Remember when we tried to get to the sea but it started raining? Which of us wanted to keep going and which of us made an about-face, you or me?" If I merely pass through the tunnel of the stradone, I'm scared. The better and truer you feel, the farther away you go. "You're strong," answered, to my astonishment. In Books Two and Three, the stories are much deeper and more powerful, because the tree has taken root and is stronger.įor example, who would have thought that when Lila designed a men's shoe in book one, that it would still be talked about in book three? Or that when she held a knife to a man's throat to protect herself and Elena, that it would turn out to be a pivotal point in the story? Or the day that Elena and Lila decided to skip school and walk as far away as they can, that it would hold significance years later? In Book One, Ferrante had to plant the seeds of the story - those seeds were the stories and events that Elena and Lila faced as children, and each one has long-lasting consequences.
#Those who remain best secondary series#
Now that I have read the first three books, I would compare this series to a tree. But as the girls grew up, I began to appreciate their significance. I thought there were too many characters and nicknames to remember, and I didn't see much point in following around two girls in a poor neighborhood in Naples. When I started the first book earlier this summer, I did not expect to like this series. Through her experiences, we get a crash course in the riots and protests that occurred in the 1960s and '70s as communists fought fascists, and everywhere our heroines turned, they risked violence, either on the street or at home. What I especially liked about this third novel was Elena's foray into feminism and politics as she searched for ways to be involved and for subjects to write about. The story covers them from their 20s and into their 30s, and both women experienced significant changes in their careers and families, especially as the political climate of Italy grew more tense and violent. I refuse to spoil anything for readers who have not yet read these wonderful novels, but I will say that in Book Three, the friendship of Elena and Lila is repeatedly tested. When I finished this book last night - on the edge of my seat, by the way, because there was yet another dramatic ending - I was so unsteady that I had to rest a moment, pondering the fates of the women. These women are so well-drawn and seem so real that I was anxious about what will happen to them. I've spent the last few weeks reading Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, and I have grown increasingly attached to her two main characters, Elena and Lila. I refuse to spoil a This book left me speechless. Yet they are still very much bound to each other by a strong, unbreakable bond.more They are afloat on the great sea of opportunities that opened up during the nineteen-seventies.
Both women have pushed against the walls of a prison that would have seen them living a life of misery, ignorance, and submission. Elena has left the neighborhood, earned her college degree, and published a successful novel, all of which have opened the doors to a world of learned interlocutors and richly furnished salons. Lila married at sixteen and has a young son she has left her abusive husband and now works as a common laborer.
Elena has left the neighborhood, earned her college degree, and published a successful novel, all of which have opened the doors to a In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila, the two girls whom readers first met in My Brilliant Friend, have become women. In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila, the two girls whom readers first met in My Brilliant Friend, have become women.
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