Customers say
Customers find this book series to be an excellent read with intricate storylines and brilliant writing, featuring very rich characters. The cultural backdrop is particularly engaging, with one customer noting how it carries readers through seven decades of social history. While some customers describe it as thoroughly engrossing, others find it boring, and several mention it’s depressing from start to finish. The book’s length receives mixed reactions, with several customers finding it long.
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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:
In one volume, the New York Times–bestselling epic about hardship and female friendship in postwar Naples that has sold over five million copies.
Beginning with My Brilliant Friend, the four Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante follow Elena and Lila, from their rough-edged upbringing in Naples, Italy, not long after WWII, through the many stages of their lives—and along paths that diverge wildly. Sometimes they are separated by jealousy or hostility or physical distance, but the bond between them is unbreakable, for better or for worse.
This volume includes all four novels: My Brilliant Friend; The Story of a New Name; Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay; and The Story of the Lost Child.
“Imagine if Jane Austen got angry and you’ll have some idea of how explosive these works are.” —The Australian
“Nothing you read about Elena Ferrante’s work prepares you for the ferocity of it.” —The New York Times
“An enduring masterpiece.” —The Atlantic
Our Top Reviews
Reviewer: Paulette Tracy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Loved her books!!!
Review: Excellent written and such an excellent and exciting story told about a special friendship. It includes strong emotions so well told you feel like you are standing right there witnessing it. I’ve seen the movies three times and read the books several times!!
Reviewer: Ellen Goldman
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: the amazing writing style, the complexity of the characters
Review: I powered through all four books even though there were many disturbing images and developments. Growing up in 1950’s Naples was complete foreign territory to me and terrifying in many ways as I had been raised in a more or less safe loving environment in Ohio where education was guaranteed and highly valued. I took away a number of valuable insights on relationships, raising children and personal development which I hope I don’t forget. Much of what happens through out the story is harsh and hard to accept which leads me to believe that this is not for everyone. The beauty of the writing and the fascination with Lila and Lenu did keep me glued until the end of the saga and I am sorry to have to move on other writing. I hope I’ve learned something about improving my own writing. I send heartfelt thanks to the author for this amazing work.
Reviewer: Lisabetta
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Remarkable, gripping; but not for the faint hearted
Review: These are not fairytales, but a genuine, quality reflection of the nitty-gritty, survival-of-the-fittest life facing Neopolitans in the years following WWII. I think Ferrante’s description of a friendship rife with the jealousies and corroding self-esteem issues that are completely understandable considering the family dynamics of that time & place is absolutely masterful. She so clearly grasps how the sociological and intimate family dynamics of that time could negatively influence emotional development, that there were periods where I strongly felt segments of her stories might be autobiographical.I can totally understand why anyone who is unfamiliar with the Italian national character or with the dark personal & regional struggles associated with post-WWII Italy might find Ferrante’s characters and stories out of the realm of possibility, and totally unlikeable; but her capturing of the human ethology of that era is realistic and gripping … though not for the faint-hearted! I found her characters and stories fascinating. I’m looking forward to reading more of her works.
Reviewer: Susan C
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Much Anticipated Read
Review: I’ve wanted to read this series for quite some time and after watching a few episodes of the TV series, finally decided to purchase the set. The books themselves are perfect but the outer box enclosing the set is very thin paperboard, not really strong enough to hold the books (and was already torn on arrival).
Reviewer: Kindle Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wonderful Novels
Review: I have finally read Elena Ferrante’s Napolitano Novels. It was a great pleasure to follow her storytelling. What a cast of characters! She gives us a wonderful description of all the people in her neighborhood. Worthy of reading.
Reviewer: Mark Corey
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Astounding
Review: Rarely, if ever, have I been so swept away by the breadth of a literary work as I have by this quartet. An indeterminate flow and ebb of psychological possibility; a meditation on the impact of social evolution on the history and myth that precede it; the profundity and purpose of art; the nuanced tributaries of feminism and antifeminism alike: These novels are heady and informative enough to belong in a classroom, readable enough to belong in a beach tote bag, and honest enough (sometimes excruciatingly so) to belong in one’s own self-reflection.In short, read these books, and don’t put them down until you’ve finished!
