A World of Difference
I really enjoyed reading My Brilliant Friend, it felt like such an easy book to understand, especially compared some of the books we’ve been reading. I was a little worried when I was reading the character index in the beginning. It just kept going and going. But once I started reading, it all made sense. I liked how Ferrante would…
When I first started reading My Brilliant Friend, I thought the “brilliant friend” was Lila. She stands out as exceptionally intelligent, sharp, and fearless, someone whose brilliance seems to surpass everyone around her. Compared to her, Lenù feels more ordinary, more hardworking than gifted. But as I kept reading, I started to realize that the […]
Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend
While reading The Lover by Marguerite Duras, I was immediately struck by the unusual relationship of the story. The novel describes a relationship between a fifteen year old French girl and an older Chinese man in colonial Vietnam. Because of the large age difference, the story initially reminded me of another well known novel, Lolita […]
Georges Perec, W, or the Memory of Childhood
José María Arguedas, Deep Rivers
A lively swing of events rolls into place at the beginning of the novel, full of musical brilliance, unknown voices, and objects scattered across empty spaces. This is a book of wavering stars. And in this midst of it all there is a shadow of contempla…
Joseph Zobel, Black Shack Alley
I found Deep Rivers to be a bit of a slow read. I liked how the Quechua language was incorporated into the book. The translations and explanations of the words really moved the story forward and although I found myself forgetting a lot of them and having to look back for their translations, I enjoyed learning something new. I was…
