The NYT Book Review created a list of the best 100 books of the 21st Century so far. My brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante was voted the number book.
I've heard people discuss Ferrante. I knew she had a strong following. I knew there was speculation and conspiracies about her identity. I wasn't completely in the dark, but I had never read anything of hers.
I finished My brilliant Friend today.
Wow!
I've only read six of the books on the list of 100, but My Brilliant Friend has instantly jumped to my top 5-10 books all time. I'm already looking forward to rereading it in the future.
Ferrante is Italian and the setting of the story is post World War II Italy, Naples more specifically. This is an unfamiliar time and place in history for me. Having a grandmother born to Italian migrants, makes this unfamiliar time and place seem familiar. In general, there are many universal themes at play.
Ann Goldstein is the English translator, and I've heard her translation magnifies the story. I can't commit, but I'll pass on the info.
The narrator and voice are excellent.
I went back to the opening chapters after finishing, and the opening popped. The craftsmanship is beautiful. The opening of the story is sharp and concise, yet so much is being told. The frame is set up extremely well.
It's coming of age, but extremely mature. The narrator is telling the story in hindsight as a mature woman, giving wisdom and an intellectualism to the voice.
Within the wisdom is action, violence, assault. It's not cheap; it's authentic to the story, time, and place.
The drama and relationship dynamics are brilliant.
For readers who know, this will carry more weight. I tempted to say the story is flawless!
Right now, it is difficult to comprehend why everyone isn't reading and talking about this book. I feel like Kenton Grua talking about dories. He said; I'm paraphrasing:
"Everyone should ride one at least once, but you can't. You can't because once you do, you won't be able to do anything else."This sentiment comes to mind. I want to say more. I want to discuss the book, but I also don't want to take anything away from someone's reading of the book. So this is my pitch. Go read the book.
Luckily for me, My Brilliant Friend is book one of four in the Neapolitan Novels.
