My Brilliant Friend

Because of the book's popularity, I felt obligated to read it, but I'm not sure I feel obligated to read further in the series. On the other hand, my main disappointment in the novel was that it focused on the friendship of two young girls, which didn't interest me much, although the environment of their friendship–working-class Naples of a much earlier time–was quite interesting. The writing is fine, although repetitive.

The narration of the audiobook is very slooow. Eventually, I switched to the Kindle version so I get through it faster. I can't say that it brought me more enjoyment, however.

Estoy un poco indecisa en la nota, está entre 3.5 y 4. El último tercio me iba interesando mucho y es un libro que se lee rápido, se siente que se lee sin invertirle tanto tiempo. Pero no tiene final, se termina un capitulo y ya. Así, siento que me dejó a medias.

La historia empieza cuando estas dos amigas Lenu y Lila son mayores, pasando algo con una de ellas para luego rememorar su historia en la niñez y adolescencia. Viviendo en un barrio pobre de Napoles, se muestra la relación entre estas dos amigas con altos y bajos así como la interacción con los diferentes personajes que viven en el barrio. Pero como ya mencione queda todo a medias, así que tendré que leer el siguiente.

WHAT. THAT'S WHERE IT ENDS???

Meh. Took forever to get going. Lenu is an unappealing character although maybe that's the point? Not sure if I'll continue with the series. I feel like I'd have to soon or I'll forget everything that's happened thus far

It's a sharp picture of a time and place, and perceptive about teenage social interaction, but I didn't catch the fever.

Okay I am hooked. Two girls growing up in the poor neighboorhood of Naples. They push and pull, they support each other, they compete and hurt each other, and always always influence each other. My only complaint: Why couldn't Ferrante publish all 4 books all at once, make one giant 1400 page mammoth with tiny fonts and super-thin translucent pages. It would feel more like the epic I am sure it's going to be.

This is a case of literati peer pressure. I read this book because every blog I read and every podcast I listen to mentioned it and I should have noticed that everyone was doing that thing they do when they really don't know what to say about a book....they are telling us what the book is NOT. Well, folks, it's not a space opera and it's not a light read. What I can say is this, I was originally put off by the covers which look like a Photoshop newbie's nightmare of a first attempt.

Here is what I will also say. Parts of this story charmed me. The writing was so good I could see the world in my mind clear as a bell. Sadly, this was not the majority of the parts. Most of this book was me suffering under what I felt was an inordinate amount of repetition. Lenu tells us something, she tells Lila the same thing, Lila tells Rino, etc and it's not important and .....who friggin cares......

Historically, this means nothing to me. At times, it reminded me of Circle of Friends by Binchy-only way meaner.
I think I didn't like Elena and that really dragged the story for me. Who is she even? We don't know! She is whoever Lila tells her she is. Frenemies to the nith degree, I guess.

I probably will not continue on with the series.

I'm glad I read this with my awesome lady bookclub so we could get together and all be like “...oh good we ALL thought this was kind of overrated, whew”.

IDK, it was fine? I do like the importance of the girl friendship at the center, and the obsessive/competitive/consuming nature of that I thought was well done. And there was a sort of satisfying, Little House on the Prairie-ish satisfaction to just the kind of detailed monotony of household doings and routines?

Also one intrepid member of our book club read Wikipedia summaries of all the other books and told us what happens to all the other characters, which was sort of interesting. Seems like this book is setup/backstory for the series and more things happen later? But ultimately I'm not invested enough to read any more of these books.

I wonder if some of why this is getting attention because it's relatively rare for ~literary fiction~ to be about female friendship and it's refreshing in that way? But I read so much YA fiction about girl friendship that I'm like, okay what else?

It took me awhile to really get into the book and at the end I did enjoy it. It's a slow book about two friends in the 50's. It starts when they are adults and Lila has disappeared and her son is looking for her. Instead of helping, Elena is remembering her childhood with Lila. Living in a small village, the violence, the jealousy and the envy that surrounds them.

