My Brilliant Friend, by Elena Ferrante

I really wanted to love this novel.

It is so highly acclaimed.  It takes place in Italy.  It is one in a series of 4 books.  And it is about a friendship over the course of a lifetime.

But, alas, I didn’t care for it.  It was long, drawn out and too detailed.  It took forever for the author to get to the point and I don’t think the point was that interesting, never mind compelling enough to read further books on the subject.

Although the story is meant to be about a friendship between 2 girls growing up in poverty in Naples, Italy, the friendship felt very one-sided.  Elena is almost pathetically obsessed with her “friend” Lila, who is a snobbish, selfish girl who barely pays her mind.  And the theme continues throughout the book, with Elena living her life to please Lila, who doesn’t notice, nor care.

I don’t think I’d invest the time required to read through another of these books.  There was no cliffhanger at the end of the 1st one making me feel compelled to learn more.  I’d be more than happy to hear about what the other 3 books were about (which could probably be surmised in 3 sentences, 1 for each) and call it done!