Our July book sparked some strong reactions and much to discuss. Thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday's conversation about Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante.
Below is a collection of resources for further exploration and the details for our August 22 discussion of In Times of Fading Light by Eugen Ruge.
Links and Notes
The film adaptation of the novel: Troubling Love (L'amore molesto) (1995)
The audio recording of a 2015 Center for the Art of Translation event with Ann Goldstein and Michael Reynolds, Ferrante's English language translator and publisher.
Roland Barthes' 1967 essay "The Death of the Author" (The Guardian's book blog has a post discussing the essay.)
HBO has adapted Ferrante's novel My Brilliant Friend as a series.
Even more adaptations are in the works. It was announced this spring that Natalie Portman will star in the adaptation of Days of Abandonment and Olivia Colman stars in Maggie Gyllenhaal's forthcoming directorial debut, an adaptation of The Lost Daughter.
An update on a past author: The New Yorker published an article this month about German writer Jenny Erpenbeck. (We read her novel Go, Went Gone.)
We touched on Ferrante's choice to remain anonymous and publish under a pseudonym. Theories abound about the author's identity. In contrast to what so many authors undergo to promote their works (television interviews, book tours, podcasts, social media, etc., etc.), Ferrante occasionally is interviewed, in writing.
This WBUR opinion piece, which followed a journalist's claim to have revealed Ferrante's "real" identity in 2016, includes insights on the role of women in the public sphere and what remaining private has allowed Ferrante to delve into in her novels.
This claims to be (and is quoted extensively) to be Ferrante's own explanation for her choice. In short: "I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors. If they have something to say, they will sooner or later find readers; if not, they won’t." More of her reasoning is at the link.
We also pondered reading the novel in translation and what the effect of the language would be in the original. According to a 2020 article in The New Yorker, "What Brings Elena Ferrante's Worlds to Life?":
Reading her in English isn’t the same experience. Ann Goldstein has translated all of Ferrante’s work, and many bilingual readers feel that she has improved the prose.
Plans for August and Beyond
For our August discussion, we have decided to continue with the virtual format, due to the return to indoor masking and COVID precautions. We will see what develops in coming weeks to finalize plans for discussions beyond August. The potential for a hybrid format is being investigated.
August Discussion
Our August book is In Times of Fading Light by Eugen Ruge:
The novel begins in September 2001 as Alexander Umnitzer, who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, leaves behind his ailing father to fly to Mexico, where his grandparents lived as exiles in the 1940s. The novel then takes us both forward and back in time, creating a panoramic view of the family's history: from Alexander's grandparents' return to the GDR to build the socialist state, to his father's decade spent in a gulag for criticizing the Soviet regime, to his son's desire to leave the political struggles of the twentieth century in the past.
For more information on the August 22 discussion, please sign up via the link below.
Comments