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Like a lot of Americans, you’ve probably never been a teenage woman living in Naples, Italy. That should not stop you from picking up “My Brilliant Friend” – which ENTITY believes is one of those good books you’ll have trouble putting down.
Emotionally if not geographically relatable, this 330-page novel is written by Elena Ferrante and translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein. And the inspirational characters it follows? Two Italian adolescent women. The story is set in a poor yet vibrant town outside of Naples, and gives readers a glimpse into Italy’s culture during the 1950s and 60s. Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo are friends and competitors, fire and water, yet BFF soulmates. Although Greco narrates the novel, we still receive a vast and detailed account of many of the characters in the book.
As schoolgirls, Greco and Cerullo silently compete for the attention and affection of their teacher, creating a tension in their friendship that rages on throughout the novel. Because we can’t access Cerullo’s perspective on the women’s relationship, though, it’s uncertain whether she also views their relationship as one of constant competition.
But how can a book so heavily rooted in circumstances of class, geography and social climate of a past era feel so familiar and entertaining to its readers? That is the pure magic of Ferrante’s language and Goldstein’s translation. Ferrante’s vocabulary isn’t overbearingly complex, despite conveying the complicated emotions and thoughts of the characters’ painfully close relationship. Ferrante’s prose is reminiscent of the great Jhumpa Lahiri’s, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Interpreter of Maladies.” (Lahiri, coincidentally, now only writes in Italian).
It’s heartbreaking to watch the women silently compete to be the best in whatever field they can both access. Yet seeing how much they care for each other when these efforts are swept aside is truly the most touching aspect of the novel. The two women lead separate lives for much of the novel, but they are always aware of each other’s struggles and seem like lifelong sisters instead of merely friends.
This relationship transcends the class, geography and time boundaries of the novel’s premise, connecting to modern readers who have all experienced this indisputably real and complicated dynamic between friends. That, honestly, is the most inspirational part.
