My Brilliant Friend

Entertainment!
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I feel like this deserves its own thread, both for discussing the books and the series.

The books are astonishing - I’ve never felt so swept up in something. They’re incredibly easy to read, with a kind of soapy element yet so much complex exploration of these two protagonists interiors. I read the four books in such a short time, there’s really no higher praise than that.

Anyay I’m making this thread because the fourth and final season of the TV show has just started and its kind of crazy how little attention the entire thing has got. Like, its one of the best things on TV in this supposedly golden age and noone seems to be watching or talkign about it.

The two young actresses of the first three seasons may be two of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen. They must have been mid-late teens when they started filming and took two of the most complex modern literary characters from around ages 12 to 30-something. The fact they sustained it across multiple seasons of TV is just astonishing. Absolute zero recognition from any awards. Absolutely criminal stuff.

Don’t know what the standard spoilers protocol is here so have avoided any specifics!

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Might actually read the first one

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DO IT

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Hadn’t realised about the authors identity being a mystery also, fun detail for such a worldwide success

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Very easy to find the four of them second-hand.

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Had no idea the new series was out, really enjoyed all the others, great performances all round and like you say, the two leads are both fantastic. My wife’s read all the books twice and so far hasn’t had anything to complain about regarding how they’ve been adapted.

Looking forward to both of us uncontrollably saying ‘va bene’ all the time

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Halfway through the second one just now, though I read the first one years ago. They’re very good

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Read the first two and watched a bit of the series

They’re really good. Better to read them all in one go I think but I don’t have the stamina

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Any reason why you think best to read that way?

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So you remember who all the characters are etc

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Listened to the whole thing as audiobooks on long walks during the pandemic.

Would recommend it as a way to absorb the whole lot

Edit: not the pandemic part, obvs

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This is a good point! It’s a large cast - it even has one of those keys in the front to help you parse who’s who which I normally associate with 800 page fantasy novels!

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I really liked the books but I never read the last one for some reason.

I’m currently rewatching the series in prep for season 4 (when is it coming to NowTV???). It’s the best thing on telly since Mad Men for me. Rich, devastating, completely immersive.

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Whaaaa!? How could you just carry on, not knowing how it all ended!?

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I think it was expensive and I was a struggling student at the time, then just kinda forgot what happened so never got round to it.

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Yeah, that’ll do it! I came to them a while after publication so could pick them all up on the cheap!

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I loved the books but haven’t watched beyond the first season of the show although I’ll probably get around to it. It’s funny but the filming delay caused by covid may have actually been a benefit with regards to the time jumps between seasons.

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Copy of the first on it’s way to me now

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Dedicated to literature’s ultimate fuccboi

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Lined this up as my next audiobook based on this thread. It’d better be good.