Clarice Lispector Reading Group 1 - An Apprenticeship or the Book of Pleasures

This reading group is an extension of the first one. We have read Annie Ernaux’s A Girl’s Story and Simple Passion and Clarice Lispector’s Agua Viva. We have discussed Spinoza’s understanding of desire and Deleuze’s masochism through a parallel reading of Coldness and Cruelty.

In these extension sessions, we read Lispector’s Book of Pleasures and discuss desire, self, the Other, Spinoza, and masochism. We ponder whether we need other humans to make sense of ourselves or if they act as catalysts in our soul-searching journeys.

Do we always need another human being to convince ourselves that we ‘exist,’ or can we find our way to the Self through solitude in nature/God?

This is a slow reading group. We read 20 pages and do close reading.

We meet every other Wednesday at 19:00 CET. If you would like to join, you can send an email to julideda@gmail.com