Mini - Comments

My days have been kind of busy and that means I have posted with less consistency. Spring and Summer are high seasons at my work and between that and house chores, there is always something to do.

Anyway, to keep track of my reading diary, short comments are necessary, thus why the next two books will merit only a smaller entry.

When his family abandoned him at Eton, Benedict Hastings found an unexpected ally in his best friend's sister. Her letters kept him going— until the day he had to leave everything behind. Years later, Benedict has seen his share of betrayal, but when treachery hits close to home, he turns to his old friend for safe haven...
After five torturous years on the marriage circuit, Lady Evelyn Moore is finally free to live her life as she wishes. So when her brother shows up with a dashing stranger, she finds herself torn between her dreams...and newfound desires.
Despite his determination to keep Evie at a distance, Benedict cannot deny the attraction that began with a secret correspondence. Yet as they begin to discover each other, the dangers of Benedict's world find them, threatening their lives, their love, and everything they thought they could never have..

Comment: I got interested in this book in 2015 for who knows what reason now, but now that I finally got to it, I have to say I was a little disappointed. The book has a mix of "friends to lovers" to "deceitful identity by the hero" tropes and while the story isn't too bad as a whole, it was also a little boring to me. 

I feel the characters end up being forgettable and their romance not as marvelous as one could hope for. I don't think the story or the writing are bad but they didn't feel captivating. It was also a bit annoying how the misunderstandings and the secrets the characters have would have led them all into such tiresome situations.

Grade: 4/10

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Here is the dazzling saga of two women, the brilliant, bookish Elena and the fiery, uncontainable Lila.

Both are now adults; life’s great discoveries have been made, its vagaries and losses have been suffered. Through it all, the women’s friendship has remained the gravitational center of their lives.
Both women once fought to escape the neighborhood in which they grew up—a prison of conformity, violence, and inviolable taboos. Elena married, moved to Florence, started a family, and published several well-received books. In this final book, she has returned to Naples. Lila, on the other hand, never succeeded in freeing herself from the city of her birth. She has become a successful entrepreneur, but her success draws her into closer proximity with the nepotism, chauvinism, and criminal violence that infect her neighborhood. Proximity to the world she has always rejected only brings her role as its unacknowledged leader into relief. For Lila is unstoppable, unmanageable, unforgettable! 

Comment: The final installment in the Brilliant Friend saga. I read it, like I said, for closure on the series and not as much because I was desperate to know how it would end. Sadly to me, I feel the plot didn't go anywhere surprising except, perhaps, in the sense it still leaves loose ends...like real life where not everything is always fully explained. We get to see what happens to the two friends as they get older, how their friendship survived the test of time but despite how realistic it can be, I was still disappointed they never got to evolve, to become better or to improve their attitudes in life. In one sense, even with different paths in life they took individually, I guess one can say they remained attached, nonetheless, by their roots and shared hopes. Still, I wanted more from this saga.

Grade: 6/10

Elena Ferrante - Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay

Since the publication of the acclaimed My Brilliant Friend and The Story of A New Name, Elena Ferrante's reputation has grown enormously. Her novels about the friendship between Lila and Elena, about the mysteries of human relationships, are utterly compelling.

In Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, the two protagonists are now in their thirties. Lila, married at sixteen, has left her husband and the comforts of her marriage, and has now joined the workforce. Elena has left the neighborhood in Naples, been to university, and published a successful novel, all of which has brought her into a wealthier, more cultured world. Both women are seizing opportunities to flee a life of poverty, ignorance and submission. Yet they are still very much bound to each other by an unbreakable bond.

Comment: I've been reading the Brilliant Friend series by author Elena Ferrante and I'm determined to finish, just so I know how it ends. I'll be honest, this 3rd installment was the one I liked less.

In this third part of the saga, the two protagonists are now adult women with responsibilities in their lives and they are also mothers. Their professional lives, as we know, have gone towards different directions but they still maintain contact here and there. However, each one has new interests, new things to focus on and even so, despite the things that consistently set them apart, they still have a connection we have followed since their childhood and the question remains, how strong is their friendship after all...

This was the installment I struggled with the most because the story is moving towards a path whose tone I don't find appealing. Instead of elements which could show us how much of a connection the two protagonists can have, even in the face of adversity or considering the geographical distance between them, no. The story is moving further and further into jealousy and mean spirited feelings and I can't help but wonder what the purpose of the overall plot is. To show us how mean people can be? How some are easily influenced, how easy it is to give in to templates and social expectations?

