The Neapolitan Novels Boxed Set

It is the story of two friends and much more. It' is a story of Italy. You feel like you lived in that part which you don’t visit.

Am towards the very end of the 4th book and I just don’t want this to end! It’s so beautiful! The eventful lives of two best friends; Lenu and Lina keeps one engrossed and almost become a part of our lives.

The narration is very rich and smooth. Story flows like you're floating through someone's memory. The HBO show based on this book is equally brilliant, however there's always a charm in going through the original source material.

Elena Ferrante’s ‘Neapolitan Stories’ is a dazzling achievement. Bursting with larger than life - and mostly unpleasant - characters and barely controlled human emotions of the worst (mostly) and best (not often enough) kind, reading this story feels like having your head pushed under the surface of some slimy pool and watching, wide-eyed with shock and awe, the weird and scary life forms that inhabit the murky waters, yet reluctant to surface even though you are sometimes gasping for fresh air and release from all that ugliness. I often found myself shouting vigorously at the main character (in my head, of course), reprimanding her for her folly, foolishness and lack of common sense that had resulted in so many bad decisions, despite her towering intellect. But that is how Elena Ferrante captures the essence of human nature so well and connects her characters with her readers – and I say ‘BRAVO’ to her for that! To write a monumental story of this scale that holds the reader relentlessly from page one to ‘The End’ at almost 2,000 pages is a massive achievement deserving of a full five star rating, happily and freely given for so much fabulous entertainment, even if I do feel punch-drunk by the end of it.

Ce roman en quatre volumes m'a habitée pendant un mois - ou plutôt je l'ai habité pendant un mois - ou 60 ans? C'est une plongée dans l'Italie des années 1950 à 2000 à travers le regard d'une femme intelligente et aussi honnête que possible, avec comme fil rouge sa relation avec une amie d'enfance. Relation jamais simple, faite tour à tour d'admiration mutuelle et de répulsion, de solidarité et de désertion. Leurs visions de la vie, produits de personnalités et de destins différents, ne parviennent pas vraiment à être complémentaires, et leur dualité donne "du nerf" à l'oeuvre. Ce roman, à la fois construit et foisonnant de personnages, de tours et de détours, est aussi l'occasion d'une réflexion sur la création littéraire : ordonner le réel, n'est-ce pas forcément le trahir ? Le tout est d'une lecture très facile, à condition de se reporter souvent au tableau du début qui aide à re-situer les nombreux personnages. Par contre, je n'ai pas trouvé la traduction française très bonne, et les 2 derniers tomes n'étant pas encore parus en français, je les ai achetés en anglais : pas mieux à mon avis. Les mots qui expriment les sentiments, en particulier, me semblent souvent un peu "à côté". Peut-être ces glissements viennent-ils du décalage entre le dialecte napolitain et l'italien. Si quelqu'un a un avis sur la question, ça m'intéresserait...

Porque além de boa literatura, é uma reflexão profunda sobre a condição das mulheres em um contexto social onde as pressões familiares são expostas de forma crua, e as perspectivas de libertação passam pelos dilemas bem explícitos de escapar delas - pobreza, violência , grilhões - e as saídas através da expressão dos talentos, logo redesenhadas pelas pressões sociais.

As an avid viewer of the HBO series of the same name, I was compelled to read the book series to gain more detail and read in advance of the next HBO series 3 release. I was drawn into the two protagonists' world of hard graft, poverty, resilience and above all an enduring, reliant friendship lasting a lifetime. Highly recommend this unforgettable book series.

The decades-long lives of two women from Naples. Their complex relationship is marvelously conveyed but also is the story of class struggle in Italy in the 60’s forward. I place this quartet of novels at the very top of fiction I have read.