A Amiga Genial — O Romance Gráfico

by Chiara Lagani, Mara Cerri (Ilustração), Margarida Periquito (Tradução)

Esta é a história da amizade entre Raffaella Cerullo e Elena Greco, Lila e Lenù. Uma ligação indissolúvel que surge entre duas raparigas que dão as mãos num bairro miserável da periferia de Nápoles, nos anos 1950, e percorre toda a sua vida. A relação acaba num desaparecimento, uma tentativa desesperada de perderem o rasto uma da outra. É uma sugestiva viagem pelo imaginário do romance que cativou leitores de todo o mundo, através de sensibilidade artística de Mara Cerri, uma das melhores ilustradoras contemporâneas, e da sabedoria narrativa de Chiara Lagani, dramaturga e intérprete da companhia teatral Fanny & Alexander. Uma transposição apaixonante, preservando as potencialidades expressivas da linguagem da banda desenhada, o que ilumina com novas perspetivas o romance mais icónico de Elena Ferrante.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Italy, Comics, Bande Dessinée, Coming Of Age

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

STORIA DELLE BAMBINE GENIALI



Continua il cammino di Lenù e Lila, Elena e Raffaella: dopo i quattro romanzi, la serie tv in quattro stagioni, adattamento radiofonico (in UK), vari teatrali – quello di maggior successo approdato anche al londinese National Theatre – centinaia di reading, ecco ora la prima graphic novel.
Contraddistinta dalle magnifiche illustrazioni di Mara Cerri, già autrice di quelle per La spiaggia di notte - bizzarro tentativo ferrantiano di favola nera - e delle animazioni sul documentario commissionato dal canale franco-tedesco Arte.
E contraddistinta dai testi, alias sceneggiatura (ma perché così tante persone continuano a confondere sceneggiatura e scenografia?! Sarà mica difficile capire la differenza tra le due!), di Chiara Lagani, l’unica in Italia a portare sul palcoscenico questa storia, alla sua solita maniera sperimentale e di ricerca.

Quale delle due è la vera amica geniale, Lila o Lenù?

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having become suddenly obsessed with Ferrante’s story of Lenù and Lila, I eagerly chased the first volume of her Neapolitan quartet with the graphic novel adaptation of My Brilliant Friend. Adapted by Chiara Lagani, using translations from Ann Goldstein, the story is brought to life in the rather gritty yet lovely artwork of Mara Cerri (who has previously worked with Ferrante for her picture book The Beach at Night). While it is rather gorgeous to look at, this graphic adaptation feels more like a companion piece to the novel than a work that can stand on its own. Though, through reading this and noticing what seems to be lacking, I found a deeper appreciation for the source material and a new perspective on why it works so well.

When engaging with an adaptation, it tends to be the differences—especially the omissions—that we notice the most. I absolutely loved My Brilliant Friend (I have reviewed it here) and an aspect that endeared me to it was the sense of intimacy created around the characters. Not just Lenù and Lila but the characters around them as well, which makes you realize it is a story about an entire community and the ugliness of violence, patriarchy and poverty framed withing the examination of a complex friendship. This adaptation is rather short and while we see some of the side characters there is never much sense of familiarity with them, reducing the overall experience to a sort of spark-notes runthrough of Lila and Lenù’s journey from childhood to adolescence. I’m curious, too, if those who have not read the original novel would follow much of the latter half of this book, or if they would feel rather disconnected from it. There are still expressions on the major themes—we see the poverty, we are aware of the violence, but its all so fleeting.


With such short space, it is interesting to see which details get emphasized and which, such as the killing of Don Achille, get completely cut out. While the childhood section is 1/3rd of the novel, it gets about 2/3rds of the space in this version, really diving into the childhood moments that connected the two girls to begin with. But so much of what makes the novel so good are scenes that can’t exactly translate into a graphic novel without really slowing the pace or being overly wordy for the medium I suppose, as it is Lenu’s emotional introspective insights that really brought the story to my heart. Still, I found the artwork was able to bring out a lot of great emotional insights that were enjoyable. ‘When the written words were broken down into faces, expressions and dialogue, the narrative revealed itself in a new light,’ artist Mara Cerri writes in a Washington Post article about her artistic choices:

‘that’s simply because the language of comics, born from the collision and interplay of text and images, generates new emotional connections and insights for the reader.’

