My Brilliant Friend

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

(chosen by Kate)

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante's inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila. Ferrante is the author of three previous works of critically acclaimed fiction: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. With this novel, the first in a trilogy, she proves herself to be one of Italy's great storytellers. She has given her readers a masterfully plotted page-turner, abundant and generous in its narrative details and characterizations, that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight her many fans and win new readers to her fiction.

I forgot how fun these little emoticons were

You remembered your logon too! This is so great!!

Okay, so I'm reading and enjoying this book (thankfully I do have a physical copy, because I have a feeling I'm going to need it to reference characters, but right now I'm too lazy to go look up spellings, so forgive me).

It really does express that aspect of female friendship that can be both obsessive and competitive.

It also makes me sad that Elena and Lila are growing up in the 1950s and 60s and going to high school is considered a waste of time for most girls. (well, at least in Italy) Once again, I am not ever going to want to time travel.

I identify a lot with Elena- at times I admire Lila, her brains, her passion, but she can be cold and callous too. Not that Elena is a saint, but it's her story so it's hard not to be like, you go girl, beat Lila at something!

However, my favorite scene so far has been the one where Lila confronts those two brothers who drive around in the car. She is so fierce and frightening! But I also love when her whole family wins the library awards because she's been using their names to check out 4 books at a time. I can understand Elena's obsession.

I'm also eternally grateful that we don't have that kind of friendship! Not that I don't ever envy you, I do. I'm well aware that you are the better artist, the deeper reader, and your apartment is always going to have the cuter bookish displays, but I'm not envious in a way that seeks to take that away from you. I feel like our friendship is based on nurturing and supporting one another... but we met as grown (mostly) women, so maybe that makes a difference. If I look back on my female friendships from when I was a young girl, they were much different. I guess it's a part of the growing up process?