In Episode 6, when Jeff and Shauna are having dinner with the Taylors, Jackie's mom says "We're reading Elena Ferrante in our book club, and it reminds me so much of you girls." I have been thinking about this line for days. I assume she is referring to My Brilliant Friend, the first in Ferrante's quartet that follows the friendship of two women , Lenรน and Lila, from children into adulthood. There were several reasons/parallels that struck me. The following will contain spoilers for My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name.
- Jealousy Parallels: In, My Brilliant Friend, the central relationship is between Lenรน and Lila. It is implied that Mrs. Taylor is comparing Shauna to Lenรน and Jackie to Lila. She goes on to compare them and saying it must have been hard for Shauna to be overshadowed by Jackie who was so smart and beautiful and popular. This does parallel the dynamic between Lila and Lenรน, at least in the beginning. From Lenรน's perspective, which is how the book is written, Lila is more talented and intelligent than her. Lila has an indescribable essence that infuriates and inspires Lenรน to do well in school. SO, from Mrs. Taylor's perspective, she has cast Shauna as Lenรน, forever looking up to Jackie. This is interesting on its own, especially with how those roles end up being reversed in MBF and Yellowjackets.
- Jealousy Parallels part 2: Role Reversal: The biggest plot twist in MBF is that the titular "brilliant friend" is NOT Lila, but Lenรน! Lila calls Lenรน her "brilliant friend," and not the other way around. Lenรน ends up, due to unfair circumstances, being able to go to middle school and eventually university, when Lila cannot. Lenรน succeeds academically, and Lila, despite being extremely intelligent, cannot catch up to her. Lenรน makes it out of the poor neighborhood when Lila does not. This, although perhaps unknowingly to Mrs. Taylor, is also paralleled by Shauna and Jackie. Shauna was not only academically successful when Jackie was not (she got into Brown), but also by how Shauna made it out of the Wilderness***.***
obviously we don't know that Jackie is dead but to the parents she is - In Love With Best Friend (?) Parallels: There is a lot of subtext in MBF that the relationship between Lila and Lenรน is not completely platonic. They have an extremely close relationship, that veers into questionably sapphic territory. In my personal opinion it is not even questionable, they definitely have compl
Iโve almost finished reading it, but am undecided if it is worthy of all the accolades it has received?
Iโm also OBSESSED with Nicky Pellegrinoโs light-hearted Italian based chick-lit romance novels, but for a different reason.
From what I was told - I expected My Brilliant Friend to be more literary, rather than light-hearted, which to some extent is true, however the writing style & plot seem to me quite simplistic, rather than literary?
Would anyone else here care to discuss?
at jackieโs โbirthday partyโ her mom tells shauna sheโs been reading Elena Ferrante who reminds her a lot of shauna and jackie. Elena Ferrante wrote The Lost Daughter, the Story of a New Name, the Lying Life of Adults, etc. the Ferrante name drop felt very intentional by the creators. maybe an easter egg?
Abbiamo delle risposte. Qualcuno di voi ha voglia di parlarci del romanzo di Elena Ferrante che gli รจ piaciuto di piรน?
Does anyone hear good things about Elena Ferrante's latest novel, "The Lying Life of Adults"?
I have been enjoying the Neapolitan Novels a lot, however, this one felt slightly different.
The last pages of this book enraged me. Elena is such a hypocrite, and she is doing what she said Lila shouldnโt in the second book.
I must admit that Elena Ferranteโs writing always makes me feel emotions, whether itโs hatred for a character (Nino and Elena in this book) or feeling sorry for them. I currently feel the same about Elena, as I did Lila in the 2nd book.
Anyway, back to the bookโฆ Overall, it felt slow compared to the last book. Elena made some questionable choices and I got tired of her constantly making herself the victim. And talking about how difficult her life was etc etc.
I canโt say I enjoyed this book as much as the others, however, a big part of this has to do with the likeability of the characters. Furthermore, a part of the 1st and 2nd books that I loved was that they were written around the neighbourhood. This book unfortunately felt one dimensional with most of it being about Elena and her home life/affairs.
On the other hand, I enjoyed seeing the change in society during this book. Whether it was in regard to politics, technology or relationships. For example, the storyline with the sausage factory owner and the fascists.
What did you all think?
I know whoever it is, they try to keep their identity a secret. But I am getting a masculine writer vibe from the story, โMy brilliant friendโ and others. I looked it up and there are rumours that a husband/wife team writes under that pen nameโฆalso I guess a lot is lost in translation but I never heard women refer to their private area as โmy sexโ unless it was in a book. On the other hand, the description of breastfeeding is very spot on so I am confused lol
Iโm currently halfway through the 2nd book
A brief description is, the narrator is called Elena, and the books are about her and her friend, Lila, as well as their neighbourhood, upbringing and family/friends.
So far, it has been fantastic to read, however, I have now found myself hating so many of the characters?
Despite this, Itโs fantastic.
I just wanted to highlight how much i dislike so many of the characters. These books are giving me so many feelings that other authors havenโt. Elena Ferrante is fantastic.
we all know that โelena ferranteโ is an elusive unknown person, and iโm wondering how thatโs working with the new show? did the author give their consent, and do they anonymously help? i cant imagine making a series on a book without the authors vision. thoughts?
I really enjoyed the psychological depth and complex characters in these two books, and would love suggestions for similar books!
So I had "My Brilliant Friend" in my TBR list for the longest time, don't even remember who recommended it to me or if I've seen it somewhere. Anyway - I went with the audiobook last week and that story WOWED ME SO HARD!! Such a refreshment in the contemporary fiction. I'm half way through "The Story Of A New Name" now and I'm officially addicted. But then I looked up the author, Elena Ferrante, who's so mysterious, never discovered her true name or identity and some people actually "study" her books to track her down (it's believed her Neapolitan Novels are autobiographical whatsoever). Bottom line - I'm in love with her style, her far-from-perfect but very realistic characters, their dysfunctional relationships and I just might found my best reads for 2021.
I read the Napolitan Novels and there's an enormous hole in my chest.... I can't pick up another book. Also, I don't know if those books are considered any kind of genre but I need more! What are some authors with similar style like hers?
