I started reading the Neapolitan Novels after being bombarded with rave reviews about the book. And I must say, I was not disappointed. Though the book didn’t grab me right away. The saga follows the lives of two friends, from their childhood to old age, spanning from the 1950s to the early 2000s. And this friendship is quite strange—it’s filled with envy and competition. It’s more akin to a codependent relationship between a man and a woman (let me clarify, this is about psychology, not about any kind of romantic love, which isn’t part of the dynamic between these friends). It’s the kind of relationship where they can’t break apart, but being together for too long is unbearable. The two are bound by elastic cords that can’t be snapped. And if they do part ways, it’s only to crash back together with twice the force. They compete with each other throughout their lives, yet it doesn’t stop them from helping one another.
Naples. A poor neighborhood. And two little girls. One is very smart and diligent, while the other is almost a genius. But this isn’t a fairy tale where skill and hard work will help you achieve great things. This is a world where you don’t have much control over your destiny. And if you push back, you’ll get a slap from your mother, or maybe your father will throw you out the window—luckily, it’s only the first floor.
This neighborhood is a web with its own rules. Through the girls’ eyes, these rules seem almost mythical, but as they grow older, they become all too real. And the fears stay with them, but now they are understood and conscious.
One of the friends doesn’t consciously try to break free, but her life takes her away from the neighborhood for many years. Yet, as the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the girl. Whatever happens to the residents of the neighborhood affects her too. Maybe not immediately, and maybe not as intensely, but the ripple of events always reaches her.
The other chooses a path of struggle. She tries to fight her way up from the bottom, to achieve something, and with that, to change the world around her.
These events don’t make one friend better or worse than the other. It’s just life, and they are, after all, just ordinary people. Their periods of activity are followed by phases of passivity; successes alternate with failures. Yet, no matter how hard they try, Naples pulls them back in. They can’t break through the ceiling.
This is Italy, a time when it was easier to kill political rivals, where the boy sitting next to you in class might be the son of a mafioso, destined to inherit his father’s “business.” The entire neighborhood is interconnected—by love, business, or family ties. The residents feel a whole spectrum of emotions toward each other, carrying these feelings with them for years.
The friends live, work, marry, and divorce. It’s a story of everyday life, colored by the unique atmosphere of Italy, but one that is universally relatable. There’s everything: domestic violence, betrayal, infidelity, unrequited love… But the author writes it in such a way that it doesn’t feel grim. It’s simply a story about oneself and a friend (the book is narrated from the perspective of one of the girls). This is just how they lived, and the times and reality were what they were.
The only disappointment I had with the books was that I kept hoping until the end to find out what happened to the “missing child.” Even if it turned out to be a “tragic story.”
I should also mention the adaptation of the first book. The film My Brilliant Friend, in my opinion, is a great example of how to adapt a book into a film. The actors were well-cast, and the neighborhood was portrayed beautifully. I hope they continue with the series.
 | Elena Ferrante “My Brilliant Friend” | buy |
| Elena Ferrante “The Story of a New Name” | buy |
| Elena Ferrante “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay” | buy |
| Elena Ferrante “The Story of the Lost Child” | buy |
