Near to the Wild Heart

There are parts in this book that really made me gasp. Given the author's young age at the time of Wild Heart's publication (23) it really is an astonishing achievement, and it's unlike anything I'd ever read.

And yet, reading it often felt like a chore. The protagonist, Joana, was exhausting in a way that a severe alexithymic is exhausting. It was like observing and interpreting a person constantly observing and interpreting herself.

Still though, it really made me want to read Lispector's later works. For a debut work this is amazingly good.