megansmith23's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this. Felt nostalgic almost and gripped me off the bat!
zoebird81's review against another edition
3.0
Bare, expansive, and cutting. Feels like mere setup to a larger, brilliant epic—I look forward to reading Neapolitan 2-4—yet there is so much vastness in this tiny little world of 1950s Naples.
I was more easily swept in by the narrators of DAYS OF ABANDONMENT and LYING LIFE OF ADULTS than I was with Elena in MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, but in a Ferrante fashion she remains a visceral beacon of the adolescent female experience. Yet it goes without saying, as it is so obvious, that Lila is the more fascinating of the two—after all, that is why we're kept from her at arm's length. She is a character desperate to leave her world without actually setting foot outside it; her ending in MY BRILLIANT FRIEND is one of the most damning and memorable conclusions to a story (albeit only a beginning for her, really) I've read in a long time.
People are as collapsible as Russian dolls; take away their outlines and they share an essence—after all, how many of us wear different shoes of the same size?
Ferrante has now, for the third time, summarized my experience of reading her prose within her own text: "I felt dazed by the powerful gusts, by the noise. I had the impression that, although I was absorbing much of that sight, many things, too many, were scattering around me without letting me grasp them."
I was more easily swept in by the narrators of DAYS OF ABANDONMENT and LYING LIFE OF ADULTS than I was with Elena in MY BRILLIANT FRIEND, but in a Ferrante fashion she remains a visceral beacon of the adolescent female experience. Yet it goes without saying, as it is so obvious, that Lila is the more fascinating of the two—after all, that is why we're kept from her at arm's length. She is a character desperate to leave her world without actually setting foot outside it; her ending in MY BRILLIANT FRIEND is one of the most damning and memorable conclusions to a story (albeit only a beginning for her, really) I've read in a long time.
People are as collapsible as Russian dolls; take away their outlines and they share an essence—after all, how many of us wear different shoes of the same size?
Ferrante has now, for the third time, summarized my experience of reading her prose within her own text: "I felt dazed by the powerful gusts, by the noise. I had the impression that, although I was absorbing much of that sight, many things, too many, were scattering around me without letting me grasp them."
kstieber's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
avrorae's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
jelenabts7's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
theresia's review against another edition
4.0
Välskriven historia som gjorde det lätt att läsa. Tog lite tid att fastna för karaktärerna
ginbottle's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nicely written coming of age girls' melodrama set in post-war Italy. There is scope for this to develop all sorts of ways so it leaves me wondering where the series will go.
aschmitty's review against another edition
Just could not get into this book at all.