My Brilliant Friend
I came to this series too late.
Their names are familiar, read and occasionally referenced by many friends. Stories of Millennial youth that absorbed these over a decade ago.
But these passed me by. Why is interesting to consider. I’d probably have said banal things like “Why would I care about Naples?”. Or wasted time trying to figure out what genre these books were, so I could assess if they’d be worth my time.
I lament wasted time ignoring good books like this.
Instead, the banality came all the way up to present. After reading a couple of Sally Rooney books, I hammered search and AI assistants asking:
What’s out there that feels like these books do?
and
What can give me such a detailed picture of characters I struggle to believe they’re not real, and known to me.
Ferrante’s books were recommended time and time again, so I took a dive.
Beyond this, I think I have little of merit to say. The writing is beautiful, the lives described so vivid I feel them like my own childhood memories. I have a desire to gossip about these people to real friends of mine, as if they were wayward souls we’d both know from the neighbourhood.
I find it rare a book like that can be so evocative. It uses that platform well too. Its characters are compelling, their lives fascinating.
I don’t think I understand enough of Italy to understand all the nuance of what’s being said here. But perhaps that’s fine, I’m as ignorant as many in its neighbourhood, slowly emerging into realisation as they touch its borders. The book makes you reflect on poverty, development (personal and economic), education, friendship, yet without ever coming close to a lecture. You are just observing these people in an intensely personal way, and the big questions seem to just hang in the air of rooms they leave behind.
There’s three more of these. I’ll likely try and read them all straight away.
Before "My Brilliant Friend" I read: China - The bubble that never pops
After "My Brilliant Friend" I read: The Story of a New Name