It's Tuesday, and time for book two of the Oh Comely's Book Club: Near to the Wild Heart, by Clarice Lispector.

Today's discussion is hosted by Tara Caimi, a writer whose pieces have appeared in Oh Comely, Writer’s Chronicle, Fire & Knives (sadly, out of print) and Whereabouts: Stepping Out of Place. Her memoir Mush: from sled dogs to celiac, the scenic detour of my life is forthcoming with Plain View Press. Here's what she thought of the book:

Clarice Lispector's lyrical language and sensory descriptions in Near to the Wild Heart read like nothing I've come across before and like nothing I'm likely to come across again. The plot is secondary, with bits emerging like white caps on a turbulent sea as the reader sinks, trancelike, into the depths of the protagonist's musings. One has to wonder, with language this beautiful, how much has been lost in translation.

Joana's mother is dead, and her father has little time for her. We see her retreating into her mind, detaching from the world around her. By the time her father dies, Joana has learned to rely on her imagination for comfort and support. She goes to live with relatives, but they cannot relate to her reticence. She is withdrawn and introspective, and they actually fear her. They send her to boarding school where she makes a connection with a teacher, but even he eventually succumbs to his own domestic concerns.

While Joana goes through the motions of life, the substance is inside her head. She searches for truth and explores the essence of existence, analyzing her observations with circuitous logic. She marries a man who has an affair with his ex-fiancé. When she learns of the affair, Joana takes a lover of her own but, true to her detached nature, chooses not to learn the man's name. When her lover is mysteriously taken away, Joana finds herself physically alone. Only then does she recognize and accept her power - a power that is fuelled by the inner workings of her mind.

Did you pick Near to the Wild Heart as your Book Club choice? What did you think? Head to our Facebook Page to join the discussion.

Here's what some of you thought: 

Near to the Wild Heart follows the life of Joana as she marries the faithless Otavio and moves through an array of emotional states. The story's almost dreamlike and the short sentences and vivid descriptions have you racing through the pages. In scenes which could be described as grotesque in manner, only a few words are needed for the reader to understand the action.

The final chapter ‘The Journey’ is just beautiful and the repetition of ‘De Profundis’ meaning ‘from the depths’ throughout makes you vividly imagine Joana standing, speaking out loud this last phase before the book ends. Rather more like a poem than a novel, the repetition of words and noises created through Lispector's beautiful descriptions make you tuck underneath the duvets just a touch more.

Not something I would normally pick up but something I would definitely recommend. 

Emily Smith. 

Although it was beautifully written, I felt like I was lost in a stream-of-consciousness sea! I was missing a sense of story. I wanted something to happen.

Anonymous. 

My experience of trying to read this book is best described by the first sentence of page 23: 'I get distracted a lot'. No matter how much I read my mind just kept wandering!

Hannah.

Reader photos from top: twoeggtartsplease and annastarra. / Read more at Penguin Classics.