Ferrante:"The Story of a New Name"

    This is the second in the series of the Neapolitan novels of Elena Ferrante, bringing the narrator and Lila, her "brilliant friend," from about the age of sixteen into their early twenties. And the convoluted relationships of the families in the neighborhood continue unabated.
    There is not much I want to say about the novel, as I would only give away or inadvertently hint at what transpires. The narrator's acute introspection continues, with her emotional attachment to her friend waxing and waning, and the friend's life developing in dramatic and contradictory ways.
    But--like the first in the series of the "Neapolitan Novels"--it is an extraordinary achievement, and I can only find the usual clichés--amazing, engrossing, page-turner, etc. etc.
    I have already placed a hold at the library on the third book in the series.
    I might also mention some of my reading of free I-books on my I-pad on the elliptical trainer when I go to the gym most mornings. The I-pad sits nicely on the control panel of the machine, the print can be read easily, and pages are turned with a touch of the finger. I managed to get three-quarters of the way through "The Scarlet Letter, " although it was a struggle. Heavens--the register of the language is set at such a high level, such an exercise in lofty and exaggerated rhetoric---eventually, at about three quarters of the way through, I decided to give up and to read a summary somewhere just to see how it ended. By contrast, the ease and felicity of Hardy's language in another freebie, "Tess of the D'Urbevilles," drew me in with no difficulty, although I fear that no good can come to the poor innocent girl...
    ...so I am also reading some of  "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" as an alternative to reading of Tess's downfall.