Can anyone tell me what do they find good in Ferrante's work? I have been through the first of the Neapolitan Novels and I don't see it. I remember a pretty bland story (didn't help that I had been reading Erri de Luca, which also write about post-War Neapolitan youth with much more poetry), with some dull gimmicks (intensity shown by saying the same thing thrice). Apparently, it is on 35 shelves in here. How wrong are you people? How wrong am i?
I do like Ferrante; I think she's very good at portraying the more mundane aspects of life in a way that is strangely enthralling. I can understand why her work isn't for everyone though. I have always found the Neapolitan Novels hard to recommend for this reason - they simply follow two women from their childhoods through their adulthoods. It's hard to make them sound interesting. (I had a similar issue when I was trying to convince somebody to read 'Stoner').
I thought I was the only one
Just came across this thread. Agreed, I thought My Brilliant Friend was extremely mid.