The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2020
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My review of My Brilliant Friend from a couple of years back:
• My Brilliant Friend by...
US readers, buy My Brilliant Friend on IndieBound (yep I'm an affiliate):
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UK & other European readers, buy it on Blackwell's (also an affiliate):
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US readers, buy The Story of a New Name on IndieBound (yep I'm an affiliate):
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US readers, buy Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay on IndieBound (yep I'm an affiliate):
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US readers, buy The Story of the Lost Child on IndieBound (yep I'm an affiliate):
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The passage I read from Storia della bambina perduta:
Essere nati in questa città serve a una sola cosa: sapere da sempre, quasi per istinto, ciò che oggi tra mille distinguo cominciano a sostenere tutti: il sogno di progresso senza limiti è in realtà un incubo pieno di ferocia e di morte.
(For the life of me I can't find the page anymore, but shout if you need it and I'll look into it again).
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Curiously my favourite character was Elena and the third book was great for me. I found some deeply personal reflexions, gender issues and the history of the 70s I could identify so much. For me the fourth was the overall best especially the analysis of the novel as a form of art and the device of the novel in the novel (like in atonement btw). Fascinating! Emotional rollercoaster I agree that I couldn’t put down. . In 5 weeks I read all of Ferrante’s production. It doesn’t happen that easily that I get so engrossed in a story.
I read all the Neapolitan novels. They are a masterpiece. The characters are so interesting and the story beautiful writing. It's good wen good books achieve worldwide success, and when good writers are known for their books and not for their own image.
Are the books available in English??
Ciao, Bookchemist! I had the same reading experience, in the sense that I love the first two books, got a bit bored with the soap operatic tone of the third, then loved the saga again from the second half of the fourth book. However, I really loved Elena, maybe because I could feel her issues and her insecurities. I also think that, as a character, she is far more original than Lila. At the end of the day, Lila is the classic 'tragic heroin': the beautiful, strong and fiery girl, who won't go down without a battle, who is desired by pretty much every single man she meets, but who is ultimately doomed. Instead, Elena is less conventional. She has duplicity: what appears on the outside (the diligent student) is different from her deeper inner turmoils. She also takes far more riskier and unpredictable choices, in terms of her career and even in terms of sexual experiences and loving relationships. I think Elena is a strong and intelligent woman who is not entirely aware of her own strength and intelligence. And, interestingly enough, Elena's lack of awareness about her own potential does not come too much from men, but from another woman, who also happens to be her best friend. Ultimately, what is important for the novel is neither Elena nor Lila, but their relation: it is a really complex friendship, a love-hate relationship pervaded by good feelings, mutual admiration, but also by an almost devilish sense of competition. Finally, I want to say yet another thing about Elena and why I like her so much. In a sense, it is true that Lila's parts are more interesting, full of passions, drama, and so on. However, we should not forget that we *really* don't know Lila: we only know Lila as Elena describes her, since the novel is written entirely from her perspective. I am not saying, of course, that Lila is a figment of Elena's imagination: in the fictional universe of My Brilliant Friend there exists a character called Elena and there exists a character called Lila. However, we can only see Lila through Elena's eyes. And don't know Elena 'objectively' either: we can see only Elena through her own eyes, as she sees herself. Elena sees herself as this plain, boring and uninteresting character and, at the same time, she totally idealises her friend Lila. Elena is an unreliable narrator, because her judgement is totally clouded by the admiration of Lila and by her own insecurities and fragilities. At the very end (which, to me, is a stroke of genius) we realise that maybe Lila feels the same towards Elena. That the very origin of their relation was a lie Lila told in order to manipulate Elena and becoming her friend. Maybe, if the story of My Brilliant Friend had been told by Lila, she would have looked boring and silly, while Elena would have appeared much more interesting and charismatic. The simple, uncomplicated, rather addictive and fairly accessible writing style of Elena Ferrante distracts the reader from the fact that this novel is truly a web of lies, a labyrinth of fabricated and distorted memories with no real exit! You get to the end and you are back to the very beginning - questioning everything you have read!
This is an interesting point of view.
I was pondering about this while I was reading the Neapolitan novels. Perhaps Lila was thinking the same thing about Elena, and probably everyone else from the neighbourhood felt the same. Elena is someone who escaped the common fate of the poor Neapolitan people. She is educated, successful, she has it all.
