Meet “My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante, voted the best book of the 21st century

The book “My Brilliant Friend ” (2011), by the writer Elena Ferrante was elected the “book of the century ” by The New York Times. The ranking, which brings together the 100 “best works” of the 21st century, was released this Friday (12).

The work is the first volume of the Neapolitan tetralogy by the author and tells the story of two girls growing up in a poor and violent neighborhood in Naples: the diligent and zealous Elena, and her charismatic and wild friend, Lila.

Through a focus on the conflicted and competitive friendship between the characters, Elena Ferrante’s book explores ideas about “art and politics, class and gender, philosophy and destiny” as they grow up. However, by the time they finish fifth grade, the two have gone their separate ways.

According to the newspaper, the book is “one of the main examples of so-called autofiction, a category that has dominated 21st century literature.”

In “My Brilliant Friend,” the focus of the female characters is not on a romantic relationship or the need to live up to the expectations of a conventional culture. Female friendship, motherhood, and women’s relationship with themselves are themes that appear in Ferrante’s work.

The work sold more than 16 million copies and became an HBO series.

“My Brilliant Friend” is the first volume of the story, which continues with “The Story of a New Last Name”, “The Story of Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay” and “The Story of the Lost Girl”, which also appeared on the New York Times list.

The list of 100 volumes published since 2000 was drawn up based on the votes of 503 literature lovers.

“My Brilliant Friend” by Elena Ferrante

Publishing company: Blue Library.
Pages: 336.
Price: R$ 69.90.

See the best-selling fiction books in 2024 in the first half of 2024