After finishing the book, I was left with the internal question of “What did I just read?” And then I looked up the author, and it started to make more sense. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector is yet another book that dives into the themes of identity, the search for meaning, and the harsh realities of social class, but it’s not your typical story. We’ve got a fictional author leading the charge, making us question everything from our existence to how we perceive the world. Lispector’s style is a mix of deep thoughts and poetic touches while shining a light on issues like poverty and how women are treated in society.
Women suck
Going in, not even knowing what the author looks like, I was taken aback by some of the narrator’s comments about women.
“What I’m writing somebody else could write. A male writer because a woman would make it all weepy and maudlin” (6)
“[Girls] don’t even realize how easily substitutable they are and that they could as soon drop off the earth” (6)”
But after finishing and looking her up, I thought more deeply about it. Was it perhaps a commentary of how men think about women? It could be an effective technique to make the reader more engaged in the book by making them reflect on their own assumptions about gender, power dynamics, empathy, etc. It invites us to scrutinize these views about how our society is run.
Book or Roast
When I started reading this book I noticed to continuous jabs the Narrator took at Macabéa and thought it was bizarre making me question if I was reading the story of a girl or if I had stumbled into her roast.
“She was so ignorant she had to type slowly letter by letter” (7)
“The person I’m going to talk about is so dumb that she sometimes smiles at other people on the street” (7)
“She was incompetent. Incompetent for life.” (16)
It was off-putting, but perhaps that was the goal of the author. To make us feel upset and compassionate for the pitiful girl.
He also expressed his love for the girl, which combined with his insults was puzzling but looking into it it could be a representation of how an author shares an intimate bond with their characters and how they’re the ones that truly understand the characters. But it also blurs the line between author, narrator and character, which makes the novel far more interesting.
Macabéa’s Demise
Her death was almost comical, I won’t lie, when she died I giggled a bit in a way to say are you serious? Because I had already seen it coming but I didn’t want to think it was going to be so predictable.
Just when she had a spark of significance and visibility in contrast with her insignificant and invisible life. Analyzing it further, it reflects life’s common occurrence when facing hardships and suffering, we find significance and hope for the future. Hopefully it won’t be snatched away.
Discussion Question
In my perception, the book felt pretentious and trying too hard to be philosophical which in result made me less interested as I read. The only redeemable trait of this book is the fact that the fictional narrator is something different from what we normally see in books.
Overall, for me, this book was forgettable, which is a shame because I was looking forward to reading it. Of course I’m just a student and no expert in literature who has basic knowledge on how to write, but I out of all books we’ve read so far and compared to the ones that are coming next (spoiler alert) this one stays at the bottom but higher than Proust.
To quote the novel: Some novels have got it. And some novels don’t. It’s very simple: this one didn’t.
(Reference: pg. 17. Paragraph 2)
- Did you like the novel? Why?
- What did you think about the fictional author Rodrigo S.M and his thoughts on women?
- Did you see Macabea’s death coming?
- What are your opinions on the novel’s philosophical themes?
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