My Brilliant Friend

The Neapolitan Novels, Book 1

By: Elena Ferrante

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Now an HBO series: the first volume in the New York Times bestselling “enduring masterpiece” (The Atlantic) about a lifelong friendship between two women from Naples

Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship.

This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between two women.

©2012 GO Team! Enterprises (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Hillary Huber's subtly shaded performance couldn't be better as she reveals the complexities that separate and connect the two women.... Huber's delivery of this well-plotted, absorbing story of friendship will leave listeners wanting more." (AudioFile)

Fabulous writer

Coming of age has never been explored on such an intimate level. Gripping and with beautiful language. It's particularly good at enlightening the economics of our living conditions.

Amazing, engaging, moving

I found this story of two friends in a Neopolitan neighborhood vivid, fascinating, and beautifully done. As in Proust, the adventures are quotidian and the pace is slow, but the book brings to life a place and time that felt very real to me, thoughfully and even lovingly recreated, in spite of telling about the pain of growing up in a relatively poor part of town. I read and listen to many novels, and this for me was one of the best I have heard. I already have given the novel as a gift to three people... I heard it in English and in Italian. The Italian is clearly superior, sparkling and more full of emotion, but the English version works our fine, toning down what could appear melodramatic in English and is perfectly natural in Italian. It may not be your cup of tea, but if it is (and chances are high it may be), I am sure you will love it, as I have and many, many readers around the world.

A captivating first section

I read on Wikipedia that the four volumes of the series constitute a single work, according to the pseudonymous author, and so it is fudging a little to be writing a review of only the first quarter. I do not know how long it will be before I get to those installments, though, and it's convenient to be able to share my impressions so far with anyone thinking of also plunging in at the beginning. It is a thrilling experience to begin to understand why the work has gotten so much attention.

This first book has a large number of large characters surrounding the two girls at the center as they negotiate the passage from girlhood to womanhood during the 1950s in Italy. There were a few times where I had to concentrate hard to keep straight some of the secondary characters and what they were in relation to the narrator. Her friend Lila is the one whose presence looms most forcefully throughout the story, with her contradictions and her powerful personality, and it was a surprise at one point in the book when it is out of her mouth that she says the words that are the title of this volume, referring to the narrator, instead of the other way around. The contrast between them is not wide as viewed by the reader but feels wider through the subjectivity of the narrator as early teen. It is not so much that this is an unreliable narrator as one whose emotions and judgments are conditioned by her precise situation at the time. While she is studious and feels unattractive, you get the feeling that it is only a little distance to Lila's mental capabilities and innate ability to captivate men's attentions all told. And if Lila is portrayed as reckless and daring, it is the narrator who finds out that she has taken bigger chances with boyfriends and men during the course of the book.

And because of this I am hedging a bit with my Audible star rating because I need to leave some room for the successive volumes to surpass the establishing one. I hope that will happen, anyway.

The audiobook narration by Hillary Huber felt like just the right performance to complement the book, warm, mature without prior judgment. I am looking forward to listening to the other volumes in the series presented in her voice. I am guessing that the stakes are going to be raised as the characters navigate their ways through early adulthood, and maybe some changes brought about by national and global changes as they move in to the 1960s and beyond.

The world is a frightening place in this book. The household is no sanctuary for a child, nor is school, and unless a child has the luck of being accepted into some organization that protects its members (the city government, organized crime syndicates, a wealthy ancestry) they are under enormous pressure to clutch after whatever morsels of success come within reach. The narrator found herself talented at school subjects, though not as much out as a natural gift as a willingness to devote long hours after school to her lessons. By contrast, her friend Lila did have a certain instinctual genius in a number of areas, but had the additional handicap of being held back by even more meager family circumstances. When Lila thinks she has found a way out of her predicament by the end of the book, you have a feeling of impending ruin because nothing in the story has suggested that this world would offer up any easy solutions to anyone there. It is all beautifully depicted.

Captivating

I read this because of a glowing recommendation of a friend. I was captivated from the first paragraph. While it is the story of a fractured, somewhat dysfunctional relationship between two girls it was, to me, a study of a different culture. As I am 1st generation Italian American I understand, and grew
up with, the family dynamics as written in this novel. And although many readers may be amused by the Italian family values post WW II, I can assure you that was how it was whether in Naples or the US.
I am looking forward to reading the second part of this trilogy as we follow these girls who are both friends & rivals into their adulthood.

minutia and tedium are prevalent

Would you try another book from Elena Ferrante and/or Hillary Huber?

not from Ferrante

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I didn't care

Which scene was your favorite?

none

Was My Brilliant Friend worth the listening time?

definitely not. I never felt engaged. I couldn't relate to the women

Any additional comments?

no

Not Brilliant.....

The ending did not tie to the beginning. I didn't feel the author took the story to a conclusion.

The First Book is Fantastic!

After watching the series on HBO we couldn't wait for the next 3 books to be made into series. So...we decided to listen to the audiobooks. What a disappointment! The narrator's voice is the most monotone, unexpressionless, uninterested, and uninteresting as can be. The unhappiness, relentless misery, annoying characters, depressive narrative, no spark of life to these characters lives whatsoever.

We could only get up to Chapter 51 in the second book and finally had to abandon it. The neverending misery was just too much. And, again, the narrator's voice made it even moreso.

We love Audible and it's not often that we return audiobooks. However, these 3 books will be returned.

Good - but why wasn't it edited?

The reader was good, but she would mispronounce the names every once in a while, which pulled you out of the story completely. Odd that it wasn't caught and fixed before being released.

Italian Soap Opera

the inner workings of a Neapolitan. ghetto are not very interesting having grown up in one

one of my favorite books

I had read it a few years ago. This was our book club selection and was pressed to read it in 4 days so chose to listen to it. Excellent performance! Thank you Hillary Huber.