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whosemuse 's review for:
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay
by Elena Ferrante
Politics. If I had to think of a single word to sum up this volume, it would be Politics. So much of the action in this story is political, whether it is the Fascists vs. the Communists in late 1960s Italy (a piece of history I know nothing about but keep meaning to look up) or family dynamics, the battle within our own minds, or the enduring roller coaster ride that is the relationship between Elena and Lila. Elena has managed to escape The Neighbourhood and study in Pisa, then marries and moves to Florence. Lila seems to be mired in misfortune and ill-health, until she inexplicably surrenders her morals and gets in bed with the enemy. All the while, the two women come together and fall apart, as waves in competing oceans. This quote sums it up well: "With her, there was no way to feel that things were settled; every fixed point of our relationship sooner or later turned out to be provisional; something shifted in her head that unbalanced her and unbalanced me." (page 226) At some point Elena says that somehow, the two of them cannot be happy and successful at the same time. This narrative resonates so strongly for me at this point in my life, since I was constantly reminded of a friendship in my own life, with a person who very often seems unknowable to me, yet who I consider one of my few intimates. Perhaps this is always the way of friendships between women. My narrow experience is probably not a good indicator of this phenomenon. In any case, as the pages dwindled, I realized the story is far from over, and indeed, it turns out this is a "trilogy in four parts," with one part left to go. I find these novels engrossing and challenging -- as I've said in other reviews, the prose is dense, the description is detailed and yet vivid and memorable. I have had no trouble moving from volume to volume despite long breaks (and other novels consumed) in between, because the narration is so strong and readable. I look forward to the next, final volume.