The Neapolitan novel ‘The Great Friend’, by Elena Ferrante, has topped several bestseller lists, and has even been described as the “greatest” book of the 21st century. Although the secrets of its success seem clear, the identity of its author remains shrouded in mystery…
Elena Ferrante is one of the most acclaimed authors in the world. However, it is almost impossible to find interviews with her, since maintains an extremely discreet profile to keep his identity secret. Today, readers don’t know who Ferrante is. What they do know is that he is making history.
“In an environment where narcissism is overwhelmingly present, Elena Ferrante has decided to erase her ego,” she explains to ‘Euronews Culture’ Enrica Ferrarastudent of Italian literature at Trinity College Dublin and novelist, about the Italian writer Ferrante.
Earlier this month, The New York Times Book Review placed his book ‘The Great Friend’ at number one on his list of the 100 best books of the 21st century, based on a survey carried out among authors, intellectuals and critics. A classification that was supported by readers of ‘The New York Times’, who placed the novel in the eighth place on his list of the 100 best books.
Since its publication, the first volume of the four-book series set in Naples has sold more than 10 million copies in 40 countries and has inspired a successful television series.
The friendship between Elena Greco (Lenù) and Raffaella Cerullo (Lila), two intelligent and brave girls from a working-class neighborhood in the 1950s, has captivated readers from all over the worldunleashing what is known as ‘Ferrante fever’.
But what makes this Italian novel so special? How does a story so rooted in Italian history, politics and society Has it resonated with readers around the world? To answer these questions, ‘Euronews Culture’ spoke with Enrica Ferrara and some bookworms from around the world.**
The power of female friendship
‘The Great Friend’ talks about female friendship and the relationship between mother and daughter like no other writer has done before. That’s what makes the story globally relevant“, says Ferrara.
“No one understood us, only the two of us understood each other – I thought -“, writes Lenù, the protagonist of ‘The Great Friend’ about her relationship with Lila, her intrepid best friend who always stands out at school. The friendship between the two girls is the true protagonist of the story and it appears to be one of the key elements of Ferrante’s success.
Ferrara believes that What resonates with women is the “visceral type of writing” by Ferrante, which honestly describes the complex nature of relationships.
In ‘The Great Friend’, in fact, there is no room for idealization. Page after page, the author reveals the mixture of competition, deep admiration, shame and envy that unites Lina and Lenù since their meeting in primary school, which makes it easier for them to women identify with the characters.
And Maya, a reader who lives in London, agrees. “The way Ferrante writes about female friendship It is so unique that I have not read another book like it in my life,” he explains to ‘Euronews Culture’.
Give space to vulnerabilities
However, Ferrante did not get the first place on the ‘New York Times’ list only thanks to his followers. According to Ferrara, some people who do not identify as women They are equally interested in discovering the female perspective. “Not all men are sexist,” she adds.
Additionally, he believes that some men may be attracted to the vulnerability of the male characters from ‘The Great Friend’: “Men are trapped in a patriarchal cage, just as women“.
In Ferrante’s world, some characters, like the powerful Solara, are the reincarnation of the rich, heterosexual white man. On the other hand, others like Antonio Cappuccio, Lenù’s first boyfriend, are kind souls, defenseless and exposed to this power dynamic, explains Ferrara.
“Ferrante describe a homophobic world dominated by violence in which even men feel uncomfortable, and That’s what makes the book attractive to male readers.“, says Ferrara.
ADVERTISINGEconomic inequalities
Beyond allowing men connect with your vulnerabilitiesFrederic, a Belgian reader who owns a bookstore in the heart of Brussels, believes that the key ingredient that makes ‘The Great Friend’ so universal is its social and economic portrait of the world.
“It is for the Belgians, the French, the Germans, those who are neither rich nor powerful, it speaks to them,” he adds. In fact, the themes of economic inequalities, social injustice and corruption They are more than just the context of the story: they define it from beginning to end.
In the book, both Lila and Lenù are diligent students, but since one’s family is more open to the possibility of her daughter studying, lTwo girls end up leading markedly different lives..
Asia, an Italian piano teacher, explains this concept very clearly: “The story of Lila and Lenù shows that social contexts and people’s roots prevail over their natural temperament“.
ADVERTISINGNaples, the city of all
Another compelling aspect of ‘The Great Friend’ is Naplesthe city in which the story takes place within the il Rione neighborhood.* “Naples is like a imploded world“says Ferrara. “Everything is confined to a neighborhood, a microcosm that acquires global relevance.”
Naples not only arouses the curiosity of Italian readersbut everyone feels it as their home, even Maya, who grew up in London but is of Brazilian origin: “I didn’t know the geographical and historical context of the book, but I felt connected to it“, dice.
“Having some untranslated Italian words and similar nicknames for people gave the impression idea of a communitya family like any other,” adds Maya.
To preserve the magic of the stage, Ferrante counted on the invaluable help of the translators who worked on the booktranslating Neapolitan words, vivid expressions and character names, but maintaining the original essence of the story.
ADVERTISINGIdentities without borders
“She wanted to say something different: wanted to fade away; “I wanted every single one of her cells to disappear, for nothing of her to ever be found,” writes Lenù, describing Lila’s need to disappear.
Although Elena Ferrante shares a name with Lenù, she is also close to Lila in her passion to disappear. Elena Ferrante is in fact a pseudonym, no one knows her true identity, her history or even her gender.
Elena Ferrante”It’s an empty container that we can all relate to.“adds Ferrara. Indeed, the fact of not knowing who Elena Ferrante is has given rise to unlimited possibilities of identitiesmaking it easier for everyone to resonate with the author and, by extension, her characters.
Each character in ‘The Great Friend’ is wrapped in an aura of mystery where everything blurs and identities have no limits.
ADVERTISING“Ferrante wants to create a world in which there is an absolute openness to the otherwhether female, male, sexual, transsexual, and the technology of the non-human world, and this is what makes Elena Ferrante so attractive to readers.”
