My Brilliant Friend (My Brilliant Friend, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Mar 07, 2018 Cheryl rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Love her writing but don't love how it makes me feel. This portrait of a time in history and the relationship between friends, who are somewhat trapped in their worlds, is delightful and disturbing. Made me want to yell and scream and laugh and cry. Ferrante has a way of showing us darkness and light in the human condition. It isn't always balanced and it is filled with aggression, anger, helplessness and more. I think I'll be contemplating this series for a long time. ...more

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May 09, 2016 Georgia Carvalho rated it really liked it

Her free flowing, no rules style is quite mesmerizing. This book really helped me understand the alienation and ambivalent feelings experienced by first generation college students. Because I work with first generation college students, reading this book allowed me to take a peek into what they often feel like -- academic talent can at times be quite the burden for them, who begin to feel like they don't fit anywhere, not at home and not at other environments. ...more

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Jan 23, 2019 Meghan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, europe-italy, escapist-flavorwire-list, 1000-books-to-read, atw-2019

Ok, it lived up to the hype. I've been told to read this book by so many people that I was worried it wouldn't. I was a bit confused at first, trying to keep all the characters straight. And the translation feels a bit choppy. But I came to be completely entranced by the web of relationships Ferrante has woven, the constant hint of danger underlying every event, and mostly by the complex love and internalized competition between Elena and Lila. And now I see I must read the next book of the seri ...more

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