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Near to the Wild Heart

By Clarice Lispector
Series: Penguin Modern Classics
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Near to the Wild Heart is the sensational debut novel by Clarice Lispector, published when she was just twenty-three. It follows Joana, a fiercely creative and mutable young woman, from her imaginative childhood β€” where she is the 'little egg' who writes poems for her father β€” through a troubled marriage to Otavio, and onto her bold choice to forge her own path in life. This impressionistic, dreamlike narrative probes deeply into questions of identity and self-knowledge.
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This novel appeals to readers of literary fiction and modernist works, especially those interested in introspective, character-driven stories exploring identity and emotional complexity.

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As Joana, endlessly mutable, moves through different emotional states, different inner lives and different truths, this impressionistic, dreamlike and fiercely intelligent novel asks if any of us ever really know who we are. Her innovation in fiction brought her international renown.

Clarice Lispector's sensational, prize-winning debut novel Near to the Wild Heart was published when she was twenty-three and earned her the name 'Hurricane Clarice'.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The sensational debut novel of one of the 20th century's greatest modernist writers.

Clarice Lispector's sensational, prize-winning debut novel Near to the Wild Heart was published when she was twenty-three and earned her the name 'Hurricane Clarice'.

It tells the story of Joana, from her wild, creative childhood, as the 'little egg' who writes poems for her father, through her marriage to the faithless Otavio and on to her decision to make her own way in the world.

As Joana, endlessly mutable, moves through different emotional states, this impressionistic, dreamlike and fiercely intelligent novel asks if any of us ever really know who we are.

Series: Penguin Modern Classics

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critically acclaimed as a modernist masterpiece, Lispector has been compared to Kafka and Joyce. Reviewers praise her originality in technique and language, combining bleak humour with poetry. Celebrated by figures like Colm TΓ³ibΓ­n and Jonathan Franzen, the novel is recognised for its profound emotional insight and distinctive style, with translations capturing Lispector's unique voice.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141197340

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 February 2014

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Alison Entrekin

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 162g

Pages: 208

Collections

Clarice Lispector Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Series: Penguin Modern Classics

About the Author

Clarice Lispector (Author) Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian novelist and short-story writer. Her innovation in fiction brought her international renown. She was born in the Ukraine in 1920, but in the aftermath of World War I and the Russian Civil War, the family fled to Romania and eventually Brazil. She published her first novel, Near to the Wildheart, in 1943, when she was just twenty-three, and the next year was awarded the Gra a Aranha Prize for the best first novel. She died in 1977, shortly after the publication of her final novel, The Hour of the Star.

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