That being said, I still prefered reading about Lila. Elena managed to convince me that she was the dull one. I don't know if you read any other Ferrante books? I read 'The Days of Abandonement' and 'Troubling Love' and found them incredibly boring, but if you liked Elena, you might enjoy these two. As I suspected after reading the quartet, Ferrante always writes about herself, she is the main character of her novels, only named differently in each of them. That's not a bad thing, of course, she writes what she knows best. However, without the well-developed supporting characters, I just didn't care for these two novels.
@@LanaCelebic I read her latest book, The Lying Life of Adults (or something like that), which I found absolutely ghastly. A disaster of a plot wrapped in every imaginable cliché! It's like all the worst aspects of the third instalment of My Brilliant Friend shaken together and served straight up. Such a big disappointment!
@@vins1979 Good to know. I was wondering if I should read it, now I think I'll pass. Thanks. :)
So true. Who is the brilliant friend? Both are! Interesting the idea of the unreliable narrator. Aren’t we all? In telling a story you can never escape the inevitability of subjectivity. Is this what the experts call postmodernism? I ask.
I finished the last book a few days ago and now I feel so lonely I don’t have my brilliant friends to go back to 🥺
I loved your review. I just finished the 4th book. I am sad that it's over!
I also need to discuss the ending with someone!
I just came here to confess that I fell in love with Enzo scanno!
I’m considering the idea of doing a staggered reading of The Neapolitan Quartet and the Zuckerman Bound novels. From what I’ve heard, I feel like this could be an interesting contrast
For me, the central motif is in Lina's reoccurring experience of 'boundaries dissolving'. After Elena's 2nd novel, proposing the invention of women by men, we may wonder; "what are women, then?" Well. if the masculine force invents and distinguishes itself from nature and its peers, then Ferrante seems to suggest that the feminine tends to blur those invented edges into an emotional stew. Interestingly, when this is addressed explicitly, it is with great terror! imagine being one with all the filth, violence and misery of the world? even if it occasionally adds up to chime a major triad here and there. The Neapolitan novels are written with great sympathy and little moralizing. It is a mirror that constantly reflects our present concerns with our inability to outrun our past.
I just listened to your review……a brilliant summary….. so far….I’m half way through the third book and am loving it.. I am from Trieste and was married to a Sicilian for 30 years (we grew up in Australia). I have spent time in the village of Licodea Euboea in Sicily and have been to Naples and lived in Civitavecchia and Trieste for two months and have 30 years of experience married to a Sicilian and his family - what an amazingly fulfilling journey it was! This is what life is like in villages and city neighbourhoods in southern Italy for sure… I mean the corruption, the crude dialect spoken (when required or desired). Trieste and northern Italy is different somehow. Southerners sure are “gutsy/bold” people….which is reflected so brilliantly in these books. As recommended I may have a break between the third and fourth books…..if I can help it.
I read My Brilliant Friend months ago and wasn't sure whether to continue on with the series. After watching this, I think I will!
I like big books, and the idea that it's a book so big that maybe it's actually four novels (and maybe not) is appealing. I'm definitely going to buy The Neapolitan Novels. Thanks for another great review!
Ok wow My Brilliant Friend is now on the list! I write neonoir and this sounds like something I should read closely
I was first introduced to the novels after watching the HBO series. I quickly became engrossed in reading the series. I enjoyed your review wished it was a little more in depth. I'll watch your review on the first book. Thank you for your analysis.
My favorite character was Lila also, (for the exact reasons you mention). Great review!
You might find that you enjoy the second one more if you reread it later in life.
I saw an interview with Richard Ford where he talks about attempting to read "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass. He says he's just not old enough or smart enough to get it yet. I think what he is saying is that different books resonate with us at different times in our life depending on our life experiences and I totally agree with him on that.
Thank you I really enjoyed what you had to say. I've not read the books I purchased the audible audio version of my brilliant friend but didn't get into it but I love the HBO series so much that's why found you cause I just wanted to hear your insights and thoughts!
You should give Alan Moore's first novel a try, Bookchemist, it's called Voice of the Fire and has a perceptible Borges influence to it.
If he started it, and it's the one I think about, maybe he will be done with it in a year or so. Haha Massive book. Almost scared to get into that. Unless it's really brilliant, then I'm in.
I love Thomas Hardy so maybe I should read all four together! These have been on my list for a while.
Incredible that you read in Italian but describe in English
Bravé y Gracie
I am curious how her eloquent writing has been maintained in English translations of her work.
Bravo! I loved what you said about other Italians looking down on Naples because it gives them a sense that whatever is bad about Naples doesn’t happen in their cities. I found that to be true even in first world nations. For instance infant mortality in America which is quite high is always looked as a third world problem.
