I read the series and also thought the writing was excellent. But I would not have put these as books to stand the test of time. By the end, the story exemplified the European mentality of intellect reigning supreme (see Greco’s goal in life to be a great writer and Lila is practically worshipped by many in her life for her genius. There never is a time where a character struggles to elevate themselves morally or really search for the deeper meaning in life. I respect Dr. Prasad’s observations and was hoping to see the books in a different light but still find them to be empty and depressing stories that had a lot of unrealized potential.
I just finished Book 4. Whew. What a sweeping epic of a series. I cannot understand people who don't connect with these books or with her characters, but I did recommend Book 1 for a women's book club and about half the women absolutely loathed it. I was crushed! Their reasoning: too dark, too violent, no likable characters. I think this is a series that is best appreciated by dark souls, perhaps those of us with a heavy dose of daily melancholy who love the nuance of humankind: no good, no bad, just human and deeply flawed, every one of us.
Thanks for the interesting information about the possible writer(s). - I read the whole series a few years ago. I am surprised to read that many of your suscribers did not like so much the first tome, when this was my favourite. When I read the series (in french), and as a teacher, I was doing deep research about people with very high potential. Lila is an incredible example of such a woman. Very few women from certain eras and culture had any chance to see their talent develop or being recognize. In a forum about high potential people, this first tome was seen by many (men and women) as the most interesting one, and somehow we hoped that Lila's destiny would be an exception. As a forward to the third tome, the author mentions about people disappointed by the fact that Elena had taken too much place in the previous tome, feeling Lila was the true heroine. Ferrante took this into account.
I read the series and also thought the writing was excellent. But I would not have put these as books to stand the test of time. By the end, the story exemplified the European mentality of intellect reigning supreme (see Greco’s goal in life to be a great writer and Lila is practically worshipped by many in her life for her genius. There never is a time where a character struggles to elevate themselves morally or really search for the deeper meaning in life. I respect Dr. Prasad’s observations and was hoping to see the books in a different light but still find them to be empty and depressing stories that had a lot of unrealized potential.
Will I regret reading these? They seem so sad.
Sad perhaps, but sad fiction has got to be better than reading about the Covid Madness!
I just finished Book 4. Whew. What a sweeping epic of a series. I cannot understand people who don't connect with these books or with her characters, but I did recommend Book 1 for a women's book club and about half the women absolutely loathed it. I was crushed! Their reasoning: too dark, too violent, no likable characters. I think this is a series that is best appreciated by dark souls, perhaps those of us with a heavy dose of daily melancholy who love the nuance of humankind: no good, no bad, just human and deeply flawed, every one of us.
Putting these on my list to read. Thanks for your insight and love of literature.
Thanks for the interesting information about the possible writer(s). - I read the whole series a few years ago. I am surprised to read that many of your suscribers did not like so much the first tome, when this was my favourite. When I read the series (in french), and as a teacher, I was doing deep research about people with very high potential. Lila is an incredible example of such a woman. Very few women from certain eras and culture had any chance to see their talent develop or being recognize. In a forum about high potential people, this first tome was seen by many (men and women) as the most interesting one, and somehow we hoped that Lila's destiny would be an exception. As a forward to the third tome, the author mentions about people disappointed by the fact that Elena had taken too much place in the previous tome, feeling Lila was the true heroine. Ferrante took this into account.