The author does a good job making us part of the time and places. The struggle living during that time, the lack of choices for education of jobs, approuvals from the parents about the type of person you can marry.

Looking forward to know more about Lila and Elena in the next ones.

Hm. I just finished “My Brilliant Friend,” and while I thought it was somewhat entertaining, I am at a loss as to understand how this novel is as great as major reviewers and other readers think it is. I found it just okay. Perhaps, a 2.4. Honestly, the best thing about the book was the relationship between Elena and Lila. Who didn't have that best friend growing up who made everything brighter, but who you also competed with a bit? The ebbs and flows of each girl's day-to-day successes were very realistic; it has been suggested that the novels are autobiographical, although the author's true identity remain a mystery. However, the author doesn't do a very good job of characterizing others in the book other than Lila and Elena; the other characters seemed like placeholders, which, perhaps, they were intended to be given Elena's inability to really fit in anywhere.

I also liked the descriptions of the lower middle class neighborhood filled with gossip and jealousy, where the world is small and close-knit. The author does manage to evoke life in the neighborhood and how amazing it is to visit Ischia or other parts of Naples.

The writing is also just okay. It's not bad, but it isn't anything special, and I don't think that is to do with the novel I read being a translation from Italian. This book seems most suited to the young adult category and is better than a lot of recent releases in that genre, but I can't find don't see the genius of it. After I reached the halfway point, the rest of the book was a bit of a slog. The “twist” at the end of the novel didn't compel me to continue the series; in a rather uncharacteristic move, I read summaries from reviews containing spoilers to learn what happens in the three sequels and I feel okay about it.

This is a wonderful story of an unusual friendship. I highly recommend it. I feel like I'm lacking the words to describe how beautiful and important this novel is. I can't wait to read the next ones in the series.

Book Club 2015

A beautifully crafted story of the friendship between two young working class girls in 1950's Naples, Italy. The story is told from the perspective of Elena, the girl who is able to go to high school, and follows the progress of their lives and friendship as they grow from little girls to young women. In the process, we also get to know the inhabitants of the neighborhood where they live–their parents, their neighbors, the grocers, teachers, barkeepers, bakers and mechanics. We also get glimpses of the dark stories that the adults have from “before”–before the girls were born. Who was a Fascist, who is a Communist, where some people get the money that finances their business, who has a financial hold over whom in the neighborhood–all these things are undercurrents in the story that occasionally surface to disturb us. The depiction of the girls' friendship is anything but sentimental (it's not an easy friendship) but as a whole it's very moving. When I finished the book I was in awe. Also, I was on fire to get the next book (this is the first of a trilogy) to see how the story continues.

I've been hearing a lot about Ferrante lately. Her latest book made up the long tail of a bunch of best of lists for 2014 as well as topping translated reads. Ferrante is a pseudonym and the author makes Salinger seem downright social in comparison. This is the first book in the Neapolitan series which follows the lives of Elena Greco and Raffaella (Lila) Cerullo. Book one gets as far as their teenage years starting from when these frenemies are first introduced.

It's a luxuriously paced Bildungsroman that explores class rifts, how your community and friends define you and yet force you to define yourself in opposition to them. Nothing much really happens here and somehow it avoids being a plodding reminiscence. I'm actually surprised how much I liked this book and will be picking up the rest in the series.

Not disappointed — this is absolutely worth all that praise & hype that made me read it in the first place (on top of the fact that Ferrante is not Knausgaard). When it comes to describing the dynamics of female friendship and the sober reality of growing up underprivileged, this is a bottomless well of quotables.

I took a star off for the horrible edition (saccharine cover art + out of line printing that made every page look like a crooked frame on a wall and drove me nuts) and the fact that nothing that surprising actually happens — it's all a bit Anne of Green Gables for adults. I loved Anne of Green Gables though and I'll definitely read the remaining 3 books of the Neapolitan series, but it all feels a bit ‘pleasant escapism without ever being made to think'.