My Brilliant Friend by Eleana Ferrante
Time passes quickly, often not even really defined by specific moments, but through the succession of short chapters, of what you could almost call summary, in simple language, a very vivid picture of a person, a neighborhood, a whole culture–which is fascinating because it’s translated, and comes out of a culture surely much more familiar with this way of life than I am. The book is contemporary but it feels old fashioned–not in a bad way. It’s a kind of novel nobody is writing much anymore, at least not in English.
Amy P. Knight 