Reading 1001 discussion

Rating: 4 stars


I have to say that I was disappointed that this book made it onto the list, being the 4th book in a series. I didn't want to just read the fourth book, but the entire series is very long. I chose to read the whole series and I am really glad I did. This book is definitely not a stand-alone book. A reader would get completely lost with the sheer number of characters and situations without the back story.

This is a fantastic series. Each book is very strong, but this one was not the best of the four. I would place it probably at 3 out of 4, with the second book being the best by far. This book, set mainly in Naples, Italy, depicts the culmination of a life-long friendship between the two main protagonists. The friends reunite after as long estrangement, but certain events put a strain on their relationship. The ending is left to the reader's own interpretation.

So, I highly recommend making the investment in all four books instead of only reading this one. As I mentioned previously, there are many characters involved, many of them with similar-sounding Italian names. Some of these characters would not make a lot of sense without reading the first three books.

Diane wrote: "Rating: 4 stars


I have to say that I was disappointed that this book made it onto the list, being the 4th book in a series. I didn't want to just read the fourth book, but the entire series is ve..."

Thanks for the warning that this is not a stand alone book. I read the first book so far. (Kristel)

Yes, me also. I have only read the first book. I guess I will aim to read all 4...

thanks for the information!

5 stars.

I totally adore this series and the characters and the world. I have to disagree with Diane in that I think the second book is the weakest in the series but I am really not sure if the first book or the fourth (this one) is the strongest. I think the first book should definitely be on the 1001 list as well. I totally agree however that you should not even try to read this book without the three previous ones.

I feel totally bereft to have left these books behind. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

3.5 stars
There is a lot I very much admired in this series (I previously read the other three), but also a couple things I didn't like so much. Great characters for the most part but so very many that I couldn't remember who they all were. I read the four volumes over rather long intervals, so that did make it more difficult to remember the minor characters. By this volume, the fourth, I had somewhat tired of Elena and Lila's life stories, like a TV serial that has been going for a great many seasons. I agree with Diane that it is not the best one in the series, I think that is probably the first book. There are scenes and plot elements scattered around among the sometimes melodramatic story that make it worth persisting though.

"The Story of the Lost Child is a 2014 novel written by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It is the fourth and final installment of her Neapolitan Novels, preceded by My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. It was translated into English by Ann Goldstein in 2015." Reason read: word of the month. I didn't like reading it out of order but I did. I did not enjoy it that much. I did not connect with the characters. It just felt like a soap opera. Perhaps if I had read the middle two books I would have liked it better. The series explores the lives of two women through adulthood, motherhood, and aging. Lila and Elena are friends and at times it feels like enemies.

I was warned by Diane (above) that I needed to read the whole series as this was not a stand alone book, but I ignored the warning. Let's just say that was a mistake.
For me reading this book was like watching a "telenovela" with my poor Spanish comprehension. Not only did I not know the characters, or their relationships or what they had been through or where they may be going, I did not know the cultural assumptions, the political background or even why everyone is always yelling at each other or crying.
I struggled with learning all the characters and their relationships (thankfully outlined in the front of the book), and slowly moved into actually understanding something about the present. It was not until the earthquake which is approximately a third of the way into this story that I found something that reflected Elena gaining some new understanding of Lila.
I did find Lila fascinating but we do not hear her story, we hear Elena's version of her story. Elena herself never pulled together for me. She said she was a good mother but didn't believe it. She was never a good wife and only became a good daughter when her mother was dying. In many ways she worshipped Lila although she did not trust her and found her manipulative and controlling. Elena was a successful writer but seems to doubt her own ability to the point of twice betraying a promise to Lila about what she would and would not write about.
There is an intimacy about the book that was beginning to be addicting by the time I got close to the end and I can imagine that if one read all four books, this intimacy would be very fruitful.
I will just have to go back and read the whole series, although that may be in another lifetime.

***

Imagine the type of plots and twists you would find in something like The Bold and the Beautiful, but less fancy and less cheesy, with the Italian 70s and 80s as a background with its turbulent political environment and the ever-present mafia calling (some of) the shots. Not very literary, boringly linear; not sure I understand the mystique around Lila that seems to blind Elena throughout. Even though this was the last of a series of 4 novels, you don't really need to read the first 3 (the French edition has a character list at the beginning, with a summary of their relevance to the plots). Easy to read, but probably will be easy to forget too.