The romance “The Genius Friend”, bestseller by the mysterious Italian writer Elena Ferrante, was chosen “book of the century” by the American newspaper The New York Times.
The story of friends Lila and Lenù tops a list of 100 volumes published from January 1, 2000, drawn up based on the votes of 503 literature-loving personalities, such as Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Min Jin Lee .
According to the NYT, the first book in the “Neapolitan tetralogy” tells the story of “two girls who grow up in a poor and violent neighborhood in Naples: the diligent and zealous Elena (Lenù) and her charismatic and wild friend Lila”.
“From there, the book (and the series as a whole) expands as quickly as the initial universe, encompassing ideas about art and politics, class and gender, philosophy and destiny, all through a dedicated focus on conflicted and competitive friendship. between Elena and Lila”, says the American newspaper.
According to the NYT, it is “impossible to say how close” the tetralogy is to the author’s life, since Elena Ferrante is a pseudonym, but, regardless of this, “A Amiga Genial” is “established as one of the main examples of called autofiction, a category that has dominated 21st century literature.”
“Reading this uncompromising and unforgettable novel is like riding a bicycle on gravel: it is sandy, slippery and desperate, all at the same time”, concludes the newspaper.
“Story of the Lost Girl”, which closes the Neapolitan tetralogy, was in 80th place in the ranking, while “Days of Abandonment” was in 92nd place, making Ferrante the author with the most titles on the list.
Second place in the classification went to “The Warmth of Other Suns”, by Isabel Wilkerson, and “Wolf Hall”, by Hilary Mantel, closed the podium. (HANDLE)
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