The Lying Life of Adults: A Novel
Named one of 2016’s most influential people by TIME Magazine and frequently touted as a future Nobel Prize-winner, Elena Ferrante has become one of the world’s most read and beloved writers. With this new novel about the transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante proves once again that she deserves her many accolades.
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The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
322 pages
What’s it about?
"Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly." Giovanni is a 12-year-old girl living in Naples when she overhears this remark. It unmoors her. She no longer knows what to believe about herself and those around her. This marks the beginning of a detachment from her parents. As she tries to figure out who she is (beautiful or ugly, kind or spiteful, smart or cunning) she begins to understand all the lies the adults around her are advancing. Most of these lies revolve around sex. I wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars....
What did it make me think about?
Elena Ferrante has such a unique writing style. I really enjoyed all four of the novels that make up the "Neopolitan Quartet" and have been looking forward to reading this newest book. Her stories are distinctly Italian, always told from a feminist perspective, and contain some really interesting characters.
Should I read it?
This book seemed lighter than the the earlier novels in the Neopolitan Quartet. Yet the story shared many of the same themes. Elena Ferrante is able to capture the angst of those tumultuous teenage years so well. I hope that we see more of Giovanna in the next book Elena Ferrante writes.
Quote-
"I didn't intend to be sarcastic. Part of me really wished, at that point, to discuss with him the bad that , while you seem to be good, gradually or suddenly spreads through your mind, your stomach, your whole body. Where does it come from Papa- I wanted to say to him- how do you control it, and why does it not sweep away the good but , rather, coexists with it."
If you liked this try-
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Milkman by Anna Burns
The Hearts Of Men by Nickolas Butler
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
322 pages
What’s it about?
"Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly." Giovanni is a 12-year-old girl living in Naples when she overhears this remark. It unmoors her. She no longer knows what to believe about herself and those around her. This marks the beginning of a detachment from her parents. As she tries to figure out who she is (beautiful or ugly, kind or spiteful, smart or cunning) she begins to understand all the lies the adults around her are advancing. Most of these lies revolve around sex. I wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars....
What did it make me think about?
Elena Ferrante has such a unique writing style. I really enjoyed all four of the novels that make up the "Neopolitan Quartet" and have been looking forward to reading this newest book. Her stories are distinctly Italian, always told from a feminist perspective, and contain some really interesting characters.
Should I read it?
This book seemed lighter than the the earlier novels in the Neopolitan Quartet. Yet the story shared many of the same themes. Elena Ferrante is able to capture the angst of those tumultuous teenage years so well. I hope that we see more of Giovanna in the next book Elena Ferrante writes.
Quote-
"I didn't intend to be sarcastic. Part of me really wished, at that point, to discuss with him the bad that , while you seem to be good, gradually or suddenly spreads through your mind, your stomach, your whole body. Where does it come from Papa- I wanted to say to him- how do you control it, and why does it not sweep away the good but , rather, coexists with it."
If you liked this try-
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Milkman by Anna Burns
The Hearts Of Men by Nickolas Butler
