ladybug
“There is a poverty that makes us all cruel.”
The NYT best book of the century follows the lives and friendships of two girls– Lenu and Lena– who came from a small, impoverished town in Naples. The first book details their lives as children in school from ages 6–17.
The friendship between the two girls are complex. There is fierce competitiveness and jealousy between them but also, a tender, enduring kind of love and care. Most of all, I think this book is an exploration of what happens when children grow up in a cycle of violence and poverty, how kind little boys are made into raging misogynists and intelligent little girls are made into victims.
I can see why this book was named the best book of the century. I finished it quickly and I plan on reading the rest of the series this year. Kind of a spoiler but the last line of the book made me so impossibly sad I had to sit in a long, solemn contemplation after it ended.
“There is a poverty that makes us all cruel.”
The NYT best book of the century follows the lives and friendships of two girls– Lenu and Lena– who came from a small, impoverished town in Naples. The first book details their lives as children in school from ages 6–17.
The friendship between the two girls are complex. There is fierce competitiveness and jealousy between them but also, a tender, enduring kind of love and care. Most of all, I think this book is an exploration of what happens when children grow up in a cycle of violence and poverty, how kind little boys are made into raging misogynists and intelligent little girls are made into victims.
I can see why this book was named the best book of the century. I finished it quickly and I plan on reading the rest of the series this year. Kind of a spoiler but the last line of the book made me so impossibly sad I had to sit in a long, solemn contemplation after it ended.