November 2011
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

the cruel life of the internal migrant in Brazil

This is one of Lispector's best books, and it gives you a deep sense of the life of one unfortunate woman, Macabéa. Macabéa is part of a huge migration in Brazil--of unemployed Northerners who try for a better life in the big cities of the Southeast. Macabéa embodies the ugliest, cruelest stereotypes that Brazilians hold about people from the North: she is unwashed, uneducated, unhealthy, and ugly. Macabéa tries to find her footing in São Paulo, but life is not kind to her. This book reveals a lot of truth about Brazilian culture and about life in the big city. If you like A Hora da Estrela, consider A Maca no Escuro and A paixao segundo G.H: Romance (Portuguese Edition).

Not a normal book, and that's what makes it great.

Don't dig into this book expecting something normal. Lispector wasn't a normal writer at all. She wasn't a normal woman. This book was written while her cancer in her uterus was eating her alive, and you can almost taste the angst from the narrator. Not that her other books are any different, but in here it feels even more authentic. Perhaps it's due to the fact that the narrator is ficticious as well. Under the name of Rodrigo S.M., Lispector slashes open her soul and reveals nothing, because that's what it is.Do not read this book waiting for a story. It tells three stories, the first one being about Macabea. The second story is the narrator talking about his writing, and the craft. The third is the narrator talking about his life.Some critics claim that Lispector is "existencialism for the masses" (as impossible as that may sound) because she avoids complex theories. She refused to read other existentialist authors, because they were too pompous. Lispector admits that there are no answers to her questions, but that absence does not make the questions dissappear. There are a couple of times where her train of thought is hard to follow, but they came very rarely, and the book is definitely worth it. Saying that she was riding on her reputation shows blatant lack of knowledge on her works. Every other book of hers is written in this sinuous manner, and much of the recognition she has in Brazil was attained shortly after her death, since her books never sold well. After reading this, I can't say I don't understand why. It's not a normal book.It's hard to decide which part of this book is sadder, Macabea's pathetic existence or the Narrator's angst. But both are awesome. Just don't expect anything normal, and you'll love it.

College assignment became my favorite book.

I am an avid reader with many "favorites," but for years now, this is the book I call my Favorite."The Hour of the Star" is special because it works on all levels. The story is compelling. We feel we know the characters and we want to know what happens to them. But the use of words is Lispector's genius-lyrical, evocative, and perfect.This is the book I lend to artist friends to show them a masterpiece of words. Any aspiring author will find in "The Hour of the Star" proof that-yes! One can achieve writing in its highest form.God bless my college professor who assigned this work. It provided me with my most inspired term paper ever, and it has benefited my personal and professional life.(Because the book is so short, I was able to spend one afternoon on the beach with my future husband, reading it to him in its entirety. At least one of us wept.)

The Hour of the Star: Clarice's remarkable sensibility

This fantastic work analyzes the meaningless life of a pitiful character, Macabéia, who used to think that since she was alive, she had to live. Life was not something questionable for this character who would accept everything too easily. The whole story is a journey through Macabéia's existence, an everlasting search for the real significance of her living in this world. It is definitely a passionate narrative leading us into examining whether we truly know how to conduct our own lives before it's too late.

A big "bang", by the brilliant author...

Although very brief in length, this irreplaceble eleven-subtitled book (the last by Clarice Lispector) will consistently re-deliver the pleasures of great literature. It will reveal its many bangs to the deserving reader-seer.