Holiday Reading: My Brilliant Friend
The holidays are the perfect time to wind down, grab a cup of tea and crack open a book! Now, we can take a break from assigned reading and delve into books, new and old, for the pure pleasure of reading.
That being said, I recently finished My Brilliant Friend. This is a novel that was recommended to me by my father. It’s genre would be classed as a dramatic fiction. Widely acclaimed by critics upon its publishing in 2012, it was translated from Italian to English by Ann Goldstein that same year. My Brilliant Friend was written by the pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante, who is considered “one of Italy's best contemporary novelists”. It is the first book of a four-part series titled the Neapolitan Novels. And, fun fact that I have found out about, HBO recently released a miniseries based off of this very novel. (I plan on watching it.)
As the name of the series suggests, the action of the story is set near Naples, a city in Italy, more precisely in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. The plot is narrated by the protagonist, Elena Greco. Elena is in her late sixties at the time during which she writes the book. It follows the friendship between herself and Raffaela, whom she calls Lila. Her decision to tell their story was prompted by a phone call by Lila’s son, Rino, saying that his mother had disappeared two weeks ago. The story tells of their growing up together in the 1950s. We watch as their relationship evolves and they struggle to develop their individualities. Elena is very much attached to Lila and feels herself attracted by her powerful, and oftentimes dangerous, personality. She finds that everything that interests Lila suddenly becomes entrancing to her. As soon as her friend loses her enthusiasm, though, her own lingering passion seems diminished, meaningless without Lila.
While the first part of the book is set during the childhood of these two girls, the second part focuses on their teenage years. My Brilliant Friend engrossed me from the moment I began reading it. Ferrante is a skillful storyteller and, although her prose most likely got somewhat lost in translation, it remains vivid and engaging. Furthermore, she incorporates the political and historical climate of that time and place seamlessly. I will say that this reading does require a certain base knowledge about those things, which I admittedly do not fully have. All in all, I would give this novel a high rating and, if you have the interest and the time, I would suggest you pick it up from your local library or bookshop and give it a look!