Hour of the Star [Hardcover]

4.0 out of 5 stars "She was incompetent. Incompetent for life. She had never figured out how to figure things out.", December 1, 2011
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
In her final novel, Brazilian novelist/poet Clarice Lispector (1920 - 1977) writes an eerie, almost supernatural tale of Macabea, a nineteen-year-old woman almost devoid of opinion, thoughts, and even feelings. Her story is being told by Roderigo S.M., a writer, similarly isolated, without a long-term idea of what he wants to write, though he says, as he begins the story, that he has "glimpsed in the air the feeling of perdition on the face of a northeastern girl [Macabea]." He tells the reader that "This isn't just narrative, it's above all primary life that breathes, breathes, breathes," he states, leaving the reader in somewhat of a quandary trying to figure out what he is talking about.

In telling Macabea's story, however, the narrator discovers that he himself has a kind of destiny, and that "the action of this story will end up with my transformation into somebody else. Initially, though, the novel recreates the narrator's maunderings as he tries to get started and wonders what to say. "Will things happen? They will. But what things? I don't know that either." He recognizes the importance of keeping things simple in writing, though "I know splendid adjectives, meaty nouns, and verbs so slender that travel sharp through the air." Macabea lives aimlessly, he says, and that "if she was dumb enough to ask herself `who am I?' she would fall flat on her face...[She is] so dumb that she sometimes smiles at other people on the street. Nobody smiles back because they don't even see her."

Having grown up poor in the northeast of Brazil, Macabea lived with her "sanctimonious aunt," who rapped her on the head, beat her, and more importantly (to her), sometimes deprived her of daily dessert, and she has developed into a person so unthinking that she "didn't wonder why she was always being punished." Having now moved to Rio, she never worries about her ignorance because she does not recognize it. What she does "know" for certain is that at the hour of death, a person "becomes a shining movie star, it's everyone's moment of glory, and it's when as in choral chanting you hear the whooshing shrieks."

On the morning of May seventh, however, "the unexpected ecstasy for her tiny little body [arrives]" and she falls in love with Olimpico de Jesus Moreira Chaves, but even together they "cast little shadow upon the ground." Several pages of their conversations are among the most amazing writing imaginable - neither Macabea nor Olimpico has a clue as they try to find some level of interest in something - anything! - which will allow them to talk. The results are both hilarious and pathetic. A trip to a fortune teller and its aftermath provide the turning point, and irony builds upon irony as the author explores who we are, how we know, how we fit into the grand scheme of life, and ultimately, whether there actually is any "grand scheme." In this odd but peculiarly thought-provoking novel, the reader may often be as confused and conflicted as the narrator, but after a slow start, I became enchanted with it. Here two complete negatives, Macabea and author Roderigo, have created a bizarre positive. Ultimately, Roderigo asks, "What was the truth of my Maca? As soon as you discover the truth it's already gone: the moment passed, I ask: What is? Reply: it's not." Mary Whipple

The Hour of the Star is the story of a story. It follows the narrator, Rodrigo S.M, as he struggles to write about Macabea, one of the most notable anti-heroines in contemporary fiction. The minimal plot is overwhelmed by an onslaught of philosophical musings and Rodrigo's inner turmoil. Rodrigo himself states that he is writing about Macabea as a way of catharsis rather than as an artistic exercise; in fact, Rodrigo denies any creative input in the story at all and instead insists that Macabea has arrested his free will. It seems that the simple fact of her existence must be told.

The Hour of the Star is an extraordinary work of fiction and philosophy. As Lispector's final work before succumbing to cancer, it is more than just an inspired novella. Every aspect, from the perfect language to the troubling characters, emphasises Lispector's astonishing grasp on the the most intimate aspects of humanity. In The Hour of the Star, Lispector casually strolls in to the more private recesses of your mind and lays everything bare for the world to see.

Claris Lispector is the feminine answer to Kafka and Joyce. She writes with clarity and lucidity, flows from one reality to a parallel one. Her stories are often disturbing, painfully real and emotionally charged, but always full with deep understanding of human relationship and emotional realities. Claris Lispector writes like a witch, and you are willingly allowing her to enchant you. Even when she talks about events, Lispector is looking inside - into the depth of the soul. If you liked The Hour of the Star, you will love Family Ties and Soulstorm.