Who Would Like This Book:
This book is pure immersive storytelling! It beautifully captures the intensity and complexity of female friendship against the gritty, vibrant backdrop of postwar Naples. Ferrante's characters, especially Elena and Lila, practically leap off the page - think realistic, flawed, and unforgettable. If you love coming-of-age tales, rich character studies, or stories set in evocative, real-world settings, this is a perfect pick. It's ideal for readers who are drawn to literary fiction with emotional depth, fascinating social dynamics, and a touch of mystery.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers found the pacing slow and missed having a clear, driving plot. The huge cast of characters (many with multiple nicknames!) can be confusing, and the prose, being a translation from Italian, occasionally feels awkward or repetitive. The book also doesn't stand alone - it's very much the start of a four-part saga - so if you want a book with a tidy conclusion, you might be left hanging. Those looking for fast-paced action, nonstop drama, or traditionally 'likeable' characters may not fully connect with this read.
About:
"My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante is a captivating novel that follows the friendship between two intelligent girls, Elena and Lila, as they navigate the impoverished and violent setting of mid-twentieth century Naples. The story delves into their diverging paths in life, detailing Elena's academic pursuits and Lila's struggles with family obligations and early marriage. Through rich period details and intricate character development, the book explores themes of friendship, rivalry, societal expectations, and the complexities of growing up in a challenging environment.
Elena Ferrante's writing style in "My Brilliant Friend" is praised for its ability to vividly capture the essence of childhood and adolescence, blending detailed descriptions with insightful reflections on life. The narrative, told from Elena's perspective, offers a child's view of the world while weaving in deeper themes of friendship, societal norms, and personal growth. The book sets the stage for a compelling quartet that delves into the evolving relationship between Elena and Lila against the backdrop of post-war Italy.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of poverty, domestic violence, sexism, child neglect, and bullying as the characters navigate their difficult upbringing.
Has Romance?
While romance exists, it is not the main focus of the story. Instead, it serves as a backdrop to the evolving friendship and personal growth of the characters.
From The Publisher:
The Neapolitan Quartet Book One
Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times-bestselling "enduring masterpiece" about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples (The Atlantic).
Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante's four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.
Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women.
"An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends."-Entertainment Weekly
"Spectacular."-Maureen Corrigan, NPR's Fresh Air
"Captivating."-The New Yorker
Ratings (162)
Incredible (46) | |
Loved It (52) | |
Liked It (30) | |
It Was OK (18) | |
Did Not Like (13) | |
Hated It (3) |
Reader Stats (365):
Read It (162) | |
Currently Reading (2) | |
Want To Read (130) | |
Did Not Finish (10) | |
Not Interested (61) |
6 comment(s)
3.5 stars. It took me a while to get into this story. The first half of the book I was lost in a sea of characters with similar sounding names and writing that came off as choppy, eccentric, and at times, mundane. But eventually, the relationship of the two best friends grew on me, and the torments and triumphs of their adolescence became more interesting. A tension seemed to build in the second half of the book, where the tedious turned into drama, violence, and inspiration. And of course it all had to end in a cliffhanger, urging me to consider continuing the series…
Thought this was going to be a book about friendship (per the title) but really it’s a book about class consciousness in Italy during the 50s. Sure, sprinkle in some girlhood and coming of age in there, but the bigger themes to me were wealth and class and impact on higher education. I felt pretty meh about continuing onto book 2 basically until the last paragraph. Now I’m locked in lol.
The Neopolitan quartet is my #1 all time favorite. The complexity of the lives of two women over decades is so deeply moving.
4 star
RTC
Happy Reading!!
My Brilliant Friend is the beginning of a 60 year journey of two lives, entwined by friendship and rivalry. It's set roughly 5 years after the end of WW2 in Naples, Italy, in a neighborhood that is beset by poverty, talks of Communism, Fascism, and Nazism. The main character, Elena, mostly called Lenú, goes through her coming-of-age with her friend that she calls Lila. She is besot with ideas of superiority and inferiority, the dichotomies between herself and the intelligent Lila, despite also being very clever herself, and begins her journey to try and escape the vicious cycle of "plebian life".
Elena Ferrante's prose, even translated from Italian, is gorgeous. It reads very much like a memoir, written by someone who is older, attempting to put old memories to paper with appropriate amounts of insight and judgement on events that would come with years of reflection/learning. She continuously pulls you in with the waves of despair, joy, selfishness, envy, pride that Lenú experiences.
I am very much looking forward to reading the next installment!
The dissection of a friendship between two women and the narrow divide between love and hate against the background of Naples.
What can you read after
My Brilliant Friend?
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