There are a few panels that are incredibly gorgeous here, like the rather abstract moments that tie the fireworks scene with Lila’s feeling of “dissolving boundaries” and I found that the grittiness of the art style captures the overall feeling of the novel pretty well.

A pretty book, but much more a companion piece for those who already enjoyed the novel, My Brilliant Friend: The Graphic Novel was worth checking out but overall rather lackluster. I wish this was like those big illustrated Harry Potter collectors editions where it was the full text of the novel with large artwork every few pages instead, now that would have been amazing. I do think it is cool that Europa released a graphic novel though, I'd love to see them do others.
2.5/5

[Laubythesea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me es complicado enfocar cómo hablar de esta novela gráfica que adapta a este formato la primera parte de la famosa tetralogía de Nápoles de Elena Ferrante, La amiga estupenda.
 
Se trata de un libro que leí hace un montón de años, del que guardo recuerdos difuminados y que lleva mucho tiempo en mi cabeza aquello de “tengo que releerlo y acabar la historia” porque me gustó mucho. Entonces, no he entrado en blanco a la adaptación a novela gráfica, sino que, sin quererlo, iba llenando “los huecos”, las partes que se omite, con mis recuerdos. Y me gustaría saber realmente, que se siente enfrentándose a este trabajo sin saber nada de la historia, porque mi sensación es que… deja demasiadas cosas con contar para entender algunas de las decisiones, motivaciones y sentir de las protagonistas. También, todo el contexto formado por personajes secundarios y la vida en el barrio, que es uno más, pues la novela tiene mucho de realismo social, apenas se intuye en este texto.
 
Pero ¿qué pasa? El arte de esta novela gráfica es una joya. Cada ilustración te invita a pararte y regodearte, pasar allí el tiempo que haga falta. Me han parecido excepcionalmente bellos y que Mara Cerri consigue captar las emociones de una forma sublime, el papel vibra en tus manos. Una de las claves de la novela es la tensión pasiva entre las amigas, y la maldad y furia intuida en una de ellas, y tengo que decir, que eso lo borda.
 
¿Aún no has hecho tu primera incursión en el “mundo Ferrante”? Te cuento un poquito… Aunque ‘La amiga estupenda’ se inicia en un tiempo presente donde se produce la desaparición de una mujer que nos es desconocida, la trama irá años atrás hasta la década de los 50’s, donde en un barrio humilde de Nápoles, dos niñas, Lila y Lenu, comienzan una amistad que siempre se caracteriza por una tensión que no sabes muy bien de donde viene. Dos niñas que irán creciendo, con oportunidades distintas, marcadas por la situación en sus hogares. Un retrato fiel de las relaciones humanas, de la amistad sin edulcorar, de encuentros y separaciones, de lucha de poderes.
 
Entonces, decir que, a mí, particularmente, me ha encantado, pero porque siento que la he leído como un complemento a la novela y como tal me ha parecido brillante y tremendamente bonito.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic Novel Adaption des ersten Teils der Neapolitanischen Saga von Elena Ferrante.
Das Buch steht schon lange auf meiner zu lesen Liste, daher war die Freude über den Gewinn es Exemplars via Vorablesen.de groß.
Simple, schlichte, teilweise sehr düstere Zeichnungen begleiten und durch die frühe Kindheit der zwei Freundinnen Raffaella Cerullo (genannt Lina oder Lila) und Elena Greco (auch Lenuccia oder Lenù gerufen) in einem Teil von Neapel. Von der Kindheit bis zur Pubertät geht dieser Teil. Sie entzweien sich immer Mal wieder und doch sind sie immer für einander da.
Leider fehlt mir insgesamt der Kontext im Buch um Alles zu 100% zu verstehen, es scheint als wäre es hilfreich gewesen, dass Buch vorher mindestens abgelesen zu haben.
Aufgrund des Settings kein Feel Good Happy Buch, definitiv für Erwachsene und für Fans.
Für mich ausbaufähig.
2 3/4*

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Si no se intenta, nada cambia"

TW: violencia intrafamiliar, machismo, acoso, violación

Un inquietante y atrapante relato sobre dos amigas que acompañaremos desde su infancia hasta su adolescencia desde los recuerdos de una de ellas. Su amistad vivirá una serie de altibajos en su relación, en un ambiente de pobreza, mafias, envidias, miedos, baja escolaridad femenina, sueños y primeros amores.

