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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
This is a short but powerful novel about a woman who is deserted by her husband and how her life goes to pieces. Olga the protagonist is trapped in a visceral struggle, even as her children and the family dog get caught up in her delirium. At times, I wished I could be there to shake Olga out of her stupor, to forget her unfaithful husband and start life afresh. Easier said than done, and yet, I couldn't help rooting for her to survive and move on.
Il secondo romanzo di Elena Ferrante si concentra su Olga, su quello che le succede dopo l’abbandono da parte del marito. Come accettare che l’uomo che hai sempre amato ti lasci per un’altra donna, come continuare a vivere la solita vita senza di lui, come crescere i propri figli quando il loro padre non è più in casa.
Personalmente, l’ho trovato il romanzo meno riuscito della Ferrante: sebbene possa essere una scelta stilistica, la scrittura così confusionaria, che certo riflette la confusione di Olga, è quasi fastidiosa. Inoltre, in certi punti la volgarità è eccessiva, stona con il resto della narrazione.
Volute o meno, ho apprezzato le analogie - la confusione nella testa, il disfacimento di oggetti e persone a causa dell’abbandono, l’improvviso cambiamento degli stati di materia per una nevrastenia - con la smarginatura de “L’amica geniale”.
«Mi decisi, basta col dolore. Alle labbra della loro felicità notturna dovevo far aderire quelle della mia rivalsa. Non ero la donna che è fatta a brani dai colpi dell’abbandono e dell’assenza, fino a impazzire, fino a morirne. Solo poche schegge mi erano schizzate via, per il resto stavo bene. Integra ero, integra sarei rimasta. A chi mi fa del male, reagisco restituendo la pariglia. Io sono l’otto di spada, io sono la vespa che punge, io sono la serpe scura. Io sono l’animale invulnerabile che attraversa il fuoco e non si brucia».
Personalmente, l’ho trovato il romanzo meno riuscito della Ferrante: sebbene possa essere una scelta stilistica, la scrittura così confusionaria, che certo riflette la confusione di Olga, è quasi fastidiosa. Inoltre, in certi punti la volgarità è eccessiva, stona con il resto della narrazione.
Volute o meno, ho apprezzato le analogie - la confusione nella testa, il disfacimento di oggetti e persone a causa dell’abbandono, l’improvviso cambiamento degli stati di materia per una nevrastenia - con la smarginatura de “L’amica geniale”.
«Mi decisi, basta col dolore. Alle labbra della loro felicità notturna dovevo far aderire quelle della mia rivalsa. Non ero la donna che è fatta a brani dai colpi dell’abbandono e dell’assenza, fino a impazzire, fino a morirne. Solo poche schegge mi erano schizzate via, per il resto stavo bene. Integra ero, integra sarei rimasta. A chi mi fa del male, reagisco restituendo la pariglia. Io sono l’otto di spada, io sono la vespa che punge, io sono la serpe scura. Io sono l’animale invulnerabile che attraversa il fuoco e non si brucia».
Breathtaking prose. Wears some of its inspiration on its sleeve, but does not suffer for it. Recommended most highly.
This book was so hyped and for me at least it turned out to be one of those deep intellectual books that’s really just full of it. This woman, who had no identity before the man nor during their marriage, who ignored every relationship red flag, didn’t have some deep identity crisis, she simply had a full mental breakdown. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen I’m just saying I had no compassion for this character at all. We weren’t shown that she actually loved her husband and definitely not her kids, and that the divorce was an excuse to treat everything with inhumane cruelty. Show me the love and devotion and happiness completely shattered. OR show me the signs that mental illness was there before but had been managed until this monumental event. SOMETHING. Instead of a grown woman throwing a tantrum because apparently she hasn’t had to think as an individual adult in her life ever. Didn’t seek an attorney, or medical assistance, or anything. Just I’m going to ignore this and it will go away and OMG WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT DIDN’T?!
Again, I’m not saying things like this aren’t felt or imagined divorce and people suck but I just didn’t think it was worth the pages it was printed on. Discuss being emotionally blindsided, discuss mental illness, actually make this MEAN something.
Personally do not recommend, but at least it’s short and the author knows how to write well, which made it go by quickly.
Again, I’m not saying things like this aren’t felt or imagined divorce and people suck but I just didn’t think it was worth the pages it was printed on. Discuss being emotionally blindsided, discuss mental illness, actually make this MEAN something.
Personally do not recommend, but at least it’s short and the author knows how to write well, which made it go by quickly.
"I am not capable of replacements."
I found Elena Ferrante through The Neapolitan Novels, the four-part story of two girls, their friendship, and their lives. Here comes another brilliant writing about a woman who feels abandoned not just by her husband but by her own self.
This novel is about Olga's state of mind when the person she spent her 15 years, had 2 children with and a stable family leaves her stranded. Reading Olga's cycle of distress and breakdowns with the journey towards finding her 'self' has left me shattered.
Ferrante's world is not for everyone. But it surely is home to those who can tap into the melody.
I found Elena Ferrante through The Neapolitan Novels, the four-part story of two girls, their friendship, and their lives. Here comes another brilliant writing about a woman who feels abandoned not just by her husband but by her own self.
This novel is about Olga's state of mind when the person she spent her 15 years, had 2 children with and a stable family leaves her stranded. Reading Olga's cycle of distress and breakdowns with the journey towards finding her 'self' has left me shattered.
Ferrante's world is not for everyone. But it surely is home to those who can tap into the melody.
I haven’t read fiction regularly since college, and now most of the fiction I read is about infidelity and admittedly of an “uneven” quality. Days of Abandonment was legit literature though. A good writer makes you feel her characters, and I felt Olga’s desperation on nearly every single page. Even though I didn’t like her. Even though I disagreed with her decisions. Even though I was disgusted by her. A lot. I still felt her. Not sorry for her but felt her emotions. That is Ferrante’s gift to her readers. Also, the author is parsimonious with her words, and I appreciate that. The first line is “One April afternoon, right after lunch, my husband announced that he wanted to leave me.” There you have it folks. Direct and to the point. And then there are lines like this, “I had disappeared into his minutes, into his hours, so that he could concentrate.” (p.63) And this, “What a mistake, above all, it had been to believe that I couldn’t live without him, when for a long time I had not been at all certain that I was alive with him.” (p. 140) Days of Abandonment is the musings of a woman whose life is empty in her husband’s absence. A treatise for abandoned women reminding them that they can and will survive if they choose to do so and a word to the wise for pre-partnered women never to abandon themselves which, I surmise, is the most important message of all.
“The circle of an empty day is brutal, and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose.”
Somoso ocasiões. Consumimos e perdemos a vida porque um qualquer, em tempos longíquos, por vontade de descarregar o pau dentro de nós, foi gentil, nos escolheu entre as mulheres
Levitar. Queria sair do chão, queria que me visse suspensa em equilíbrio, elevada, como acontece com as coisas integralmente boas. [...] Pensava a beleza como um esforço constante de apagamento da corporalidade. Queria que amasse meu corpo esquecendo o sabor que carregam os corpos. Ou talvez não. Talvez tenha sido eu que tenha acreditado que o amor dele precisasse daquela minha obsessão.
Elena Ferrante você é um monstro e eu te amo até quando eu te odeio.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No