Ebook Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time" Elena Ferrante 9781594139956 Books
Download As PDF : Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time" Elena Ferrante 9781594139956 Books
The incredible story continues in book three of the critically acclaimed Neapolitan Novels!
Since the publication of My Brilliant Friend, the first of the Neapolitan novels, Elena Ferrante's fame as one of our most compelling, insightful, and stylish contemporary authors has grown enormously. She has gained admirers among authors--Jhumpa Lahiri, Elizabeth Strout, Claire Messud, to name a few--and critics--James Wood, John Freeman, Eugenia Williamson, for example. But her most resounding success has undoubtedly been with readers, who have discovered in Ferrante a writer who speaks with great power and beauty of the mysteries of belonging, human relationships, love, family, and friendship.
In this third Neapolitan novel, Elena and Lila, the two girls whom readers first met in My Brilliant Friend, have become women. Lila married at sixteen and has a young son; she has left her husband and the comforts her marriage brought and now works as a common laborer. Elena has left the neighborhood, earned her college degree, and published a successful novel, all of which has opened the doors to a world of learned interlocutors and richly furnished salons. Both women have attempted are pushing against the walls of a prison that would have seen them living a life of misery, ignorance and submission. They are afloat on the great sea of opportunities that opened up during the nineteen-seventies. Yet they are still very much bound to each other by a strong, unbreakable bond.
Ebook Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time" Elena Ferrante 9781594139956 Books
"This is the third of the four books in Ferrante"s (whoever she is) Neapolitan series. It is a dark and totally engrossing examination of a friendship, a culture, a period of time, the role of women in society and marriage. And gorgeously written. I could't bear to put it down when I finished it and so went right to the fourth book. But only a few pages into it I realized I needed a break.
While to me this is the best of the series, I don't think one can appreciate it without having read the first two--which is not a hardship. Fortunately each book provides an annotated cast of characters, including (thank God!) nicknames, family relationships, and--if you've read the preceding books--brief reminders of what has gone on before, reminders that will only be cryptic to those who haven't immersed themselves in what came before. After I finish book four I will probably go back and read the first one, "My Brilliant Friend," again, to give me the benefit of both hindsight and foresight."
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Tags : Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay (The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Middle Time ) [Elena Ferrante] on . The incredible story continues in book three of the critically acclaimed Neapolitan Novels! <BR> Since the publication of My Brilliant Friend,Elena Ferrante,Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay (The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time"),Large Print Press,1594139954,Historical,Sagas,Domestic fiction,Female friendship,Historical fiction,Large type books,Naples (Italy) - History - 20th century,Single mothers,Social classes,Women novelists,FICTION / Historical / General,FICTION / Literary,Fiction,Fiction / Historical,Fiction / Sagas,Fiction-Historical,Fiction/Historical - General,Fiction/Sagas,GENERAL,General Adult,United States
Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time" Elena Ferrante 9781594139956 Books Reviews :
Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay The Neapolitan Novels Thorndike Press Large Print Basic "Middle Time" Elena Ferrante 9781594139956 Books Reviews
- I loved the first book of the trilogy and recommended it to pretty much everyone I know who reads serious literature and a fair number of people who might not. It is also the case that I was once a huge student of Italiant culture and lived in the house of some prominant leftist newspaper people as an exchange student in high-school. So, the events of this book speak to a deep (if somewhat cooled) passion of mine that other readers might or might not share. However, all the same, I found the second and third books altogether more difficult to read. While the writing is phenomenal in its minute psychological detail and insights into class and gender and how ideology gets used as a currency in social games, it is difficult and not always pleasant reading -- a slog at times-- as the inner-conflicts of the narrative become more intense and her personality less pleasant. I was never going to give up, but I didn't always find joy in this book. In short read it, but save it for that moment in your life when you have the patience to deal with a literary friend who is difficult, conflicted, and at times even unlikeable.
- This is the third of the four books in Ferrante"s (whoever she is) Neapolitan series. It is a dark and totally engrossing examination of a friendship, a culture, a period of time, the role of women in society and marriage. And gorgeously written. I could't bear to put it down when I finished it and so went right to the fourth book. But only a few pages into it I realized I needed a break.
While to me this is the best of the series, I don't think one can appreciate it without having read the first two--which is not a hardship. Fortunately each book provides an annotated cast of characters, including (thank God!) nicknames, family relationships, and--if you've read the preceding books--brief reminders of what has gone on before, reminders that will only be cryptic to those who haven't immersed themselves in what came before. After I finish book four I will probably go back and read the first one, "My Brilliant Friend," again, to give me the benefit of both hindsight and foresight. - This is volume three of the author's tetralogy "The Neapolitan Tales," which is, in my opinion, a great literary work. From a storytelling point of view, the pace gets faster and faster from one book to the next, until I was totally engaged and on the edge of my seat, sometimes gasping at the turn that events had taken. The characters, who are children in volume one, were at first difficult for me to distinguish among, but become increasingly singular as the successive volumes follow their development into adulthood and delve deeper and deeper into their lives. Most compelling for me were the narrator's reflections on her own thoughts and feelings and those of the other characters. For example, at one point she says that she realizes that she could be both happy and sad at the same time. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought about that, and yes, I realized that I, too, have that capacity. In other words, she has the ability to take particular details of feeling, translate them into psychological concepts, and universalize them. I'm totally hooked.
- This trilogy has been reviewed by so many people, that there probably isn’t anything new to say. I’ll say this though - I think the books leave the door wide open for HBO to improve on this series. Look, I loved the first book. I liked the second one, and I had trouble finishing this, the third. I’m just not that interested in the narrator anymore. Her beautiful friend is a lot more interesting, intelligent, and compassionate. And I guess that’s the point of it all, that Elena is a bit of a fraud, and her brilliant friend Lila is the real deal. The first book is beautifully written, and I bought the second and third right away. However, unlike say JK Rowling, whose Potter books went from great to incredible, these follow-ups do not live up to the promise of the first. This third one wasn’t worth the read. You just might want to watch the HBO show instead of reading the rest.
- I was pretty disappointed when I got to the last chapter. I won't say what happened because I don't want to spoil the book for others. Lenu is heading for a big disappointment, I think. I will read the fourth book just to find out what happens. I started reading these books in the first place because the two girls and myself are the same age. I thought a lot about my younger life and compared it to theirs. The sixties were not an easy time to be a young girl or teenager, whether in the US or Italy. My teenage life was certainly not as fraught by danger and violence as theirs. I did not enjoy being reminded of the sexism of the sixties and the overwhelming power of males over females. We have come a long way but we are NOT DONE YET!
- I thoroughly enjoyed the Neapolitan quartet. Elena Ferrante's narrative drive kept the story moving through all four books. The evolving story was captivating; the desire to see where it would end was more involving than any series of this length I have read. Actually, I'm not sure I have ever read a series of this length, another testament to the power of the story. The writing, while not elegant, was never less than capable, and the translation seemed to be excellent. I did at times become frustrated by Lena's continual obsession with comparing herself to Lila. That she was never satisfied to accept herself as she was without agonizing over whether she was better or worse than her friend seemed a way to waste her life in torment. I'm sure many readers associate the series with women's books, but, to me, it just a very good story by a woman that happens to illuminate some very unsavory and inadequate men.
