A review by writesdave
Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The prose is stunningly beautiful and the stream-of-consciousness style takes you on a psychedelic journey into the mind of a dissatisfied wife. That said, within the first three chapters I thought, 'I liked this a lot better as "The Awakening."' At least "The Awakening" had a resolution at the end.

Fresh in my mind was a tweet I saw decrying the notion that if a man's wife is happy, then the marriage is not normal. The unhappy wife trope dominates television, movies, literature, the arts generally. So maybe I should have waited to read this until I had brushed the taste of that social media post out of my mouth. I also have to consider the time period and the expectations levied upon women, especially in South America, and perhaps I should realize that in a life like Joana's, there is no resolution. No one in a marriage ends up happy, even if you change your situation. 

I'll give Lispector's short stories a shot.

Check it out for the prose—providing the translator got it right. And understand in this listing that the translator (Giovanni) is listed first.