Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. . Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read soon.
The Lying Life of Adults; Elena Ferrante
Random House Audio - 2020
1
"Two years before leaving home my father said to my mother that I was very ugly. The sentence was uttered under his breath, in the apartment that my parents, newly married, had bought at the top of Via San Giacomo dei Capri, in Rione Alto. Everything--the spaces in Naples, the blue light of a frigid February, those words--remained fixed. But I slipped away, and am still slipping away, within these lines that are intended to give me a story, while in fact I am nothing, nothing of my own, nothing that has really begun or really been brought to completion: only a tangled knot, and nobody, not even the one who at this moment is writing, knows if it contains the right thread for a story or is merely a snarled confusion of suffering, without redemption."
I'm listening to the audio version right now, narrated by Marissa Tomei (she's fabulous) but, so far I'm on the fence about what I think of this one. It's translated from the Italian by Ann Goldberg who did a nice job.
I am caught up in the emotion of these excerpts, and know that I want to read more. Thanks for sharing...and here's mine: “THREE PERFECT LIARS”
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it has potential to be a good story. But from the opening I can see why you might be on the fence.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read anything by Elena Ferrante. I'm not sure why.... That first paragraph is marvelous.
ReplyDeleteThat's too rambling for me.
ReplyDeleteI want to read this.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds interesting. The audio must be really good to listen to.
ReplyDeleteWhile I didn't like the fist book in her other series and didn't continue on, I am thinking of giving this new book a try.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these books, but I've heard lots of good things about the series. I hope you will continue and tell us all about this book.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I probably wouldn't continue. If the writing is that dense in the first paragraph, it's unlikely to get better. I prefer a faster-paced story.
ReplyDeleteA real downer of an opening paragraph. Sad
ReplyDeleteI think that's a pretty awful opening paragraph, but having read several of the author's books in translation already, I might that sway me into continuing with this one. I really like her story-telling once she gets going.
ReplyDelete