How rough men were, how brutal in every word they dedicated to love.

after reading The Days of Abandonment last year and being way less into it than I hoped (imagine The Dry Heart but instead of shooting her husband in the head she remarries another man just like him) I was worried that maybe Ferrante wasn't for me. I hate to discard female authors, especially those who write in languages other than english. Thank goodness I really liked this! men are empty husks that are irresponsible and terrible at sex let's gooooooo!

Maybe it's because I have no exposure to Italian literature, maybe it's Ferrante’s style, maybe it's cuz I'm dumb, but there is something about her storytelling that I find slippery and hard to describe. It can feel so literal it is claustrophobic and yet she is working with these big complicated relationships so impressively. upon finishing this I felt stunned, like a dazed animal, when faced with the reality that I wasn't going to get to read about these characters forever. they're all so complicated and frequently boring or loathsome and yet I want to know what happens to them in a year, five, ten. what is this thing she does? I hope someone out there who is smarter than me can articulate it.