BOOK REVIEWS / DISCUSSION: My Brilliant Friend, The Good People & Unlikeable Characters

[@ClaireReadsBooks]

I'm really late on this, but what a great video/discussion! I especially loved your thoughts on the girls in My Brilliant Friend-they are so complicated and feel like *real* people (which includes all their ugly sides!). I also like that it's a depiction of female friendship that feels very specific to the relationship between those two girls-not every female friendship is that competitive or that fraught, but I appreciated that Elena Ferrante wasn't afraid to explore the unlikable sides of her two main characters and also wasn't afraid to explore the ugliness and intense feelings that can sometimes exist between two people who have been so close for so long.

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

Thank you Claire! :) I was pleasantly surprised to read about complex, 3-dimensional female characters, it's sad that it's so rare.

[@thisisyrrobotfriend]

I love how you approached this video! And I totally agree Elena (and Lila) can be so awful to each other, but their relationship sings so true to me. That, plus the insight the book gave me into 50’s Italy socio political landscape really sucked me in

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

I could appreciate too how Ferrante was able to write about some really dramatic teenage angst without going overboard, I think there was restraint there and it worked. I would look back at my childhood friendships and I could really identify with Lila, I was never the Elena in a friendship but I felt like I was in her shoes in the book and could look at interactions I had as a girl/teenager and be like "Ohhhh" lol

[@paraplyen]

I think unlikeable characters are so important when they are multidimentional. Characters can have bad feelings and make wrong decisicions without being bad people. I think that's what true to life. I think with the Ferrante books was that for me it was so relatable. Sometimes it was uncomfortable because it felt so close to home. And seeing it written down was an incredible feeling.

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

Completely agree, I think mistakes make us human. I can see how a lot of people identified with My Brilliant Friend, I think it boils down to how they felt like real people with real imperfections.

[@TheNovelSanctuary]

HAAA omg that is so funny I literally just finished both of these and had the complete opposite reaction you had. I was also thinking about my approach to unlikeable characters after reading these two! I really enjoyed your discussion! It's funny how vastly different people's opinions about both of these books are. Would have loved to sit in a coffee shop and discussed these with you! Need to plan a trip to AZ ;D

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

Ahh I would have loved that, will you be talking about it on your channel? I'm so curious now, I want to know your feelings about Nora in particular, I have so many feelings about her lol.

[@splitreads]

I loved this video and your approach! I agree I enjoy reading unlikable characters as long as they are three dimensional and have facets to their personality that I could relate to or sympathize with.

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

It surprises me when authors choose to write such flat characters because as humans, we have so much in common, we all feel the same emotions and we're driven by the same type of things, so it shouldn't be so difficult to create layers in a character. Or sometimes authors focus on just 2 personality traits because it helps their plot move along and I think it just does a disservice to the character.

[@ThatsWhatSheRead]

Love the discussion! I hated Elena so much and their friendship seemed so toxic but real and lived in. It was complicated. Lol

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

Yes! It definitely was toxic at times, and I wanted to shake them both during certain conversations, a lot could have been resolved if they could look outside of themselves but, you know, teenagers lol

[@timeforbooks566]

My number one most unlikeable character is the character that never learns from their experiences. Especially when they have created their own obstacles in the first place. I feel like I don't like characters in books that I wouldn't like in my real life. Would you say that it's similar with characters that you don't like?

[@SaraiTalksBooks]

Oh yesss completely agree! I think that's just awful writing, when a character never learns, a lot of the times it wouldn't benefit the story if the character were to learn from their actions and so it's almost like an author will use their ignorance to force parts of the story. Hm as far as not liking characters in books that I wouldn't like in my real life, sometimes that happens, but sometimes I'll read about an antihero who is not a great person and I can still enjoy the book (this happens in fantasy books a lot), like Game of Thrones! I hate most of the characters but there's layers to them and I enjoy reading and seeing what happens to them.