Una historia fuerte y dura de dos jóvenes que se enfrentan a las imposiciones del machismo y que crecen y viven cambios que afectarán también su a ratos extraña amistad.

Un libro que impacta, incomoda, conmueve y sorprende, y que es tan solo la primera parte de una historia conformada por 4 libros, que además cuenta con una adaptación de 3 temporadas en HBO Max.

3,5 estrellas

[Dakota Bossard · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the illustrations and the text that was taken from the novel, it really portrayed the same vibe as the book and tv adaptation. I just wish it had been longer!!

[Tammy ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primer acercamiento hacia esta obra, y la verdad es que siento que leer esta novela gráfica es una buena manera de saber si te gustará la historia para luego comenzar con el libro. La esencia de la novela está, se entiende todo muy bien y comprendo que al ser una novela gráfica la historia debe ser contada de manera bastante limitada, y por esto mismo al terminar la historia quedé con una sensación agridulce, ya que a pesar de que me encantó, necesitaba saber más detalles de cada situación.

Respecto a la edición, las ilustraciones son realmente preciosas, con solo verlas uno se hace la idea del contexto, los textos y diálogos son los precisos para hacernos entender de qué va la historia, y la edición es realmente hermosa y muy cómoda de leer.

En cuanto a la historia en sí me gustó mucho, así que obviamente quiero leer el libro para conocer más en detalle la novela, principalmente el desarrollo de nuestras protagonistas ya que me parecieron personajes realmente interesantes.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fair warning: I won a free copy of the hardcover of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. All I really knew about it was that it was a graphic novel. I'm unfamiliar with the novel on which it's based, nor have I seen the HBO adaptation.

Lila and Lenù are a fine couple of characters. Their friendship begins in 1950's Italy with daring each other to climb the apartment stairs and knock on the door of Don Achille, the resident scary old man. Their relationship goes through ups and downs as their lives take them in different directions. Sadly, the story doesn't seem to end so much as just run out of steam.

The artwork is lovely, but isn't enough by itself to raise my estimation of this book much. It's a project that was clearly undertaken with the best of intentions and the utmost reverence for the source material. Interesting characters in search of a story. Not recommended.

[Lynn :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful writing. Beautiful art. Beautiful book!

Thank you to the authors and publishers for sending me this amazing graphic novel!

Of course, there were things that bothered me. But that doesn't mean that this isn't a good book. I am glad that I own it, as long as my mom doesn't see the naked pictures!

The ending was amazing by the way.

[Cherlynn | cherreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐

An evocative graphic novel that explores adolescence, womanhood and all the complexities of female friendships. It got increasingly too abstract for me to fully comprehend and appreciate, but I loved the subtlety and quiet beauty of it all. The art and text are minimal, but yet conveyed so much. Striking, poignant and haunting.

[marwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3/5

It's been almost a year since I finished the neapolitan quartet, and these books still live in my head rent-free. I miss the characters like they truly existed and crave the feeling of living with and through them again. I picked the comic in hopes of getting to experience the books again, but I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the art is gorgeous, but it definitely didn't do the novel justice, in my opinion. It lacked the feeling that the novel had. I truly wish I enjoyed this as I thought I would, but unfortunately, it was not for me.

[Finished on June 10, 2025]

[Emma Colón · Rating 4 out of 5]

left out a few of my favorite aspects of the novel BUT it was gorgeous and brought new meaning to the transition between girlhood and adolescence between lenù and lila. really can’t complain, it was a lovely rendition of my favorite story :’)

[Lesincele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5.
Las ilustraciones son realmente espectaculares, muy hermosas y muy sugerentes. No hace falta apenas texto para transmitirnos la historia.

