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A review by cocoabrown
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
5.0
The book begins with a pre-teen Giovanni overhearing her father call her ugly. He didn’t say it outright but instead compared her maturing features to that of his sister’s, Vittoria. All that Giovanna knew of her Aunt Vittoria was that she was to hate her and to never become her. Giovanni decided that she needed to confront the ugliness that was her aunt so that she could somehow save herself from it.
This is the first book that I have read from Elena Ferrante and it definitely will not be the last. I thought that I would just barrel through the novel, cry a bit and then mark it as read on Goodreads but NO! Giovanna’s (Elena Ferrante) words and descent into pages and pages of questioning the adults around her had me in a chokehold. The writing was so beautiful and so raw. Throughout the book Giovanna learned that she too could hurt people and I enjoyed hearing her reasoning before she decided to shake the table or spare the adults in her life. This reminded me of a quote from the book Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca - “People like to eat other people. I spent so many years forgetting I had teeth too.” I live for these two sentences. I really think about them often.
Some thoughts that came to me as I read:
Children really are listening but their understanding of the world is so limited. When issues between parents aren’t communicated honestly or go unaddressed they can build up so much resentment without ever fully understanding - even in their adulthood. I understand this.
I was wondering how we become who we become. I kept thinking: You either become what you are exposed to or what has exposed what you are used to.
I would recommend this to someone who was considered an obedient child.
This is the first book that I have read from Elena Ferrante and it definitely will not be the last. I thought that I would just barrel through the novel, cry a bit and then mark it as read on Goodreads but NO! Giovanna’s (Elena Ferrante) words and descent into pages and pages of questioning the adults around her had me in a chokehold. The writing was so beautiful and so raw. Throughout the book Giovanna learned that she too could hurt people and I enjoyed hearing her reasoning before she decided to shake the table or spare the adults in her life. This reminded me of a quote from the book Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca - “People like to eat other people. I spent so many years forgetting I had teeth too.” I live for these two sentences. I really think about them often.
Some thoughts that came to me as I read:
Children really are listening but their understanding of the world is so limited. When issues between parents aren’t communicated honestly or go unaddressed they can build up so much resentment without ever fully understanding - even in their adulthood. I understand this.
I was wondering how we become who we become. I kept thinking: You either become what you are exposed to or what has exposed what you are used to.
I would recommend this to someone who was considered an obedient child.