The Departure of the Train [1974/2015] – ★★★★★

This is Clarice Lispector’s short story about two women who board a train at Rio de Janeiro Central Station. They are strangers to one another, and find themselves on “opposite sides of life”. Dona Maria Rita is an aging widow, who has seen everything in her life and now is going to her son’s farm “to spend the rest of her life there”, while Angela Pralini is an independent, vivacious young woman who begins a new life chapter since she has recently broken off her passionate relationship with one cerebral Eduardo (“because you can’t prolong ecstasy without dying”). She is going to spend time with her aunt and uncle in the countryside, and is looking forward to this new adventure and simple life on the farm. We read these two women’s contrasting thoughts as they ride in a shared train carriage.

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