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ladyeremite's review against another edition
3.0
I found the essays at the end, especially the first one, more compelling than the actual correspondence but an interesting idea
jessietn's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I love the Neapolitan novels and enjoyed much of the analysis in this book. The tone was just a bit too academic in parts for my taste, and some letters resonated with me more than others (as with the essays at the end of the book).
layla_platt's review against another edition
5.0
This book took me a while to get through. As someone who doesn’t read a lot of criticisms this was a bit of a challenge for me but I am so thankful I read it.
I loved knowing that other people had the same ideas and thoughts I did while reading the quartet.
I loved knowing that other people had the same ideas and thoughts I did while reading the quartet.
frankie_s's review against another edition
4.0
This was a slow read but I quite enjoyed it. I struggled at times to separate the voices of the different writers talking through the Neapolitan series, but at a certain point it came together and also stopped mattering. I found lots in here to enjoy even beyond my interest in Ferrante’s work. In that sense it kind of annoyed me that the introduction worked so hard to justify the book’s existence and significance. This is an imperative in academia, but I think this book has a broader appeal alongside Frantumaglia and the series itself. I wish I had experienced the Slow Burn project in real time(apparently the book came out of a blog or website) but this was definitely a worthwhile read and I’ll miss the companionship of these people. It almost makes you feel that you’ve been in conversation.
I received this as an advance reading copy from netgalley.
I received this as an advance reading copy from netgalley.
sawyerbell's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet was one of the most intense literary experiences I've enjoyed as an adult; her books led to much deep and interesting conversation amongst the women with whom I shared the books.
"The Ferrante Letters" helped me revisit the pleasure and interest I found in the novels. The authors combined literary criticism with the kind of book talk one might expect to find in a really good book group.
I particularly enjoyed the letters section of the book though the critical essays were also interesting and illuminated several ideas and themes I hadn't previously considered.
Recommended for the serious Ferrante fan and for students wanting to understand the books on a deeper level.
"The Ferrante Letters" helped me revisit the pleasure and interest I found in the novels. The authors combined literary criticism with the kind of book talk one might expect to find in a really good book group.
I particularly enjoyed the letters section of the book though the critical essays were also interesting and illuminated several ideas and themes I hadn't previously considered.
Recommended for the serious Ferrante fan and for students wanting to understand the books on a deeper level.
direwolfsummer's review
4.0
能和一群志同道合的朋友一起读书、一起写作是一件多么快乐的事啊！多加一颗星给Jill Richards的The Queer Counterfactual——怎么没人告诉我里面还有这样的好东西！
rebeccahussey's review
This book is a must-read for anyone who loves Elena Ferrante and for anyone who wants to think about new directions in literary criticism. Four critics got together and decided to read Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels over the course of a summer and write letters to each other about the experience. This book collects those letters and also includes a more formal essay by each author developing ideas explored during the group reading. The letters and essays mix personal responses to the books with insights into their artistry: their characters, style, themes, etc. As a Ferrante fan, and as someone who likes innovative writing about literature, I loved this unusual form of criticism. The letters and essays felt intimate, ground-breaking, and vital. I would love to see more academic criticism that is communal and unafraid to acknowledge that it’s written by real people whose lives, experiences, and emotions affect their interpretations.
https://bookriot.com/2020/01/08/indie-press-books-january-2020/
https://bookriot.com/2020/01/08/indie-press-books-january-2020/
libby's review
4.0
I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love Elena Ferrante, and this project was extremely exciting to me. The idea of intentional, collective, feminist criticism is something I care deeply about, and the aims of this project are admirable - to "[offer] one model for encoding the intimidate labor of conversation as part of a scholarly work... to formalize the texture of togetherness to show that this, as much as putting one word next to another, is the labor of writing." The brilliance of this practice which "offers another model for feminist praxis, a way of tying ourselves more closely together, not just as mothers and daughters but as friends, colleagues, mentors, and confidantes... dislodges the fixation on individual productivity and its coldly quantified standards of academic success, refusing the culture of competition that defines" our life in a capitalist system.
This such an enjoyable read if you like Ferrante, because it feels like talking to a bunch of very smart friends about the book, helping you see parts you might not have appreciated before. It's enriched my reading of the Neapolitan Novels, and I look forward to rereading them now that I've had this conversation by reading these letters.
Thanks Netgalley & Columbia University Press!
I love Elena Ferrante, and this project was extremely exciting to me. The idea of intentional, collective, feminist criticism is something I care deeply about, and the aims of this project are admirable - to "[offer] one model for encoding the intimidate labor of conversation as part of a scholarly work... to formalize the texture of togetherness to show that this, as much as putting one word next to another, is the labor of writing." The brilliance of this practice which "offers another model for feminist praxis, a way of tying ourselves more closely together, not just as mothers and daughters but as friends, colleagues, mentors, and confidantes... dislodges the fixation on individual productivity and its coldly quantified standards of academic success, refusing the culture of competition that defines" our life in a capitalist system.
This such an enjoyable read if you like Ferrante, because it feels like talking to a bunch of very smart friends about the book, helping you see parts you might not have appreciated before. It's enriched my reading of the Neapolitan Novels, and I look forward to rereading them now that I've had this conversation by reading these letters.
Thanks Netgalley & Columbia University Press!
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