Week Four: My Brilliant Friend CBBC, Adolescence Chapters 31-45

Past discussion:

Week One, Prologue & Childhood

Week Two, Adolescence Chapters 1 - 16

Week Three, Adolescence Chapters 17-30

   

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What happened in these chapters?

The Sarratores arrive at the beach and Nino does not like his father. While Lenù and Nino get along, Lenù ends her vacation early after Donato Sarratore sexually assaults her. Meanwhile, Marcello Solara is attempting to get into Lila's good graces through bribing her family. But then Stefano (son of Don Achille, who hangs over this novel despite his early death) buys the handmade shoes, gets engaged to Lila, and expands the shoemaker's shop. There is a debate about whether or not Lila has whored herself out with similar-aged people in the neighborhood. Lenù continues to do almost obnoxiously well in school. 

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Hat mentions (why hats?):

If I said something about the Very Holy Trinity, she with a few hurried by good-humored remarks cut off any possible conversation and wen ton to show me Stefano's presents, the engagement ring, the necklace, a new dress, a hat, while the things that I loved, that made me shine in front of the teachers, so that they considered me clever, slumped in a corner, deprived of their meaning. (page 261-262)

That is a lot of commas in one sentence.

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Lines of note:

Meanwhile, I felt better and better, I couldn't believe that life could be like this. Maybe, I thought, the girls of Via dei Mille - the one dressed all in green, for example - had a life like this. (page 217)

I asked you all about your first vacation without your parents last week and I enjoyed reading all the responses about going places with friends. This sentences reminded me of all your stories and the sheer freedom it often invoked.

I devoted myself to taking care of Nino. (page 220) 

AND

I bound myself instead to the Sarratore family. (page 224)

I think this is interesting stuff. Lenù has to be "soulmates" with someone, right? First it's Lila, but when Lila isn't it around, she shifts her attention elsewhere. Someone in the comments early on asked what exactly Lenù is missing in her life that she's looking for in her relationship with Lila and I think this provides us with a clue. She's so unaware of who she is, what her own interests/thoughts are, that she needs a foil. 

...she expressed herself in sentences that were well constructed, and without error, even though she had stopped going to school, but - further - she left no trace of the effort, you weren't aware of the artifice of the written word. (page 227)

Oh, I love this description so much. I am, like Lenù, super envious of natural writers. How can you be funny and smart and make it seem so easy? I can slave for a long time over writing and it still sounds like an AI wrote it. Hey, maybe I am AI!!

"Repay in what sense?"
"Give you money."
She smiled, then said proudly, "There's no need. I do what I like now with money." (page 259)

Oh, no. That doesn't sound good, does it?

When you saw her, she gave off a glow that seemed a violent slap in the face of the poverty of the neighborhood. (page 264)

I like the juxtaposition of the words glow and poverty here. There's sometimes a romanticism that people place on living in poverty and I feel like this sentence gets at the heart that sometimes the way out of poverty is the least romantic thing.

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Last week's homework:

Did you do a close reading for this week's passages.  Tell us all about it!

As a reminder, here's what the questions for lectio divina look like:

1) Narrative: Look at the quote and describe its place in the narrative. 

2) Symbolism: What metaphors are hidden in the text? What symbols do you see?

3) Reflection: How does this text speak to you in your life today?

4) Invitation: What action are you going to take?

My homework!

My sentence: I went home and showed them the notebook, full of guilt for the expenses that glasses would involved (page 257)

1) This is when Lenù's teacher realized she needed to see an eye doctor because she couldn't see the board in the classroom and the teacher wrote it down in her notebook and had her parents sign it.

2) I think the two things that this really showcases are guilt and expenses. There is so much guilt in this section of the book. She feels guilty because she sort of enjoyed Donato Sarratore's touch, because she enjoyed the beach too much, because she's going to cost her parents too much money. She feels guilty because she's self-conscious about her body, because she doesn't always come out ahead in comparisons with Lila, because she's been allowed to continuing school and Lila hasn't. 

I think it's also an indication of how much money plays a role in this entire book. The girls are always worried about money. How much money will cost to get books for school? To finally move out of the neighborhood? That constant need for money is the thread that ties all the storylines together. 

3) I probably need to make an appointment to see the eye doctor! I only have one box of contacts left.

4) I'm going to call and make an appointment.  Ugh. I hate it already.

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Things I looked up:

The Avellinese (page 218) - Inhabitant or native of Avellino, which is in southern Italy, east of Naples

orzata (page 230) - Sweet syrup made from almonds and sugar with a little rose and/or orange flower water. It has a pronounced almond taste and is used to flavor many cocktails.  

How much is 25000 lire today?  (page 244) - I think, if I did the conversions correctly (a big if), it's roughly 57,500 USD today, which is quite a chunk of change. This seems like...too much money.

Princess Soraya (page 268) - Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary was briefly Queen of Iran in the 1950s. 

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Questions to ponder:

1) Let's discuss the role of fathers in this section. Don Achille looms large, as does Donato Sarratore. It felt a bit like the sins of the father are visited upon the sons in a way. What is your interpretation of the theme of fatherhood in this section? And what do you think about how Lenù's family is essentially absent from it?

2) One of the things I am loving about this book is its universality paired with its specific nature. It is highly specific to a time and place, but yet the feelings and situations that we see with Lenù are universal, including, unfortunately, the incident with Donato Sarratore at the beach. What impact do you think that will have over her in the long term?

3) What is the role of the shoes in this story? How does it compare to the role of the dolls in the early chapters?

4) How do you think this book is going to end? How do you want it to end? 

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Homework for next week:

Okay, friends, here's your homework. Pick one word/phrase/sentence from next week's readings that speaks to you in some way. Maybe it's just that it sounds pleasant or unpleasant to you. Maybe it feels like it sums up the book. Maybe it resonates with you on a personal level. Maybe it made you have all the feeeeeelings. Maybe it pissed you off. Tell us what the phrase was and why it spoke to you..

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Upcoming CBBC schedule:

Week Five
Monday, March 4 (update: this originally said March 1 - it is March 4 for sure, for sure)
Adolescence, Chapters 46-62 (pages 270-331 of the paperback Europa edition, timestamp 10:06:54-end on audiobook)

Week Six
Monday, March 11
Wrap up!