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dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Cancer
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought of the characters often, wondered what they were doing and what would happen in their story next.
When I heard this book was about two siblings dealing with the death of their father from cancer, I knew it would probably be a hard read for me personally. I thought I was in a place where I could handle it, and for the most part, I did. Honestly, the dad was not a character we spent much time with, so there wasn’t that reliving of the cancer for me. I do wish for the story’s sake, we could’ve had more of a glimpse into their father’s life, but I also understand why. Because this book is not about the death of their father. It is about their brotherhood. Their childhood and how their environments informed the very different people they grew up to be. The conflict that arose from that fact. It’s about their love and hatred and respect and envy of one another. And *that* was what moved me to tears more than anything.
Rooney’s descriptions of locations, people, animals, feelings- unmatched. Her style of writing is frustrating (lack of quotation marks, half-formed sentence to symbolize stream of consciousness monologuing of the characters) but also so perfect for the characters she creates. For you to become a tenant in each of their brains, for the fact that life is happening to them so quickly that they cannot even finish a fully formed thought, the sentence just needs to be thought in whatever way it comes out so we can get to the next one, it’s incredible. Impressive honestly. It heightened the urgency and the confusion of their realities. I said this in one of my journal entries early on but I have never read a book where every character thought so much about everything and had such obvious anxiety and again, it was infuriating, but it was also so real!! Because yes that is my brain!!!
Listen! loved Margaret. And Ivan. And I loved Margaret and Ivan together. Sorry I’m not sorry!! Their relationship felt so sweet and pure and after everything Margaret had been through, she deserved to be worshipped in the way Ivan seems to. And he deserves to be loved back!!! idk about the age gap that’s none of my business!!!!
Peter, however, pissed me the fuck OFF a lot of the time. He just seemed such a mess that it was hard to feel sympathetic towards him. And maybe I’m not remembering well but I don’t really feel I saw a lot of moments where Peter was taking care of their father. Looking out for Ivan, yes, but I missed understanding more about their relationship.
AND THEN THE END WHERE SYLVIA IS LIKE “we could just have an arrangement, the three of us.” NO HE DOESN’T DESERVE YOU! I understand, the poor guy has been through a lot and by the actual end of the book I was able to negotiate my feelings with it a little bit but I just didn’t think it was fair, to anyone honestly. They both need to move on, and Naomi deserves to be loved by one person and to feel safe enough to love back. I just didn’t feel that was a satisfying end for my poor girl Sylvia. She deserved better.
This was my first Sally Rooney novel and I was entrenched into the world of this book from start to finish. Because of the disjointed sentences and the lack of punctuation, it takes a bit longer to get through than a usual book this length, but it’s still an exquisite read. It has inspired me to maybe take on reading Normal People next…. Oh god help me
When I heard this book was about
Rooney’s descriptions of locations, people, animals, feelings- unmatched. Her style of writing is frustrating (lack of quotation marks, half-formed sentence to symbolize stream of consciousness monologuing of the characters) but also so perfect for the characters she creates. For you to become a tenant in each of their brains, for the fact that life is happening to them so quickly that they cannot even finish a fully formed thought, the sentence just needs to be thought in whatever way it comes out so we can get to the next one, it’s incredible. Impressive honestly. It heightened the urgency and the confusion of their realities. I said this in one of my journal entries early on but I have never read a book where every character thought so much about everything and had such obvious anxiety and again, it was infuriating, but it was also so real!! Because yes that is my brain!!!
Peter, however, pissed me the fuck OFF a lot of the time. He just seemed such a mess that it was hard to feel sympathetic towards him. And maybe I’m not remembering well but I don’t really feel I saw a lot of moments where Peter was taking care of their father. Looking out for Ivan, yes, but I missed understanding more about their relationship.
AND THEN THE END WHERE SYLVIA IS LIKE “we could just have an arrangement, the three of us.” NO HE DOESN’T DESERVE YOU! I understand, the poor guy has been through a lot and by the actual end of the book I was able to negotiate my feelings with it a little bit but I just didn’t think it was fair, to anyone honestly. They both need to move on, and Naomi deserves to be loved by one person and to feel safe enough to love back. I just didn’t feel that was a satisfying end for my poor girl Sylvia. She deserved better.
This was my first Sally Rooney novel and I was entrenched into the world of this book from start to finish. Because of the disjointed sentences and the lack of punctuation, it takes a bit longer to get through than a usual book this length, but it’s still an exquisite read. It has inspired me to maybe take on reading Normal People next…. Oh god help me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Death of parent
Minor: Car accident, Pandemic/Epidemic
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really enjoyed the different perspectives and character developments. Very refreshing take on male perspectives opening up some interesting reflections on modern masculine identity and behaviour. Loved the female characters, as well as the continuous references to other texts. Perhaps my favourite Sally Rooney book yet?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is wayyy to long for what it is. The story is slow and honestly not interesting enough for how long it is, it felt a bit like a chore to finish. I also found most of the characters pretty unlikeable both Peter and Ivan are pretty sexist and awful in their own ways. There were a few parts I found more interesting, but this book could be 200 pages shorter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Alcohol
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As an avid and dedicated fan of Rooney I cannot imagine her ever putting anything out that I wouldn't love and pour over. Acknowledging this bias, I understand that character studies and interpersonal relationship autopsies is not everyones literary preferences, if that is not your taste, I wouldn't recommend this one for you.
