I Finally Finished Reading The Neapolitan Novels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            I say that with a bit of relief, which I do have.  As worthwhile a reading experience, as it ultimately turns out to be, I have mixed feelings about the series, as a whole.  I still maintain the first and third books are the best, and have the addictive power that series fans seem to feel about all of them.  "The Story Of The Lost Child," the finale, has the  potential to be a stunner, but gets bogged down in Elena's personal problems, and the politics of the time.  It is not until three quarters of the way through that the title's meaning becomes clear, and then ends on a note suggest there are two lost children--with Lila being one of them.

                              I guess I don't just get it.  Yes, I think both "lost children," were, metaphorically speaking, swallowed up by the city of Naples.  But I can't get all excited about it, the way some readers have.  I am glad I took the time to have the experience, but I cannot, in good conscience, recommend it to others.  Not like "Manhattan Beach," by Jennifer Egan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               Still and all, darlings, it's all a matter of taste and subjectivity.

                               I mean, I occasionally still get crap from people, for having LOVED "The Corrections!"  Which I have read three times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                              Go figure, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!