This book is the sequel to a book that was recently considered the best book of the 21st century by The New York Times.
Do I agree? Absolutely.
I find Ferrante's writing to be like unraveling a ball of yarn down a flight of stairs, once you start the force of it won't allow you to stop, and I think it will deserve its flowers, whether she's telling me this story or writing a grocery store list.
But, after recognizing that every accolade that comes to this author and this book series in particular is deserved I ask myself "Did all of these people feel it like I did?".
You see, it isn't 1962 and my life is vastly different, but since the beginning I related to Elena's feeling to loving and caring for Lila, valuing her opinion over everyone else's, wanting to be better than her while always having to come to terms with the fact that she was always three steps ahead of her. This book brought shape to the fact that Elena fails to find value in what she does which is why her ideals change on a whim when Lila presents her with new information.
Elena (like myself) fails to consider her own priviledge in all of this. Lila usually finds these new passions and changes her behavior and priorities out of necessity and, sometimes, survival. Understanding her perspective comes from reading in between the lines, because Elena, even fifty years later, writes with the passion of the very same moment the events occured.
Through every passage you feel Lenù's rage, planning, how she forgets herself when she leaves for the first time, her need to escape while simultaniously needing to be sure that Lila approves of her moves, because, outside of running from her mother's control, she doesn't know why she makes them.
All of those feelings felt familiar and frustrating at the same time. Urging her to see more value in what she does seems like fighting with myself about the same thing. I urge her to forget Lila but I know exactly why she can't leave her behind, because she knows it was her mind that allowed her to even believe all of it was possible in the first place.
Overall it is a book that deeply affected me, it depicts a relationship of friends through a time and place when making choices for oneself wasn't fully possible, they live in a place were leaving isn't possible, and yet in their minds they imagined another possibilities. So in their minds, they're the only ones who fully understand eachother, while also growing into completely different roles that make them incompatible. I'm excited to read what follows