Another great read along this theme is People Collide by Isle McElroy. I actually scrolled quickly through your post thinking, surely People Collide is in here. Mais non! It's my favorite read so far this year, and I won't stop yapping about it, as you can see.
Welcome back, Susan! I'm sorry you had to say good-bye to your dog, but good luck with your new job, I hope you'll love it. The action in "My Brilliant Friend" takes place in Naples, not in Milan. They're two completely different cities, two worlds apart, we could say, so much so that, in Milan, the story would probably have another development all together. And sorry, but I tried to read it, after my daughter insisted that I did, and found it... yes, really boring. I read just the first chapter, I don't remember exactly, or maybe the first 20 pages, and found Ferrante's writing dull and monotonous. Maybe, in the English translation, it sounds more interesting than in the original Italian.
Ah I was thinking Naples and typing Milan! Working too fast as always. I wish Substack came with copyeditors. Your daughter, I am sorry to tell you, is correct, as always. But an interesting experiment would be if you tried it in English?
I'm not sure, Susan. A book should work in any language, in my opinion. It's not the theme per se – I'm open to almost any kind of themes and subjects – I just found the writing uninteresting. There are plenty of books I want to read, and most are those you suggest.
If you want to argue with me, you totally can! I trust your judgment 100%, but I think there are some authors, or artists, we don't gel with. I love Dostoevsky, but many people, especially Russians, hate his novels. I can see why, but I still find him fascinating and readable. There's no accounting for taste.
Another great read along this theme is People Collide by Isle McElroy. I actually scrolled quickly through your post thinking, surely People Collide is in here. Mais non! It's my favorite read so far this year, and I won't stop yapping about it, as you can see.
Ooo adding to queue!
Welcome back, Susan! I'm sorry you had to say good-bye to your dog, but good luck with your new job, I hope you'll love it. The action in "My Brilliant Friend" takes place in Naples, not in Milan. They're two completely different cities, two worlds apart, we could say, so much so that, in Milan, the story would probably have another development all together. And sorry, but I tried to read it, after my daughter insisted that I did, and found it... yes, really boring. I read just the first chapter, I don't remember exactly, or maybe the first 20 pages, and found Ferrante's writing dull and monotonous. Maybe, in the English translation, it sounds more interesting than in the original Italian.
Ah I was thinking Naples and typing Milan! Working too fast as always. I wish Substack came with copyeditors. Your daughter, I am sorry to tell you, is correct, as always. But an interesting experiment would be if you tried it in English?
I'm not sure, Susan. A book should work in any language, in my opinion. It's not the theme per se – I'm open to almost any kind of themes and subjects – I just found the writing uninteresting. There are plenty of books I want to read, and most are those you suggest.
I’m not arguing with you, just curious! Many people agree with you about the English version as well anyway.
Oh you should definitely read Cassandra at the Wedding though. It does amazing things with language.
On my list it goes, thanks, Susan!
If you want to argue with me, you totally can! I trust your judgment 100%, but I think there are some authors, or artists, we don't gel with. I love Dostoevsky, but many people, especially Russians, hate his novels. I can see why, but I still find him fascinating and readable. There's no accounting for taste.