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the complete review - fiction

The Days of Abandonment

by
Elena Ferrante

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B+ : convincing but unpleasant

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "The writer is immensely self-aware and her frankness is stunning (.....) The translation is idiosyncratic in ways that only heighten its meaning." - Janet Maslin, The New York Times
  
  
• "Ferrante's theme, while a staple of commercial fiction and television dramas, has seldom received such close scrutiny in literary fiction. . (...) Ferrante (...) makes her heroine a new and individual character in a well-worn story." - Jean Hanff Korelitz, The New York Times Book Review
  
  
• "(D)eeply observed, excruciatingly blunt" - The New Yorker
  
  
• "(Y)ou won’t find a more harrowing dissection of the dumped woman. Pay attention, anyone considering a spot of adultery -- this is what you’ll be doing to your spouse, and it ain’t pretty." - Kate Saunders, The Times

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       The Days of Abandonment begins with Mario walking out on Olga, his wife of fifteen years, and their two children. It's an act that appears to come out of the blue, and it devastates Olga, who narrates this account of her 'days of abandonment.'
       Olga takes it hard. At first at least the absurdity of the situation is something to preoccupy her, the question of 'Why ?' It's not the first time that Mario has been tempted or strayed, but the past incidents pale beside this one; learning the truth -- there is, indeed, another woman, and it's not quite as out of nowhere as she had first thought -- is even more crushing.
       The Days of Abandonment is a detailed, personal account of Olga's now shattered life. She wanted to return to work years earlier, but her husband convinced her to stay at home and take care of the kids, and she agreed. Mario wasn't the centre of her universe, but he was dominant pillar in it. When he is gone she can barely keep it together. Her mind wanders, she snaps at her children (and at strangers), her life becomes a mess.
       It is a small story, centered around the family apartment, with few other major characters. Not much happens: there's the fate of the family dog (a pet Mario wanted, more than she had), an awkward neighbour (who turns out to be a gifted cellist) who is one of the few Olga can lean and rely on, but who she also, most of the time, doesn't want to let anywhere near her, Olga getting a job, Olga pestering her friends for information about Mario, a few confrontations with her husband.
       Mario literally just leaves, and does not even leave a contact address or number. He comes back to the apartment occasionally, but lives an entirely separate life, the exact nature of which Olga only slowly learns. The abrupt change from something close to domestic bliss -- a happy enough family -- is striking, and as Mario is only glimpsed in his encounters with Olga he remains largely a mystery.
       Ferrante uses a number of fairly obvious devices, such as the difficulty of establishing communication (not only does Olga not know how to reach Mario, she has trouble with her cellphone, her regular telephone, and even resorts to smashing a neighbour's window in order to get his attention), but the story is presented convincingly: it reads as (depressingly) authentic. The Days of Abandonment is unpleasant: Olga is not a very good parent (and though Mario tries to draw the children into his new life, he soon also tires of them), and Olga does not act very nicely to almost anyone she deals with. In particular, the ups and downs Olga experiences -- the respites, when it looks like she's getting her act together, only to fall apart again -- move the book along well.
       The Days of Abandonment appears true to life, and it is well written -- but the subject matter may not be to everyone's taste.

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Links:

• Europa editions publicity page
• edizioni e/o publicity page

• Bibliophile by the Sea
• Boston Bibliophile
• Coffee and a Book Chick
• CritiquesLibres.com (French)
• Ellen And Jim Have A Blog, Two
• Frisbee
• ItaliaLibri (Italian)
• mirabile dictu
• The New Yorker
• Perlentaucher (German)
• Publishers Weekly
• razz.
• Tony's Book World
• Writer, Cogitator, Recovering Ranch Girl

• IMDb page

• Elena Ferrante site

• The Beach at Night
• In the Margins
• The Lost Daughter
• Troubling Love

• See Index of Italian literature

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About the Author:

       Elena Ferrante is the pen-name of a popular Italian author.

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© 2005-2022 the complete review

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