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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
Elena Ferrante is a genius and I would like to learn Italian just so I can read the original language version please
i don’t think i’ve ever had a reading experience like this, I’m heartbroken over the fact that i only have one book left. also, the ending !¡!¡
Three novels in and I still can't stand the friendship/hatred between the two main characters, their wretched choice in men and their dismal treatment of those around them (Their poor mothers! Their poor kids!) I get that Ferrante has created a raw, real universe, complete with ugliness and an abundance of wrong choices and wrong paths traveled. But the dreariness never seems to end. Basta.
beh, che dire. tante parole, anche belle, per dire il nulla o per parlare di persone meschine e stupide. qui nessuno è geniale.
I loved this book, and devoured it.
The noticeable turn in Elena's narration after Nino returns is profound, and affected me greatly. She'd reduced her narrative to mostly expository with some rare insights but as soon as he returned, the lyric flowed through her once again. A remarkable and demonstrable power on behalf of Ferrante.
The noticeable turn in Elena's narration after Nino returns is profound, and affected me greatly. She'd reduced her narrative to mostly expository with some rare insights but as soon as he returned, the lyric flowed through her once again. A remarkable and demonstrable power on behalf of Ferrante.
slow-paced
Omg these grown ass women can be so petty, these two don't really seem to grow up. I absolutely can't stand Elena (maybe because we spend the most time with her) but I am also not a fan of Lila. Makes me wonder if I'd think differently had Lila written this. Maybe they should alternate POVs. I would be so moved by the sentences about their friendship if they showed some maturity with age but no. How is that possible? They are so toxic. All of that said, kinda cute how Elena started writing this in the hopes that vanished Lila would reappear to delete it. Ugh, either give in and revolve around each other entirely or grow up. Just stop this current behaviour, especially Elena, grow a spine.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So, just finished the third book of the story of Lila and Elena. It’s the direct continuation of the story of the two so different „friends“.
In this book the two drift apart, begin to distance themselves in their lives without ever losing the emotional connection they had since their childhood. Which isn’t the emotional connection of an ideal friendship, but rather a realistic description of what it feels like knowing someone since early childhood who is choosing quite a different way of live.
The pace in this one really picks up (again). Ferrante gets even more ambitious in this part of the story and mixes leftist and communist struggles, with the world of academic feminism, the hardships of being a writer and a working woman and the reality of real poverty and criminal surroundings. All told by the two separate lives of Lila and Elena, who are still so interconnected, that it almost hurts to read how they treat each other.
What’s really great is, that the whole story feels more and more autobiographical, without knowing much about the author at all because she’s writing under a pseudonym. The way it is written, the harsh language, the relentless descriptions all feel so authentic.
What I really loved were the passages about what it means being a woman in relationship to men. The way Elena writes about it so eloquently and is still so captured by the men in her life is a masterfully crafted part of the story. It really triggers cognitive dissonance in reading it.
I’m really looking forward for the fourth book, but im scared of finishing the story that has captivated me for months now.
In this book the two drift apart, begin to distance themselves in their lives without ever losing the emotional connection they had since their childhood. Which isn’t the emotional connection of an ideal friendship, but rather a realistic description of what it feels like knowing someone since early childhood who is choosing quite a different way of live.
The pace in this one really picks up (again). Ferrante gets even more ambitious in this part of the story and mixes leftist and communist struggles, with the world of academic feminism, the hardships of being a writer and a working woman and the reality of real poverty and criminal surroundings. All told by the two separate lives of Lila and Elena, who are still so interconnected, that it almost hurts to read how they treat each other.
What’s really great is, that the whole story feels more and more autobiographical, without knowing much about the author at all because she’s writing under a pseudonym. The way it is written, the harsh language, the relentless descriptions all feel so authentic.
What I really loved were the passages about what it means being a woman in relationship to men. The way Elena writes about it so eloquently and is still so captured by the men in her life is a masterfully crafted part of the story. It really triggers cognitive dissonance in reading it.
I’m really looking forward for the fourth book, but im scared of finishing the story that has captivated me for months now.