I write this because it seems the narrator, Elena, never strays from this path: she doesn't seem to find redemption, in the sense, that she doesn't grow up, she doesn't let go of self expectations and self doubt and keeps up being the same person. I suppose this is what reality is, how difficult is for anyone to let go of prejudices and failed dreams or whatever, but from the point of view of a reader, I want some kind of self awareness, of understanding, of improvement in the protagonists. Elena is becoming a whiny, annoying character and no matter ho well portrayed, she is still someone I don't feel like I would want to root for.

The plot of this book is a follow-up to what happened in the previous one, of course. The characters are now in their 30s, so living adult lives but we get to know, even if Elena is the one describing things, how everyone is feeling and dealing with being an adult. To be honest, like other readers have said, I'm finding it hard to sympathize with these characters. The ones that seem to be the "good ones" are only there to be a contrast to the others and I'm not overly fond of this tactic. What's the point if they don't change or if they don't try to be better (emotionally speaking)? They keep repeating the same experiences their parents and grandparents have done... I understand, it's also a social and cultural issue, but... for me it's getting to exasperating levels...

There's only one book left and I will read it because I want closure on this saga but I can't say I have been dazzled by these characters. Lila is a fascinating one and I can see why the author chose Elena instead, to be the narrator, otherwise what interest could we have in her, but at the same time, what a pity this isn't more centered on Lila... living her dreams and evolution (as slow as it could be, though) through Elena's eyes has been bothering me, because it feels like a waste.

I surely hope the end of the overall story is one of those we say "didn't see that coming", otherwise what a pity such promise was left buried under all the conventions of the time and place and the continuation of the same kind of lives the previous generations have already perpetuated.

Grade: 5/10

Elena Ferrante - The Story of a New Name

The Story of a New Name is an extraordinary novel about two young women, Lila and Elena, growing
up in Naples in the early 1960s. At sixteen Lila marries the shopkeeper Stefano. She is filled with pleasure at her new wealth, and horror at the life she has chosen. Elena's own attempts at romance seem to be sabotaged by Lila's turbulent affairs. As she tries to plot her way out of poverty via academic and literary success, her constant anxiety is that she is just a shadow of the brilliant Lila. The sequel to My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name continues the enthralling chronicle of a friendship that is obsessive, loving, complicated, hurtful, enduring and constantly startling. It is an exhilarating reading experience.

Comment: The Brilliant Friend series by mysterious author Elena Ferrante has been quite the success. I've read the first book back in 2019 and despite the fact it was a good read, it wasn't as intriguing as I was led to believe. I thought I might not read the following ones but I did find them at my local library so I decided I was interested enough to spend the time trying to see where the story would be going.

In this second volume, our protagonists Elena and Lila are now young women, not quite yet on their 20s, and we will see what happens to them while they are young. Lila, as we know, is married already, a way she found to be someone while still a part of the neighborhood. Elena is still studying but feels conflicted between her wishes to leave and be someone on her own right or staying and never leave her identity as a local girl. The two aren't always together and their particular experiences lead them into different paths but when they meet one another, will their friendship survive as it has been as when they were children?

Again, I can see the appeal of these books. The author has a very direct, clear voice and the kinds of things she reports - as if character Elena is telling us about it - are mundane and everyday and an example of what reality must have been for those who lived in neighborhoods as the one depicted in the book. Even more so considering the time in which the action takes place although (and I suppose that's the beauty of this) if one were to travel now to Naples and spy on the lives of those who have lived there their whole lives, things might not be too different.

This book presents us with two young adult girls but don«t believe this will be the kind of narrative one could expect from YA romances. It can be said that, deep down, it's not that different for love and worries and doubts abound as they would in any book featuring girls the age of the protagonists but the setting makes the difference. Women simply haven't been the same rights nor the same treatment throughout the times and this book does exalt the machismo one still finds in such cultural backgrounds. I could see how realistic things were depicted (I, too, live in a country in the south of Europe) and even with evolution, the actual reality isn't that different from the kinds of things one sees here.

However, no matter how well portrayed, this is still a fictional story and I wanted the characters I root for to be a little more... clever. I suppose that is it. Ok, it's true that leaving cultural bonds and family traditions cannot be easy, otherwise anyone would always leave an unbearable situation or would make quick choices for the future. But I wish both Elena and Lila had been more cunning, clever, somehow resourceful before they saw themselves dealing with annoying situations. As a reader, for me personally, it was extremely irritating to see negative/bad things coming, and the characters instead of finding a way to get out of the way, stumbled into them anyway.