[em · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh.

i know theres probably complexities to the layers of their relationship, but was she really a ~brilliant~ friend??? let’s be so real, girl.

[Davinia · Rating 2 out of 5]

La historia no pintaba mal, pero no me gusta cómo está contada. Me parece que la novela gráfica no tiene una historia bien ligada, que falta más contexto. Tengo la sensación de haber visto ilustraciones con algo de texto pero inconexas, casi que me tengo que imaginar parte de la historia para entenderla.

[Tânia Dias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ler este romance gráfico foi voltar a reviver as emoções da tetralogia napolitana, a magia desta história vive além do tempo. Gostei muito, não queria que terminasse, mas é importante que se leia a tetralogia antes do romance gráfico para se conseguir perceber toda a complexidade das personagens. ❤️

[Andi Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La ilustración es buena, la narrativa no me convece del todo. Pero la intención de la historia se entiende y parece ser suficiente

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The intensity and confusion of young friendships is explored in this graphic novel. The illustrations have a lovely, ethereal quality, and the story moves along in a confusing, disjointed fashion. Perhaps this is to capture the nature of memory, but I hope I wasn't the only reader who had difficulty grasping what was going on at times.

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, the art is outstanding, and it really conveys the nuances of this story. But having read the actual novel recently, I found the graphic novel adaptation quite lackluster.

Of course, there's a lot that has to get lost in translation, when changing media, but even though this story does quite a good job when it comes to depict the general broody air that surrounds the two main characters, and their relationship, I do feel the whole plot would feel quite dislodge for someone that didn't have any previous knowledge or familiarity with the story.

All in all, it was ok, it might be a good first point of contact for someone wondering about Ferrante's famous series, but it wasn't really what I was expecting, or hoping for...

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the whole book is not really there, this graphic novel succeeds in my opinion, through the right kind of drawings and short, fragmented speeches, to render Ferrante's prose well.

Anche se non c'é proprio tutto il libro, questa graphic novel riesce secondo me, attraverso il giusto tipo di disegni e di discorsi brevi e frammentati, a rendere bene la prosa della Ferrante.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful interpolation of Elena Ferrante’s first Neapolitan Novel. I’ve been thinking about My Brilliant Friend a lot recently, especially since it was rated the best book of the 21st century so far by the New York Times.

The Neapolitan quartet reads as very queer to me, and this rendition really brought that out. While people often focus on Lenu’s desire, probably because she is the narrator, Lila reads as even more queer to me. Especially in the first book, when every man in the neighborhood expresses desire for her, she does not reciprocate anyone: “Lila took in their looks, she grabbed their hands as if they were merely hands, as if beyond there were not arms, bodies. The only thing that counted for her was dancing.” Marriage is a means to an end for her, never an exciting proposition. Later in the series, she leads a years long domestic partnership with Enzo, without expressing sexual desire for him. The main romantic relationship throughout the series is between the two girls. Upon believing Lenu to be in love, Lila begs “Lenu, swear we’ll never leave each other.”

But the real genius of the series, and why it is one of the best books of the current century, is the doom and underlying tragedy that seeps into every page. Each sentence foreshadows something unknown, something catastrophic. This is nature of a framed narrative: the first book opens when Lenu is in her 60s and Lila has disappeared without a trace. This is also the nature of the political and social climate in postwar Italy. I can’t quite figure out how Ferrante does it, and I don’t know if I’d put this book at #1. But the original novel, and this adaptation, are certainly worth a read.

[Bibliotekarien läser · Rating 1 out of 5]

När Ferrantes roman kom ut för ett tiotal år sen blev den snabbt en snackis och ALLA skulle läsa den. Dock inte jag, jag brukar oftast göra tvärt om i såna fall och absolut VÄGRA läsa. Men nu ville det sig inte bättre (eller sämre, beror på hur man ser det) än att det förra året gavs ut en version i serieformat och DET har jag svårt att stå emot. Men jag skulle lyssnat på mitt gamla jag och låtit även denna förblivit oläst.

Illustrationerna är naiva och kantiga och inte särskilt tilldragande, och tillsammans med den fåordiga berättelsen kan det ibland bli svårt att hänga med.

