Week 9 – The Hour of the Star

This book was one that initially confused me but then really drew me in, and I may go as far as saying it was the most captivating book I’ve read so far in the class! I think my captivation with this novel stems from its truly ‘weird’ manner of presentation – it’s at once a story of Macabéa and also an internal (or perhaps external?) dialogue of a writer and his own thoughts and challenges while crafting the book we are reading. The more I think about it, the more confusing it gets; the narrator is using the story he creates and Macabéa as a way to get through his own thoughts and feelings connected to Macabéa, but perhaps Lispector herself is also using this narrator as a way to express her feelings? It gets increasingly more meta the more I think about it being a story within a story that may also be a writer speaking directly to us via another writer. And yet, through it all, it kept my attention! 

I had not really considered the effect a novel’s title may have on a reader’s experience until I watched the lecture and contemplated the other titles Lispector left at the start of the book. While “The Hour of the Star” didn’t hold significance to me before I began reading, it became very symbolic of Macabéa’s journey and how she burned so brightly with hope in her final hour. Were this book given another title that was less abstract and more direct or indicative of the subject matter, I think a reader may have come to dislike the narrator’s prose because they would have expectations of a story and would be met with something much different. “Singing the Blues” indicates a sense of sadness; “Cheap Tearjerker” or “A Sense of Loss” may lead readers to expect a sad ending and ruin their reading experience.

The “separation” between Lispector and her narrator created a sort-of philosophical question within me, surrounding my so-called ‘involvement’ in the book as a reader. Rodrigo the narrator is not done writing the book as I am reading it, and I am to balance out my thoughts of Macabéa’s story with what I think about Rodrigo’s comments. Do I feel different emotions for Macabéa because of what Rodrigo feels? Or am I allowed to feel my own pity or perhaps indifference to her struggle?

As Lispector mention in her dedication, as is echoed in lecture, Lispector is still waiting for an answer, and by giving us a list of potential other titles – and by interspersing a narrative with someone else’s thoughts – the reader becomes much more involved in the process; perhaps Lispector makes us into another character? 

I have a question that maybe no one can truly answer, for we are not the author: what do you think the (explosions) in the text mean? Lecture mentions they may “indicate some hidden violence”, but do you think they could signal revelations or importance? Or maybe they’re just another element of weirdness added to keep the reader on their toes. Maybe you have better thoughts (explosion!).