We have talked a lot about it in recent months, Elena Ferrante is definitely the flagship author of 2016. His latest novel The New Name has just been crowned best book of the year by the magazine Lire. A look back at a prodigious talent.
Second episode of the soon to be cult tetralogy of the mysterious Italian writer, The New Name continues the story of Lila and Elena, teenagers inseparable from the working-class suburbs of Naples. While the first volume focused on the childhood and adolescence of the two young friends, its sequel traces the hard learning of life, according to roads that will soon separate them over their thwarted passions.
The new name
And obviously, the second volume already keeps all the promises of the first. We can even say that it is totally in line with The Prodigious Friend. The writing is still fine, precise and psychologically very rich. She thus makes the story come alive: we project ourselves in the streets of Naples alongside the heroines. We also find the Mediterranean atmosphere of the first volume, its stories of neighborhoods, Camorra.The jury of Lire magazine also specifies:
"Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan suite will remain as
a modern classic"
The relationship between the two main characters is simply fascinating. No one talks about friendship like Elena Ferrante. This is exactly the kind of book that we devour, when we should taste every page since the release of the third volume The one who flees and the one who remains is scheduled for January 3 …
The editorial staff of Lire magazine justified its decision to include Le Nouveau Nom at the top of its prestigious annual list of the 20 best books of the year:
"No work has seduced us more this year than this long-term saga, born under the pen of an anonymous author."
The revelation of a heavy secret
This consecration comes two months after the media scandal that tended to reveal the identity of the mysterious prodigious author. To believe that, nowadays, anonymity is completely impossible… Following a thorough investigation, journalist Claudio Gatti claims to have unraveled the mystery by observing a strong correlation between the royalties that Edizioni E/O, Elena Ferrante's publishing house, receives from her works, and the fees that the company pays the same year to the translator Anita Raja. On 30 September, The New York Review of Books, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Mediapart unveiled the name of the translator. However, neither Anita Raja nor E/O have confirmed or denied this hypothesis. Fans and the literary world are divided between curiosity and indignation, in reaction to what they see as an intrusive investigation.
The French you have to read
The list of the 20 best books of the year established by the jury of Lire magazine also rewards a good number of French authors. Jean-Baptiste del Amo, for example, was elected French revelation for Règne animal, published by Gallimard. The best French book for Serge Joncour with Repose-toi sur moi, published by Flammarion. We already told you about this author who recently won the Interallié prize. The best memoir attributed to John le Carré for Le tunnel aux pigeons, published by Editions du Seuil. Marie Darieussecq in the category Art pour Être ici est une splendeur, published by P.O.L. This book traces the life of the German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker. Finally, Ivan Jablonka, who was mentioned when he won the Medici prize, is crowned best book of the year in the investigation category for Laëtitia ou la fin des hommes, published by Editions du Seuil.
