Book Club: Read ‘My Brilliant Friend’ With the Book Review

Welcome to the Book Review Book Club. Every month, we select a book to discuss on our podcast and with our readers. Please leave your thoughts on this month’s book in this article’s comments. And be sure to check out some of our past conversations, including ones about “James,” by Percival Everett, and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” by Patricia Highsmith.

This July, The New York Times Book Review published a list of The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, chosen by 503 literary luminaries. The No. 1 book was “My Brilliant Friend,” by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein.

“Reading this uncompromising, unforgettable novel is like riding a bike on gravel: It’s gritty and slippery and nerve-racking, all at the same time,” the Book Review said. And it wasn’t just critics and writers who loved the book; readers admired it too. The novel came in at No. 8 in our readers’ choice list.

The book is the first novel in Ferrante’s so-called Neapolitan quartet, which tracks the lifelong friendship between Lenù and Lila, two women from a rough neighborhood in Naples, Italy. Lenù, our narrator, is the dutiful and studious daughter of a porter. Lila is the bold and fearsome daughter of a shoemaker. “My Brilliant Friend” covers Lenù and Lila’s childhood and adolescence, showing how from their earliest encounter they develop a deep and pivotal friendship, even as family, relationships and work pull their lives in different directions.

Given the enduring love of the book and its place on the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list, in August we’re reading “My Brilliant Friend” for the Book Review Book Club. We’ll be chatting about the novel on the Book Review podcast that airs Aug. 23. We’d love for you to join the conversation. Share your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of this article by Aug. 19, and we may mention your observations in the episode.

Here’s some related reading to get the conversation started.

• Our editor Joumana Khatib explains the mystery of Elena Ferrante’s identity: “Readers appreciated the nuanced relationship between the main characters, Lenù and Lila, a delicate mixture of love, jealousy and abiding loyalty. Critics zeroed in on Ferrante’s intimate attention to women’s lives, both in the Neapolitan novels and in her other books, which many writers of her generation had not considered subjects of literary merit. But as her star soared, fans devoted to Ferrante and her books confronted a stubborn question: Who is Elena Ferrante, really?” [Read the full explainer here.]

• The Times’s chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, reviewed the HBO adaptation of “My Brilliant Friend”: “The story of a febrile and rivalrous friendship between two girls in a working-class Italian neighborhood in the 1950s, it is as intimate as ‘Game of Thrones’ is sweeping. It is a game of courtyards, stairwells and balconies. But as earthbound as it is, ‘My Brilliant Friend’ is no less transporting.” [Read the full review here.]

We can’t wait to discuss the book with you. In the meantime, happy reading!