Rivaliteten mellan Lila och Lenù känns som ett öppet sår genom hela boken, en plågsam kapplöpning om vem som är bäst. Hur kan man fortsätta vara vän med någon som bara vill en illa? Jag förstår INTE ALLS tjusningen med denna bok och tänker INTE slösa tid på eventuellt kommande illustrerade delar.

[Bea Recalde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hermosa novela gráfica, con pocos diálogos lo que me llamo la atención al principio sin embargo al irlo leyendo pienso que logro capturar la escencia del libro y su magia. Las ilustraciones son originales con un estilo de pintura con acuarela.

No he leído aún el libro, ni tampoco he visto la serie y definitivamente he quedado con muchas ganas de leerlo me parece que tiene una ambientación increíble los personajes son interesantes algunos oscuros y emblemáticos la relación entre las amigas es lo que más me llama, deje las últimas páginas sin leer porque no quiero spoilerarme para ir con más ganas a por el libro.

[Paola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volver al universo de Lila y Lenú siempre vale la pena.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda incomprehensible if you haven’t read the novel. Still, I am proud of myself for reading this in Italian even if it is 90% pictures

[Rebeca _ El Castillo de Manderley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recomendaría esta novela gráfica como complemento a quien ya esté familiarizada con la obra de Elena Ferrante y nunca como iniciación a ella, como ha sido mi caso.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read the novel so I don’t know how close this is, but the illustrations were incredibly compelling.

[Rita Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfeito para matar saudades destas amigas que terei para sempre como reais. 🖤

Na minha ignorância, as ilustrações espelham exatamente aquela Nápoles, suja e rude que conheci no livro de Elena Ferrante, ao contrário dos textos, que por vezes contêm uma linguagem que não transmite a complexidade das personagens, dos seus diálogos e características.

É uma novela gráfica que exige a prévia leitura do primeiro volume da tetralogia Napolitana dado ter várias lacunas e saltos na história.

[João Teixeira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gostei muito de ler a tetralogia original da autoria de Elena Ferrante. Mesmo cheia de reviravoltas pouco verosímeis, dignas de um folhetim oitocentista, a história cativou-me talvez pela forma de escrever de Elena Ferrante.
Quanto a esta adaptação gráfica, gostei das ilustrações, sem dúvida, mas quanto ao argumento, termina de forma demasiado abrupta... algumas pontas ficam escusadamente soltas... de tal forma que parece que algum arrancou folhas ao livro, visto que a história termina, sem que nos sejam explicadas as consequências do estupro de Lena, e do casamento de Lina... Até julguei que este fosse apenas o primeiro volume de uma série de livros, mas em lado nenhum se dá a entender isso... o que é estranho, pois a tetralogia original que deu origem a esta nova interpretação ainda tem muito mais para contar... enfim, é uma pena, gostei quando comecei a ler este livro mas o final desiludiu-me.

[Juliet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depuis quelque temps, j’entends beaucoup parler d’Elena Ferrante et de L’amie prodigieuse. La bande dessinée parue chez Delcourt étant proposé en service presse par NetGalley, j’ai eu envie de découvrir l’histoire sous cette forme.
Je n’avais pas d’attentes particulières, ainsi je ne peux pas dire que je suis déçue. En revanche, je n’ai pas apprécié comme je le pensais cette version signée Chiara Lagani et Cerri Mara.
En premier lieu, les dessins de Mara ne m’ont pas touchée. Je n’ai pas apprécié son style spécial, et c’est dommage lorsque les images remplissent une page entière. Le style peut plaire, je n’en doute pas, mais pour moi, c’est décevant.
Concernant l’histoire, j’imagine qu’elle conviendra plus à celleux qui ont déjà dévoré le roman d’Elena Ferrante. Et je ne doute pas que ce dernier est bien écrit et intéressant. Cette bande dessinée ne l’a pas fait pour moi, je ne me suis pas attachée aux deux fillettes et je n’ai pas toujours compris ce que l’on me racontait.
Le roman pourra se faire une place dans ma wishlist, la suite de la bande dessinée, non.