My Brilliant Friend
Ratings130
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings130
Average rating4.1
A New York Times BestsellerThe Neapolitan Novels (Book 1)A modern masterpice from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors set against the backdrop of a Naples that is as seductive as it is perilous and a world undergoing epochal change, this story of a lifelong friendship is told with unmatched honesty. Lila and Elena clash, drift apart, reconcile, and clash again, in the process revealing new facets of their friendship.With My Brillant Briend Ferrante begins the rich, intense, and generous-hearted portrait of two friends, Elena and Lila. Through their lives, she tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country undergoing momentous change.
Series
4 primary booksL'amica geniale is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2011 with contributions by Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein, and Johanna Hedenberg.
Featured Prompt
2,097 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
Reviews with the most likes.
Reread this for the Book Riot Challenge category of “a book with a cover you hate.” In this case, the publisher seems to argue that the cover was made intentionally vulgar to make a point (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/07/elena-ferrante-covers-bad-no-good/488732/). Maybe, but still, I hate it. I also noticed that the blurb on the cover refers to the book as being “amiably peopled.” “Amiable” is about the last thing any of these characters are.
Still one of my favorite books ever, and 2018 challenge complete.
One sentence synopsis... The obsessions and rivalries of two friends growing up in post-war Naples as they mature from violent, underprivileged children to competitive adolescents. .
Read it if you liked... Little Women or other immersive epics of female relationships gleaned from the most destitute of circumstances. .
Dream casting... HBO already did a great job casting it. No notes.
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.
Lovely musical prose. The author gives a lot of weight and respect to capturing the intricacies of female feelings & thoughts from a young age.
