This makes me feel better! They were so well written but such a bummer tone wise. I’m glad I read them, but do not feel the need to reread or engage with them further.
I agree with you on Ferrante but everyone seems to love the series so much I thought maybe there was something wrong with me? I felt like the characters were both angry and flat, but I recognize that I tend to have issues with books in translation so was wondering if that was where the disconnect was. Love this insight.
I felt the same way! I get why they're beloved, but I didn't enjoy reading them. It felt like a slog through books 3 and 4. So I, too, thought I was the problem. I didn't even consider the translation bit, funnily enough! I'm thinking through what I've last read in translation - I didn't have the same issue with Italo Calvino, and the books I read translated from Polish recently were just depressing in general topic wise, so that's not a helpful sample. This sounds like the perfect invitation to do more digging. *immediately schemes*
It was really hyped, a lot. So I felt like you did, Natalie, like I Should like it. And the basis sounded wonderful, women's friendships. But it was depressing. Have no idea who did the translation, but it just doesn't seem like that much could be " lost in translation," to make a silly pun.
What I mean by in translation is really that the text originates from culture different than my westernized/American one and so culturally maybe I see angry and tough exterior but that is part of Italian culture to be more reserved than loud ass Americans etc. etc.
That could well be. My husband's paternal grandmother, the family matriarch, left Lucca (Tuscany) in 1908 for US, had the reputation of being a woman whose words—few and far between— when uttered, had consequence. She came accompanied only by her 12-yr old daughter, first landing in NYC, then on to San Francisco, where she founded a boarding house/restaurant in North Beach. Put her son, born in US to a second husband, my husband Paul's father, through pharmacy college/ UC Berkeley. Paul has equal parts Italian and Irish heritage, and always said Sunday dinners with the Irish side were fun times, with Nonni (Italian side plus his aunt, uncle) not so much. Also, things were hard back then. Hard times.
To me, Ferrante‘s work illustrates brilliantly, the terrible suffering that patriarchy wreaks on women, and if you look deeper, on men as well. I think the cultures of the southern Mediterranean, especially the rural and/or impoverished ones more closely resemble the mores of the Middle East than Europe.
Seeing the really excellent TV serialization My Brilliant Friend, then reading all four novels, helped me understand, as a Greek-American, some of the dysfunction in my own family. Patriarchy does such damage on so many levels that even “escaping “ through great effort and education may not heal all its wounds. For me, understanding this is crucial, as well as working, internally and externally, towards a world where patriarchy and its culture of domination is the exception rather than the norm.
I too donated all my Ferrante books. Ditto on the overall tone.
This makes me feel better! They were so well written but such a bummer tone wise. I’m glad I read them, but do not feel the need to reread or engage with them further.
I agree with you on Ferrante but everyone seems to love the series so much I thought maybe there was something wrong with me? I felt like the characters were both angry and flat, but I recognize that I tend to have issues with books in translation so was wondering if that was where the disconnect was. Love this insight.
I felt the same way! I get why they're beloved, but I didn't enjoy reading them. It felt like a slog through books 3 and 4. So I, too, thought I was the problem. I didn't even consider the translation bit, funnily enough! I'm thinking through what I've last read in translation - I didn't have the same issue with Italo Calvino, and the books I read translated from Polish recently were just depressing in general topic wise, so that's not a helpful sample. This sounds like the perfect invitation to do more digging. *immediately schemes*
It was really hyped, a lot. So I felt like you did, Natalie, like I Should like it. And the basis sounded wonderful, women's friendships. But it was depressing. Have no idea who did the translation, but it just doesn't seem like that much could be " lost in translation," to make a silly pun.
What I mean by in translation is really that the text originates from culture different than my westernized/American one and so culturally maybe I see angry and tough exterior but that is part of Italian culture to be more reserved than loud ass Americans etc. etc.
That could well be. My husband's paternal grandmother, the family matriarch, left Lucca (Tuscany) in 1908 for US, had the reputation of being a woman whose words—few and far between— when uttered, had consequence. She came accompanied only by her 12-yr old daughter, first landing in NYC, then on to San Francisco, where she founded a boarding house/restaurant in North Beach. Put her son, born in US to a second husband, my husband Paul's father, through pharmacy college/ UC Berkeley. Paul has equal parts Italian and Irish heritage, and always said Sunday dinners with the Irish side were fun times, with Nonni (Italian side plus his aunt, uncle) not so much. Also, things were hard back then. Hard times.
To me, Ferrante‘s work illustrates brilliantly, the terrible suffering that patriarchy wreaks on women, and if you look deeper, on men as well. I think the cultures of the southern Mediterranean, especially the rural and/or impoverished ones more closely resemble the mores of the Middle East than Europe.
Seeing the really excellent TV serialization My Brilliant Friend, then reading all four novels, helped me understand, as a Greek-American, some of the dysfunction in my own family. Patriarchy does such damage on so many levels that even “escaping “ through great effort and education may not heal all its wounds. For me, understanding this is crucial, as well as working, internally and externally, towards a world where patriarchy and its culture of domination is the exception rather than the norm.