Installing a therapist's chaise in the Cottage
Hello all, and welcome back to the cottage.
I don't think I've felt this confused about a novel since Combray. Truly, opening the book to two full pages of a spiderweb of characters was daunting, to say the least. It reminded me of the time I attempted to read a story wherein the cast was made up of 700 characters... safe to say that I was unsuccessful.
Moving past that, the childhood that Elena the narrator describes was to me, riddled with psychological clues--insecure attachment, abandonment issues, family issues (mommy issues, so to speak)--about how Elena's life might unfold. Unfortunately, I was not surprised.
The entire story--even the way it begins with an almost vengeful feeling from Elena in the prologue, wanting to foil Lila's plan to disappear by taking it upon herself to write the book--seems to me, as a third party, like an unhealthy entanglement. Elena and Lila are everything to each other in the most literal sense of the word--not in a romantic kind of way, but rather that they are connected in any and every endeavour they take. They are not together but rather beside each other--I think that the second chapter sums this up quite well through the depiction of the two playing in the same space but not with each other.
I think that perspective played a particularly prominent role in My Brilliant Friend due to the presence of two leading characters. I suspect that I might've been more frustrated by Elena than I already was, had the story been told from Lila's perspective. I was frustrated by Elena throughout the entirety of the novel because she never truly lets go of Lila. The obsessive attachment that she displayed from the very beginning all the way to the end kept me quite anxious, to tell the truth. It seemed as though Lila was always one step ahead, even when it appeared as if she weren't--though in part, this was because she worked to make it seem that way, for example, acquiring the library cards and books--and she left the impression on me that she knew something that Elena didn't.
It was this implicit air of superiority about Lila that made me prefer Elena (I do love my underdogs), but again, I suspect that had things been narrated from Lila's perspective, my thoughts would be dramatically changed. But even after all the brow-raising acts of daring, and sometimes maliciousness, I didn't find it satisfying to know that Elena was the 'winner' in the end, so to speak. It felt less like a victory than it did a cathartic conclusion of a tiring relationship. The two were truly exhausting soulmates.
So, for this week's discussion question: do you think the story should have ended differently? What changes would you have liked to see in the story, and why?
I'd be happy to hear your thoughts about the central relationship, and what possibilities that could have been.
Looking forward to discussion in class!
Your local woodland witch,
June
"The obsessive attachment that she displayed from the very beginning all the way to the end kept me quite anxious, to tell the truth." It's also true that a certain degree of obsession is needed to write a novel like this. It's not entirely simple or pleasant, as we might deduce from the narrative voice. The relationship between the two friends seems to remain a mystery even to themselves, with all its twists and turns. Is it material for psychoanalytic analysis? I don't deny it. But what is it about the very act of telling a story—or, in this case, of writing—that is so essential to Lenu? (Talking about "telling the truth").
ReplyDeletehII zahra here, i enjoyed reading your blog and loved the title lol. yesss this book was screaming TOXIC friendhsips!!
ReplyDeleteHi, great blog. I would have loved if the author gave us a few chapters from Lila's perspective!
ReplyDeleteHi, I liked your blog. I would have liked if the author gave us a few chapters in Lila's perspective.
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