Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - My Brilliant Friend

I don’t get how some people might speculate that the author under Ferrante’s pen name is a man because no man could write woman like this, even more the friendship dynamics of Lila and Elena. This is a piece of brilliant writing which shows the beautiful, ugly truth of people closest to us who we love to hate, who are pieces of our souls, ones who define who we are as people.

I can’t wait to read the rest of the series and what trajectory those binary stars will take - closer or away from each other, how will their friendship progress and how will they develop as people. This novel is a perfect example of writing about the most mundane life in such a captivating way that you feel as if you were reading about lives of famous individuals

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kell_xavi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Poverty. School. Friendship. Shoes. Adolescence. Out of such well-known and simple concepts, Ferrante spins an intricate network of emotions, of characters that brings such lustre and clarity to her story. Set mainly in a poor neighbourhood in Naples, the author sets the scene of the novel with gossip about violence on her block, secret love affairs and condemned men, fraught domestic lives. She expands from here, into the alluring friendship between Lila and Lenu (Elena); they take us not outside the claustrophobia of the neighbourhood, but rather, deeply into fear and dominance, imagination, enriching conversation, jealousy and rivalry, and a bond between two people who know each other best.

Ferrante’s story is often quietly dramatic, matter-of-fact in its revelations. Even as the story increases in complexity (as does the setting, with prosperity in small stores, new cars, dating), Lenu and Lila remain the focus. Told in first person with Lenu as narrator, she explores Lila’s story alongside her own. Their growing up is very much together, the moments that are Lenu’s alone serving to tell us more about her ways of seeing, her experience and perspective—which then she brings to her friends.

The last chapters of the novel build towards a climax that we anticipate and fear alongside the two young women. Lila is somewhat changed, subdued, her stubbornness and creativity confined within her. Lenu observes, saddened, emboldened to leave and not be made small. Difficult conflicts ebb and flow, rushing hard and fast towards the girls with little warning. And right at the end, Ferrante gives us a sequence so expected and yet starling to the core. And there she leaves us.

The strongest work is this realist novel is emotional. The writing holds so much empathy for the characters, awareness of their needs, that what we feel is so close to their own warmths and chills. Lila, under Lenu’s constant gaze, grows from a harsh, daredevil child into an academic sensation into a hard-working, confident girl into a beauty, and page by page, we grow to understand her. Lenu is a softer, more predictable child, but she gains confidence as well, through hard work studying and taking care of those around her. By fifteen, I loved them both, felt proud of who they were becoming, and looked forward to seeing them through the series to its end.

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audreybethc's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I flew through this one. I related deeply to the turbulent and tense friendship between the main characters. Beautiful writing, timeless themes and characters. Must-read!

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poppymaud's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My Brilliant Friend is a highly regarded international treasure, focusing on a female friendship in 1950’s+ Naples. While I cannot relate to Elena (our narrator) in a environmental or physical sense, her connection with Lila embodies so much of my own relationships from adolescents to now. It’s resonance with readers spanning multiple years highlights Ferrante’s brilliant (haha see what I did there) ability to articulate the human experience, many events of which I am still trying to put together with words.
I cannot wait to continue on with the rest of the Neapolitan series, and Ferrante’s backlist in general.
After checking trigger warnings, I would highly highly recommend if you enjoy character based novels!

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viasavona's review against another edition

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reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you've ever had a frenemy or if you still have a relationship with a friend you met as a child this book is going to get you good lmao

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laurenleigh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is one of those novels where there’s very little action, but there’s just something about it that engrossed me. A sign of very good writing, and an especially good translation! The way this narrator looks at the world is both unique and relatable. The part where the girls learn about the recent past and its atrocities (WWII, fascism, etc.) is really sticking out in my mind. I didn’t read in print, but there’s a poignant line about suddenly recognizing that every place and custom and institution is rooted in history from before your birth, for better or for worse. I can’t do it justice in a quick recap! I’d argue the 1950’s and 60’s are often mythologized here in America, and I found it fascinating to see a new perspective on that time period, in a more rural Italian setting. That these girls were in adolescence and had never been in a car! Wild. I don’t think I’m desperate to start the sequel right away, if at all, but I thought this novel was very well done.

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