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A review by whatpageareyouon
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
5.0
“Unlike stories, real life, when it has passed, inclines toward obscurity, not clarity.”
I kept wondering why I felt this series stands in a league of its own as a work of fiction, and I think it’s because I never expected any type of reward as a reader. I find that when I read fiction I start to feel a bit of relief towards the end or maybe after a plot line develops that implies a resolution. While out of all four of this series I found this one the most meandering and scattered, it was also the one that left a lot of wonder about characters that were more present in previous novels, but in a good way. Because real life works the same way—-there are these brief lapses that Elena reinserts her being into Lila, I’m guessing as a form of control over life, despite the many opportunities that could cause her to leave Naples and become someone else. This last novel reiterates the endless alternative possibilities a lot of times, and with each one I could see coming true, which made me forget this was fiction in the first place.
I kept wondering why I felt this series stands in a league of its own as a work of fiction, and I think it’s because I never expected any type of reward as a reader. I find that when I read fiction I start to feel a bit of relief towards the end or maybe after a plot line develops that implies a resolution. While out of all four of this series I found this one the most meandering and scattered, it was also the one that left a lot of wonder about characters that were more present in previous novels, but in a good way. Because real life works the same way—-there are these brief lapses that Elena reinserts her being into Lila, I’m guessing as a form of control over life, despite the many opportunities that could cause her to leave Naples and become someone else. This last novel reiterates the endless alternative possibilities a lot of times, and with each one I could see coming true, which made me forget this was fiction in the first place.