linluvsbooks's review
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Ferrante is no doubt brilliant but these lectures were hardcore academia and not for the faint of heart. Perhaps it would’ve been an easier thing to listen to, although I imagine I’d have quickly been lost (following very few of her numerous references) and fallen asleep.
Perhaps because of my mood when I picked it up, but I found the 3rd lecture (of 3 lectures plus an essay) the most accessible and interesting.
My main criticism (aside from the dullness, which I can mostly forgive because this was meant to be academic lectures) is that Ferrante is so obsessed with a male/female binary and never makes any nod to non-binary people. I think Ferrantes worldview would be improved by an understanding of gender fluidity.
Perhaps because of my mood when I picked it up, but I found the 3rd lecture (of 3 lectures plus an essay) the most accessible and interesting.
My main criticism (aside from the dullness, which I can mostly forgive because this was meant to be academic lectures) is that Ferrante is so obsessed with a male/female binary and never makes any nod to non-binary people. I think Ferrantes worldview would be improved by an understanding of gender fluidity.
madelinemcf's review
2.5
dante’s rib and histories, i, were interesting chapters, however i don’t feel i got out of this book what was promised. the writing was also quite convoluted and confusing— overall i don’t think i took anything away, and i wouldn’t recommend it to people who haven’t read any of ferrente’s work
ilovebirdsandcats's review against another edition
4.0
I feel like there’s so much of this I didn’t understand because Elena Ferrante is a genius, but the way she writes about the lives of women is incredible.