The Lying Life of Adults

I nice read

Voice can make or break a novel; it is the essence of the story, in my humble opinion. Neapolitan author Elena Ferrante’s latest has a fulsome, assertive, witty, emotional, and resonant voice that sears through the narrative and rattled deliciously in my bones. Protagonist Giovanna (Gianni) is a 12 year-old pretty girl, daughter of educated parents. Her parents hobnob with wealthy and influential professors, scholars, and outspoken political dissidents, and have expected that Gianni follow in their footsteps.Giovanni worships her father, but she’s also a critical observer. Things at home begin to break down when she hears her refined father compare her to her Aunt Vittoria, the black sheep of her father, Andrea’s, family, a free spirit and someone Andrea calls “ugly.” When Gianni overhears that, she’s stunned, and immediately concludes that she must be ugly like Vittoria, and demands to meet her. THE LYING LIFE is a gem of a coming-of-age tale.Vittoria seems like a classic Borderline Personality Disorder with hints of an untreated breezy bipolar disorder on the side. Her potty mouth could set a sailor’s teeth on edge or make your grandmother faint. Yet, she evoked empathy in me, with her contrasting and unrealistic eternal love (more like lust) for a boyfriend who died twenty years ago, and who looked coarse and minimally educated. He was a cop and petty grifter with a wife and children, all who Vittoria has grown as close to as family. Vittoria is blatant, blunt, and confident of her perceptions.Gianni, after a shocking discovery regarding her parents, begins hanging out with her aunt, in the seedier part of Naples, and her aunt’s self-made and religious family. Gianni was raised by atheist parents, as were all their friends, who are largely academics. Gianni also meets the blue collar kin that her father rejected.Over the course of the following years, Gianni learns some harsh lessons and hears even harsher secrets about her father and mother. She decides her life is her own to do as she pleases, and becomes the rebellious daughter who shirks her tony friends and gets an education in sex, love, and its full-throated realities. Throughout it all, Giovanni’s voice is riveting, exuberant, and commanding.Themes of identity, betrayal, and all that a bildungsroman contains, in a tight ball of fire. Not one dull moment. Charismatic, engrossing, and bold, it will surely be one of my favorites of the year. “Lies, lies, adults forbid them and yet they tell so many.”

I've read many, if not most of Ferrante's books, including the four-volume 'Neapolitan Novels'.As with many of the novels I cited above, her work comprises a unique blend of psychological, emotional, and motivational questions regarding her protagonists and their relationships with others, a rich background of social and even political commentary, and plots that follow the characters' development over decades. What makes Ferrante's writing, and the 'Neapolitan Novels' in particular, especially evocative, is the intense depth of her characters and their behaviors. Many readers' and critics' reviews of Ferrante's books cite unfavorably their comparison with the 'Neapolitan Novels'. This was true of 'The Lying Life of Adults' as well. I simply don’t buy that attitude. Different works by an author may certainly be at different levels of writing style and literacy but, in the end, they are different, each to be viewed and read, in its own right. The 'Lying Life of Adults' is, in essence, a 'coming of age' novel. Giannina, the adolescent protagonist, is forced to cope with the vicissitudes of maturation – impaired self-image vis-a-vis her environment, sex, emotional conflicts, being manipulated and learning to manipulate, distorted and idiosyncratic perceptions of her relationships with others, etc. – all on the background of family disintegration. Ferrante, however, doesn't write 'standard' books, so this is not a stereotypical 'young-girl-goes-evolves-into-a-woman-after-trials-and-tribulations' story, and it's decidedly not YA. What it is, is a subtle, nuanced combination of stream-of-consciousness/self-analysis, with increasingly aggressive and self-destructive interactions between the protagonist and those around her.'The Lying Life of Adults' isn't the Neapolitan Novels - nor should it be compared to them. Of the several post-Neopolitan Novels books by Ferrante I've read, this is the best. A 'coming-of-age' novel, but so much more. Perceptive, incisive, original - a very worthwhile read.

Having read all of Ferrante, including interviews and essays and letters, it's fair to say that I'm an informed fan of her extraordinary work. This novel is lovely and powerful in terms of its character development, insights into girlhood, and burgeoning sexuality. Light years better than most fiction nowadays and within the past 40 years. Where it falls very short is in minor errors of description (A man stands next to a car; then he is behind the wheel. A woman opens a door; then she is seated). It also fails in sense of place: It could be Naples, or could be Berlin; the place names in Naples are superficial, and this exposes the likelihood that Ferrante has more knowledge of Naples as an historian rather than a writer who actually grew up there. Time, too, has little meaning: Set in the 1990s, but it could be any decade; it's as if history does not exist outside the lives of the characters. The decision to focus on the interior of the characters was of course deliberate, and is meant perhaps to show that their self-involvement is tragic; however, the cumulative result is to make the book very much a soap opera, predictable, and facile. Still, its force outweighs its flaws and, as noted, few writers accomplish nearly as much as Ferrante. Her best book remains, "Days of Abandonment," and the themes in , "The Lying Life of Adults," echo that much finer work: Betrayal, trust in men, the inadequacy of social and economic authority of women, the limitations of intellect compared to emotion. On a positive note, "The Lying Life of Adults," is a real page-turner, like any soap opera, and you can finish it in a few days.

So disappointed, couldn't wait to read it, but found it petty, and the bracelet motif (it is a feature of Brilliant) so annoying. I can't imagine how anyone who enjoyed the quartet can give this a good review. The BBC did a good abridged version that gets you through it faster (I listened to the last half hour), so you can move on to something more rewarding.

This was my first time reading Elena Ferrante, and though some of the phrasing was beautiful, overall her writing style made me feel like I was studying as opposed to reading.The first sentence of the book really grabbed my attention and we’re welcomed into the world of 12 year old Giovanna. Covering family politics, adolescence, burgeoning sexuality and friendships, Ferrante wrote about complexities and realities of growing up, but her 12 year old main character felt as if she had the intellect of a much older person. Written from the Giovanna’s perspective, the tone of the book felt misplaced and overly stylised, trying too hard to be philosophical and astute.All of the characters, both young and old, were petulant and flawed, written in a way that made them feel like a caricature and half formed, however there are glimpses of common experiences and encounters from adolescence years everyone can relate to.I liked Giovanna’s perspective but her age made her an unbelievable character, talking about sex, relationships and families in a way no 12 year old would. And as so much happens in the book and there are so many characters to remember, it felt like the novel should have been about Giovanna’s entire life as opposed to year or two.-Some pages and episodes I loved, however overall the book felt hard to read and underdeveloped.

Couldn’t wait to get stuck into this. I love Elena Ferrante’s way of painting a picture witch her words. Her Neapolitan Quartet was absolutely superb. So it was with great anticipation I started this book. Wow, extremely disappointing indeed. I didn’t like any of the characters, I found them all vulgar and petulant. Felt like it’s was written in five minutes of boredom. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.

A girl grows out of intellectual middle class family comfort as she discovers the “bad” aunt and the real tough world of those born on the wrong side of the track. In a similar vein as “My Brilliant Friend” but I didn’t enjoy it half as much.

Unlike the writer(s) of the Neapolitan Quartet, whoever wrote this book does not have the same feel for Naples. It reads as if this writer, or team of writers, referred to a map rather than any intimate knowledge of Naples. A list of street names is no alternative to the locations, (delicatessen, pasticceria, shoes shop, school, Ischia etc etc) where the interior lives of the characters are revealed in previous books. I was looking forward to this but feel like I've been taken in by a smart piece of publisher's marketing and purchased a label rather than a book. 'The Lying Life ... ' is a grim warning. I won't be fooled again.