The New York Times recently released a list of the 100 greatest books of the 21st century, as chosen by over five hundred writers and critics. Number one on the list—the putative greatest book, fiction or non-fiction, of the last twenty-four years—is Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend. I don’t see it. The novel is a good read. Ferrante’s writing is smoothly propulsive, the plot feels genuine and familiar (perhaps too much: John Knowles’ classic A Separate Peace comes repeatedly to mind), and it’s easy to care about the two main characters. But the critical adulation, and especially the focus on Ferrante’s skill in weaving economic and philosophical themes into the narrative, is excessive. Those themes are there, but explored only fleetingly. My Brilliant Friend is a well-written yarn that transports readers to a different time, place, and body. That’s a good enough metric of success for any artist, but remember also that you and I, as readers, will realistically only read a few thousand books in our lifetime. This probably doesn’t need to be one of them. 6
Ferrante, Elena. My Brilliant Friend. Europa Editions, 2012. Reviewed August 29, 2024.