Thanks.
It's always special when you review a book from your native Italy. I loved those rolling "r"s: Ferrrrante! E forza Napoli. ❤ I was expecting some "inside info" about who she really is. Any guesses?
Who knows? If she'd rather stay off the limelight, I understand that ;)
I needed this!
I read them very close together and it was too much, I got tired of it. I left the series at the end of the third book. I guess I should finish the series!
Please, consider making a video of Junot Díaz. I'm from Argentina, by the way!
It's a tv show too, Italian only.
I just finished the first two in English and have been trying go decide whether to read those in Italian first, or carry on to the end in English first. You have convinced me to jump to the Italian. My tutor and Italian friends tell me I am fluent-I remain unconvinced, but will try it.
Best of luck Lynn :)
Thank you for this -- well done! I very much appreciate your insights from the Italian perspective. As someone from the U.S. I feel I missed a lot in the books that would be familiar to Italians. I don't think she condescended to the foreign audience.
Great review and great novels!
I relished watching this video. I'm really interested on reading those novels. A few days ago, I was thinking on reading some books from Italy, because my family came to my country from there and I want to know more about italian culture and that kind of stuff. My English is not enough well so I don't know if I could read them in English and my Italian skills are even worse, so I hope they have translated those books into Spanish. See you on your next video!
Wow great review!!! Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts about the book
Excellent review!
Great review! I also prefered those parts of the books where we follow Lila and the neighbourhood, rather than the story about Elena and her failed marriage.
I wonder if you've read any of her other novels. Last year I read 'The Days of Abandonement' and just finished 'Troubling Love' the other day. I didn't like any of these two. It seems that Ferrante always writes about the character of Elena (herself), she is only named differently in each book. Since these novels are a lot shorter than the Neapolitan ones, we only get to meet her, there's no time for other characters to develop. That's why I found them incredibly dull and repetitive. Since they were written before The Neapolitan novels, I kind of view them as an unsuccessful test-drive for the future tetralogy and I'm not sure I'll be reading any of her other books.
The magic of the Neapolitan novels is the relationship between the two friends in a specific environment where we get to meet so many vivid characters.
I haven't read her other novels, but I think I'll leave some time before considering those ;)
I've just finished reading it (actually I listened to the audiobook in Russian which is brilliantly voiced) and now I don't want to read anything else... I wish the book continued and continued and continued.
I know the feeling!
they are unforgettable
Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed and Desolation Angels have pretty short chapters, so i'm not sure if it is a new style, but maybe it is something coming back. I recently read Americanah by Adiche, and she used very short parts--sometimes one chapter, which i haven't seen much of.
I'd like to read them when I have time to read them all. Last novel I read is The Time Regulation Institute and currently reading The Book of Disquiet (Costa's translation).
@a b I loved it. I'd like to read Huzur as well since it's available in English. I've been interested in reading literature from different countries. And yes, apart from Pamuk and Shafak, only a few works are translated or known in English.
@a b Heard of it but couldn't find an English translation.
I’ve been watching the series on HBO & am now wondering whether I should read the books also. And if I should, do I wait for the 4th chapter finale in the TV series?
Hello bookchemist! I have a question for you: what is literature for you?
Like how do you define literature and how does this perception of what it is affect your reading and analysis of literary works?
Thanks and have a nice day brother ;)
That's a million dollar question! I'll have to consider it for a while ;)
Just finished The Story of A New Name & was debating if I should get the other book Those who leave those who stay.
Hope you got it
Please do a review of the waste land by Eliot.. Very much needed...
💯
Mhmm interesting when you said that you cared more about Lila's story... I won't say I felt the same but Lenu was so frustrating to me that at some points of this series I couldn't stand her. Her relationship with Nino had me pulling out hair! I think that's why I attached my interest with Lila, Lenu was too much of an emotional liability, but that's just Ferrante's brilliance at work I think
In the earthquake episode it proves the other way around, I think each of them had a different strength.
While i understand how lenu can make readers frustrated, lila also equally infuriates me, she's very toxic. Also didn't lila have a relationship with nino too?
Have you seen the TV adaptation?
No!
I am very impressed with your beautiful expressive use of english...your italian can't be better!
Agree with you. For me, I can’t stand Lenu’s self-pity and contradiction of what she thinks an independent woman should do and what she is actually acting like. I finished the third one and stop reading the book after about 13 chapters of the last book. You said the last one is the funniest one? I may give it another go🤓