Warwick’s review of The Story of the Lost Child (Neapolitan Novels, #4) > Likes and Comments

I've read with great interest all your reviews on Neapolitan saga and was impatiently waiting for final installment. And I'm highly satisfied and impressed, Warwick. Great insights and fantastic write -up. I've read two books so far but hope to complete the series this year.

My love for these books is intense, and I think you did a great job of capturing that inarticulate, heart-in-the-mouth, soclose response these books evoke. I agree the writing is not a glory of style- it’s just that thing of everything put just so that you can deny it and pull your heart back that some of the greats have- like Tolstoy. It feels like heart laid inside out. I love that you didn’t make fun of that feeling and made all that effort to do this tour. I think nothing could have captured the feeling better. Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic, Warwick. I think the power of the Ferrante series is the depth they grab you with. You've been driven to go and see for yourself and that's pretty telling.

@Agnieszka, thank you! I hope the end of the series lives up to the beginning for you – I personally found the books more and more interesting as they went on, though not all her fans seem to feel the same.

@Kelly, yes, I think the comparison with Tolstoy makes a lot of sense in some ways – the plain prose style, the expansive scope. Though Tolstoy for me has a more metaphysical tone at times, whereas everything in Ferrante is about the intensity of interpersonal relationships.

@Emma – thanks! And yes. It's certainly not something I'm driven to do with most writers, though it is an interesting way to approach a new city or place. It's definitely a side of Naples you wouldn't normally see.

Really wonderful review, Warwick - I've enjoyed following your Ferrante journey, and your noble efforts to put into words what makes them so strangely gripping. I, too, was ambivalent toward My Brilliant Friend when I first read it but ended up loving the books fiercely. I'm so glad I stuck with them, as, a few years later, I still think about Lila all the time.

Yeah, I can see why. Thanks so much for commenting!

It's interesting how your pictures give quite a pleasant impression - the colours, the blue sky, the sun. Nothing that compares with the grey pebble dash of Livingston, on the outside at least. We noted a similar effect in India - the colourful saris tended to disguise the poverty. I suppose it's our own romanticisation of colour, of Italy, of climate -- we colour and sun-starved Northern Europeans.
Hey, it's sunny here today!

I know what you mean – the interesting thing to me is that what it isn't is that kind of picturesque, olde-worlde Italian poverty where you might imagine them growing up in some maze of twisty alleyways (like the historical bits of Naples). It's much more urban and bleak than that.

Okay, I'm officially impressed. Maybe we need to do this too!

Ha, you should! It was surprisingly emotional, even if I'm not sure now how much I believe in this Elena Ferrante character.

Oh this was a fabulous read, Warwick. I'm especially impressed by your detective work! It's been a while since I read these books and it now seems a bit strange how outraged many were by the naming of Ferrante's identity. Someone here even defriended me for refusing to be incandescent with rage. I remember this book, more than the others, played very mischievously with the identity of authorship theme. You sense Ferrante is having the last laugh.

Thanks, Violet! I thought you might unfriend me yourself after my initial lukewarm reaction to these books.. But yeah, you're right that authorship is very conspicuous as a theme in this one, and it does tie in suspiciously well to the furore over who Ferrante might be. I am one of those who thinks it's good to know, and that it does make a difference to how I view the books – but I certainly don't agree with violating someone's privacy like that to do so.

I kind of wanted Anita Raja to respond to Gatti's article by pulling a Spartacus – saying "Yes, I am Elena Ferrante!", followed by a statement from her husband saying, "I am Elena Ferrante!", followed by a statement from her translator saying "I am Elena Ferrante!", followed by a statement from her publisher…

Wow, fascinating! I’m definitely tempted to having a go at literature tourism.

Yeah, it's a very interesting way of planning a trip!

@Warwick, Yes, the first part of your comparison was why I compared them, the writing style and the feelings induced. Not to say they are actually completely the same person. :) Tho I would argue Tolstoy says plenty about the intensity of interpersonal relationships. Anyway, again, great review. 👍

Thank you for posting this review and these pictures. Reviews like this are what make Goodreads worthwhile.

Thanks man!

Love your review, that you visited the feverishly beating heart/location of these books! So well written. I agree now that I’ve seen the original term for dissolving boundaries. Perhaps smudged edges would’ve worked. The way it feels like a work of art, never quite clear to us viewers/readers, much like the lingering impression of the books themselves.

Hey, thank you! They certainly left a lasting effect on me, even though I constantly found them vaguely unsatisfactory.

I am on the verge of giving a try on this one but... Somehow I can't find the courage to buy a book with such hideous cover...

Yeah I also feel the covers are letting them down. There was quite a lot of discussion about this on Goodreads, they seem to be pitched more at a chick lit audience for some reason.

More to people into collage 80s courses ... ;)

Wow!! Thank you for writing your experience visiting the neighborhood!! 😦😦😦😥🤧😭

Searching for Lila Cerullo's face...

Thanks Mehrnaz!

Thank you for this thoughtful and extensive review. I enjoyed everything about these books, and was completely invested in the lives of Lenu and Lila. I put off reading them for ages, having received My Brilliant Friend as a gift because the covers are so awful! Sadly, for some reason I can’t see the pictures you’ve posted, have you any idea why that might be?

Are you on your phone? Pictures never seem to load for me on the phone app, but I can see them on a desktop.

I loved reading about your Naples investigations and the internal ruminations....fab !!

Haha, thanks Jaidee.

Hi Warwick, that’s interesting, I’m on my iPad so will try my laptop instead. Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, if I look at it in a browser on my iPad it's fine, but if I switch to the app it doesn't work.

"It's almost like the greatest creation in these novels is not anyone listed in the cast, but 'Elena Ferrante' herself" - this perfectly sums up how I feel about these books... I'm in absolute awe

Thank you for this!

This is a perfect review.

Thanks Miles.

Lovely

Thank you for sharing this. It’s beautiful.

Such a great and comforting read after finishing the last volume just twenty minutes ago! Really helped me put my thoughts in order, thank you!

Thanks so much!