Água Viva by Clarice Lispector

When Clarice Lispector sat down to write this book she set out to “capture the present”, a place where she endeavours to capture life and time as she feels it.

In its first translation its title was The Stream of Life but in fact Água Viva, when translated from Portuguese means - Living Water. This wonderful title represents the true fluidity of the book itself. You either float or drown in her words.

On first glance this thin volume may speak of a quick read but alas dear reader, this is full of thick, treacle like passages that inspire you to read a paragraph twice, maybe three times or maybe you want to copy it over to your notebook for future reference.

The structure of the book may put some people off or it may draw those with a poetic disposition. It is all written in small paragraphs often giving off the feeling of being sporadic or scattered. Those familiar with her usual work know how tightly knitted her prose is and this may actually look quite the opposite but as soon as you sink into the work you begin to realise that what looks sporadic is actually a very rich and deeply textured tapestry of words often dancing between fiction and reality. It is often confessional, observational and at times almost dipping its toe in surrealism through the dreamlike prose although it must be said that she in herself could not be categorised, she is in fact Clarice Lispector -she has her very own style and genre.

This book is a wonderful companion to those that feel stuck, those that feel like they need to be inspired – the lyrical and poetic qualities it holds sparks qualities in us that allow us to dream, to meditate on life, writing, painting and anything else we wish to express through ink and paper. You may feel inspired to write your own vignettes, open your mind and eyes to the world around you and create your own Água Viva.