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A review by ladislara
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this last book of the series, I'm really puzzled and fascinated about the confluence of actors in this story.
First, we have the true author, the one who actually put pen to paper to write the words in the book and uses the pseudonym "Elena Ferrante". We know almost nothing about them. Then we have Elena Ferrante, the pseudonym, an Italian woman who has born in Naples and has published several books. Then we have Elena Grecco, an 66 years old Italian writer who is the fictional narrator of the book we have in front of us and is writing it in light of the disappearance of her childhood friend. Then we have still Elena Grecco, the character of this story, that starts as a little girl and goes through all the tribulations in the book. And then on top of that, we have Lila, whose influence over the writing is always mysterious and at the same time subtle and undeniable.
That being said, I had different expectations for the ending, but I can see how this was an ending best fitting for this story. I loved book #3, but I'm not a huge fan of where the author took the story in this last book.
But nevertheless, I need to recognize Elena Ferrante's mastery in taking the characters on this journey and making them incredibly complex and deep. It's also really interesting to see Elena's -the character in the book- voice changing to finally become Elena Grecco, the narrator.
I think this was one of the things that surprised me the most, the puzzle of this person who's narrating the story. The true author had such a skill to grow these characters -the two Elena Grecco's- who seem so different in the beginning but in the end evolve to converge into each other.
First, we have the true author, the one who actually put pen to paper to write the words in the book and uses the pseudonym "Elena Ferrante". We know almost nothing about them. Then we have Elena Ferrante, the pseudonym, an Italian woman who has born in Naples and has published several books. Then we have Elena Grecco, an 66 years old Italian writer who is the fictional narrator of the book we have in front of us and is writing it in light of the disappearance of her childhood friend. Then we have still Elena Grecco, the character of this story, that starts as a little girl and goes through all the tribulations in the book. And then on top of that, we have Lila, whose influence over the writing is always mysterious and at the same time subtle and undeniable.
That being said, I had different expectations for the ending, but I can see how this was an ending best fitting for this story. I loved book #3, but I'm not a huge fan of where the author took the story in this last book.
But nevertheless, I need to recognize Elena Ferrante's mastery in taking the characters on this journey and making them incredibly complex and deep. It's also really interesting to see Elena's -the character in the book- voice changing to finally become Elena Grecco, the narrator.
I think this was one of the things that surprised me the most, the puzzle of this person who's narrating the story. The true author had such a skill to grow these characters -the two Elena Grecco's- who seem so different in the beginning but in the end evolve to converge into each other.