My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante ***

Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo are two exceptionally bright girls growing up in a poor section of Naples in the 1950s. Elena, our narrator, suffers from impostor syndrome—no amount of success is sufficient. In spite of her understanding everyone—peers, teachers, parents—she never can reconcile her place in the community. Elena (Lenù) is obsessed with herself and her smarter friend Lila. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is the first in a series. Book one ends with Lila’s marriage, a sad culmination to the coming-of-age of Elena and her peers.

In the beginning, Elena’s friend Lila inspires her. When Lila wants, she can be the smartest person in the class and win all the academic competitions. Even though Lila does not go to middle school, she learns the curriculum better than Elena from library books and tutors Elena.

Lila is strong and confident. She designs shoes for her father and brother to manufacture. When she is attacked by two brothers who drive around the neighborhood and pull girls into their car, she pulls out a knife and scares them off, even cutting one of them. She is a force to be reckoned with until she hits puberty when she changes.

All the girls changed when they reached puberty.

 “What had happened? On the street the men looked at all of us, pretty, less pretty, ugly, and not so much the youths as the grown men. If was like that in the neighborhood and outside of it, and Ada, Carmela, I myself—especially after the incident with the Solaras [the brothers above]—had learned instinctively to lower our eyes.”

Eventually, Elena went to high school. Very few students from her neighborhood attended, and she was still one of the best students. Her confidence from this accomplishment faded when she understood that she attended a poor school. As her experience expanded beyond her neighborhood, her understanding of her poverty and disadvantage increased and her sense of accomplishment and opportunity decreased.

 “I remembered what Pasquale had once said: that my high school, even if it was a classical high school, was surely not one of the best. I concluded he was right.”

This book, a fable of poverty vs intelligence and sensitivity where poverty wins, was not for me. Misogyny and patriarchy also win. The writing and characterization were excellent.

Echoes

Lila Cerullo teaches herself to read. Throughout the story Lila effortlessly (from Elena’s point of view) also learns math, formal Italian, writing, Greek, and Latin. Another book where someone independently learns how to read is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Both books feature strong support from the girl’s teacher against the parents. This talent helps Matilda, but not Lila, nor Elena.

The closing wedding scene (1960) is similar to the opening wedding scene (1900) in The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. In both cases, there is a tension between to social demands of the occasion and the poverty of the celebrants. The guests cannot afford to participate but do their best.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.