Yes, I can see how this is the challenge, the beauty of the writing, how easy it is to see we could be in their shoes and make the same choices were we to live their lives but putting aside the interest in the writing style and complex personalities, the plot choices truly annoyed me. I confess I skimmed a few chapters, so annoyed I was at what was happening.

As for the characters' development, well, how easy it is to feel like we could all be Elena! She is the narrator and we can't escape her feelings of jealousy and loneliness and even the "out of place" vibe she lets us glimpse no matter where she is. Still, how complex and intriguing and I suppose if I'm still reading it has to be to know what she will do next. Lila, on the other hand, is the embodiment of that person we know could do anything were the circumstances different. She is larger than life, she is brave and smart but also a prisoner of her choices. 

When the book ends, we are aware of what these two have been doing in their youth and how their grown up lives are being shaped, so the next volume must be about their maturity. I will read the rest of the series even anticipating I might not enjoy all aspects of the books, that is how complex and alluring Lila and Elena are.

Grade: 6/10

Elena Ferrante - My Brilliant Friend

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. 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 two protagonists. 

Comment: I got this book at a book fair not because it was quite hyped but mostly because my best friend - who doesn't read as intensely as I do - have read it and recommended it to me.

I've also noticed the author has been quite the sensation, due to the fact the books are intriguing I suppose, but mainly because we don't know who she (he?) is besides some basic information which doesn't include her real name.

This is the first of four installments depicting the life of two friends since the 50s until the present, since they were little girls in the same Naples neighborhood until they are old women.

The story is told in the first person by Elena or Lenú and she explains how life used to be and how it evolved as she and best friend Lila grew up. From the simplest of things to the most complex feelings and decisions, the two of them have done pretty much everything together, have tried to stay in touch and always kept an eye on the each other's progresses and wins.

However, life has different paths for them and Lenu decides to share what has happened to the two of them in a story that is both fascinating and simple in how friendship is portrayed.

I can see why this book and this author have conquered many readers. The writing is simple, even the metaphors and other technical details seemed to have been inserted in the story seamlessly which turned the story into something we could be listening to orally but that reading isn't boring nor too heavy. Lenú as a narrator has a clear voice, she doesn't hide from personal comments on what she's relating but at the same time we can still be aware of how detached she is from certain things, so the separation between Lenú narrator and Lenú character feels balanced.

The story is simple and structurally is divided into two parts: a smaller part where we get to know the girls as children and what they were facing and then as teenagers while the new challenges got to be so dire as they look before we feel confident enough or mature enough to deal with them properly.

The childhood part does feel a bit repetitive and I struggled to identify with the characters, and not because they lived in a poor neighborhood in Naples, a city known by not being the most polished of the Italian cities but where the consequences of the war and how people were rebuilding their lives was subtly interwoven into the narrative of Lenú.

I suppose this is a positive aspect of the story, how reality notions are mixed with the fictional parts.

The "meatier" part, let's call it that, is the teenager years and how these are portrayed. Lenú and Lila are described as being the best of friends, always close to one another somehow and both sharing common things despite their personalities making them go through life in slightly different ways.

Lila seems more extrovert, more courageous and despite being very clever she acts as if it doesn't matter what others think of her. Lenú is more aware of her actions, quieter and more analytical of her surroundings but, interestingly, both are smart girls and we obviously get the clear notion Lila could go very far had she had the opportunity to keep studying.

In this, I'd say, lies the biggest appeal of the novel. Lila and Lenú are friends but they are also jealous of one another, they are always thinking about little ways to overcome the other somehow. Lila is clearly smarter intellectually but her family doesn't allow her the same opportunities and Lenú has to study more to reach the same level but she isn't as outspoken and feels jealous of the way Lila is seen by others.

This is interesting indeed because I think we all must have felt like this about our peers or friends in school. To blend in while standing out at the same time. To be a pal but to be slightly better. I could see my own teenager years in both Lila and Lenú's attitudes and that is the evocation, I suppose, many people comment on feeling abut this story.

However, in global terms, I wasn't as dazzled by this. The little details, the different content seems intriguing but as a whole I wasn't always impressed and I actually thought the goal was to show how character Lenú would put herself above the petty feelings somehow, while trying to stay true to her roots. This didn't happen and I got irritated by how obvious some of her attitudes also were.

I got the feeling the characters' actions had the purpose of intending more serious or specific outcomes in relation to what would happen but it's as if the tension rises and rises and then the result is more debating, more situations that could have happened very differently.

All this considered, I don't feel an immediate eagerness to read the other installments right now. But if I find them at my local library I'll definitely try them sometime later.

Grade: 6/10