My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Series Book One by Elena Ferrante – audio
Book Blurb:
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.
My Review: 4 stars
My Brilliant Friend was added to my TBR list four years ago when it suddenly became the “it” book that everyone was reading. For whatever reason, I kept putting other books ahead of it; I’m sure you all understand that dilemma in choosing what to read next. While perusing the shelves at my library, I was thrilled to see there was an audio CD set and grabbed it to check out myself.
The narrator’s performance was done immaculately in taking on several voices (this is a character heavy book) and her Italian was perfetto. I didn’t expect having to keep up with the many character’s names and I wondered if a character chart existed in the book version. It would‘ve helped a lot. The two main characters, Elena and Lila, were really the heart and soul of this book, so their actions and dialogue mattered most.
This book is a fine example of literary fiction; the language used, the detailed characterizations and vivid descriptions come first, before a fast paced plot. This storyline was a slow burn and actually, didn’t answer the question that began the book, where is Lila now? I did not get lost in it; perhaps it’s because I expected to be swallowed whole by the story based on some many rave reviews.
This book took on friendship and the many ways it can be altered, severed, stitched back together, beaten, abandoned, lost trust in, have faith in, competed in and ultimately loved in. The author used words to describe these feeling with such beauty that I had to keep listening because that’s what kept me vested, not the storyline. I felt like I learned how to be a better writer from her word choices and placement. If you are fond of language and beautifully written novels, then for sure pick this one up.
Note: Elena Ferrante is a pseudonym that has been strictly guarded. This will become an HBO eight part series beginning November, 2018. Ferrante was voted one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential Person in 2016. This is book one in a series of four.
Quotes I liked:
Nowhere is it written that you can’t do it.”
-“She took the facts and in a natural way charged them with tension; she intensified reality as she reduced it to words, she injected it with energy.”
– “Lila shook her head skeptically. She was trying to understand, we were both trying to understand, and understanding was something that we loved to do.”
– “We grew up with the duty to make it difficult for others before they made it difficult for us.”
-“Is it possible that in all those years she left me nothing of herself, or, worse, that I didn’t want to keep anything of her? It is.”
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