Reviewer: Gloria C.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Many recognizable characters
Review: I enjoyed that intense feelings, actions, and reactions were explored, expressed or repressed according to each character’s unique personality. There was a protagonist, but other characters were very much present and accounted for throughout.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer KRC
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Some of the best writing ever
Review: I loved the four books in this Neapolitan series. Ferrante makes the characters come alive; you care for them even though some of them are unpleasant–to say the least. The realism of the book makes a long-lasting impression. And the stories are captivating. Ferrante writes with ease and intensity of narration. The writing itself (even in translation) is beyond reproach. Ferrante’s writing is some of the best I have ever read. I taught literature for over four decades and would put these four books near the top of my top ten books you need to read.
Reviewer: martin h.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Elena Ferrante’s ‘Neapolitan Stories’ is a dazzling achievement. Bursting with larger than life – and mostly unpleasant – characters and barely controlled human emotions of the worst (mostly) and best (not often enough) kind, reading this story feels like having your head pushed under the surface of some slimy pool and watching, wide-eyed with shock and awe, the weird and scary life forms that inhabit the murky waters, yet reluctant to surface even though you are sometimes gasping for fresh air and release from all that ugliness. I often found myself shouting vigorously at the main character (in my head, of course), reprimanding her for her folly, foolishness and lack of common sense that had resulted in so many bad decisions, despite her towering intellect. But that is how Elena Ferrante captures the essence of human nature so well and connects her characters with her readers – and I say ‘BRAVO’ to her for that! To write a monumental story of this scale that holds the reader relentlessly from page one to ‘The End’ at almost 2,000 pages is a massive achievement deserving of a full five star rating, happily and freely given for so much fabulous entertainment, even if I do feel punch-drunk by the end of it.
Reviewer: Just wondering
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ce roman en quatre volumes m’a habitée pendant un mois – ou plutôt je l’ai habité pendant un mois – ou 60 ans? C’est une plongée dans l’Italie des années 1950 à 2000 à travers le regard d’une femme intelligente et aussi honnête que possible, avec comme fil rouge sa relation avec une amie d’enfance. Relation jamais simple, faite tour à tour d’admiration mutuelle et de répulsion, de solidarité et de désertion. Leurs visions de la vie, produits de personnalités et de destins différents, ne parviennent pas vraiment à être complémentaires, et leur dualité donne “du nerf” à l’oeuvre.Ce roman, à la fois construit et foisonnant de personnages, de tours et de détours, est aussi l’occasion d’une réflexion sur la création littéraire : ordonner le réel, n’est-ce pas forcément le trahir ?Le tout est d’une lecture très facile, à condition de se reporter souvent au tableau du début qui aide à re-situer les nombreux personnages.Par contre, je n’ai pas trouvé la traduction française très bonne, et les 2 derniers tomes n’étant pas encore parus en français, je les ai achetés en anglais : pas mieux à mon avis. Les mots qui expriment les sentiments, en particulier, me semblent souvent un peu “à côté”. Peut-être ces glissements viennent-ils du décalage entre le dialecte napolitain et l’italien. Si quelqu’un a un avis sur la question, ça m’intéresserait…
Reviewer: Lourdes Sola
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Porque além de boa literatura, é uma reflexão profunda sobre a condição das mulheres em um contexto social onde as pressões familiares são expostas de forma crua, e as perspectivas de libertação passam pelos dilemas bem explícitos de escapar delas – pobreza, violência , grilhões – e as saídas através da expressão dos talentos, logo redesenhadas pelas pressões sociais.
Reviewer: Gemini
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: As an avid viewer of the HBO series of the same name, I was compelled to read the book series to gain more detail and read in advance of the next HBO series 3 release. I was drawn into the two protagonists’ world of hard graft, poverty, resilience and above all an enduring, reliant friendship lasting a lifetime. Highly recommend this unforgettable book series.
Reviewer: Subhash Joshi
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It is the story of two friends and much more. It’ is a story of Italy. You feel like you lived in that part which you don’t visit.
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