Intermezzo follows the lives of two brothers, Peter (32) and Ivan (22), in the year after their fathers death, exploring complex themes of grief, love, resentment, mental illness and family. Rooney flexes her literary talent with her punchy poetic prose and symbolic case studies of each character as she reveals their minds and conscious to us as they interact with one another.
Intermezzo I felt was Rooney's greatest work yet. She lives by the writers code of "show don't tell" creating for an immersive narrative experience. We are voyeurs of a scene in which so much is felt in body language, environment, what is said and what is intentionally not said, we are suddenly in the room with her characters, we are each of them for a moment, and the story is felt through readers experience and not in chronological recounting of events. She perfectly captures moments and feelings that are almost indescribable, abstract and confusing, humanity at its most awkward and grey, exploring and dissecting what isn't spoken aloud but complexly exists under the surface and fuelling our behaviour. She understands people in a way I don’t think I ever have, describing experiences I recognise but have never been able to label.
Many criticise Roony's reluctance to use quotation marks as making for a disorienting reading experience, but I think this is genius and tactical. Dialogue is indistinguishable from the character's stream of consciousness because it's not essential what is said aloud to the social dynamic - Rooney wants us to focus on the character and all their neuroticism, the reader is forced to consider all their thoughts equally no matter what is said aloud. This being said, I did not find it difficult to decipher what was/ wasn't said aloud.
Both brothers chapters have distinct voice and prose, some of Peter’s reading partially lucid and poetic, a lyrical reflective and almost existential stream of consciousness, Ivans read analytical and self focused with a touch of immaturity. Her characters are so well fleshed out and flawed they are so human, Rooney writes about humanity. Without spoiling anything, the final chapter and reunion of the brothers bought me to tears, the complex amalgamation of grief, regret, shame and guilt forgiven by way of love. Isn't that just what it's all about? Rooney makes me fall in love with life and people again, no matter their flaws and complexities.
Intermezzo follows the lives of two brothers, Peter (32) and Ivan (22), in the year after their fathers death, exploring complex themes of grief, love, resentment, mental illness and family. Rooney flexes her literary talent with her punchy poetic prose and symbolic case studies of each character as she reveals their minds and conscious to us as they interact with one another.
Intermezzo I felt was Rooney's greatest work yet. She lives by the writers code of "show don't tell" creating for an immersive narrative experience. We are voyeurs of a scene in which so much is felt in body language, environment, what is said and what is intentionally not said, we are suddenly in the room with her characters, we are each of them for a moment, and the story is felt through readers experience and not in chronological recounting of events. She perfectly captures moments and feelings that are almost indescribable, abstract and confusing, humanity at its most awkward and grey, exploring and dissecting what isn't spoken aloud but complexly exists under the surface and fuelling our behaviour. She understands people in a way I don’t think I ever have, describing experiences I recognise but have never been able to label.
Many criticise Roony's reluctance to use quotation marks as making for a disorienting reading experience, but I think this is genius and tactical. Dialogue is indistinguishable from the character's stream of consciousness because it's not essential what is said aloud to the social dynamic - Rooney wants us to focus on the character and all their neuroticism, the reader is forced to consider all their thoughts equally no matter what is said aloud. This being said, I did not find it difficult to decipher what was/ wasn't said aloud.
Both brothers chapters have distinct voice and prose, some of Peter’s reading partially lucid and poetic, a lyrical reflective and almost existential stream of consciousness, Ivans read analytical and self focused with a touch of immaturity. Her characters are so well fleshed out and flawed they are so human, Rooney writes about humanity. Without spoiling anything, the final chapter and reunion of the brothers bought me to tears, the complex amalgamation of grief, regret, shame and guilt forgiven by way of love. Isn't that just what it's all about? Rooney makes me fall in love with life and people again, no matter their flaws and complexities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was my first Sally Rooney book and I figured it would be helpful to use this book to see what the Sally Rooney hype is all about. From the outset, I knew she was a contemporary fiction author who writes mainly about people’s relationships. The relationships are toxic, and her writing style is dense, a la James Joyce, and (perhaps my biggest writing pet peeve) no quotation marks on the dialogue. This type of writing style is esoteric, high brow, and pretentious, and tends to hit its sweet spot among college age and girls in their twenties - the right spot of youthful foolishness and a transient belief that your second decade of living is the wisest you’ll ever be.
I will give Rooney her laurels for two things. The first being that I can understand why people are drawn to her books. She does a good job of fleshing out her character’s thoughts and really showing you their perfections of reality - especially the parts that make them aggravating. I can tell that she understands to some degree the capacity for human psychology, multiplicity of thought, and the miscommunication that happens in all human connections. The second thing is that Rooney does a good job of demonstrating how pervasive patriarchal stereotypes and commodification of women occur, in an overt, brash, incel-labeled manner, and the insidious, internalized, gaslit, and pervasive manners.
I don’t find these writing chops enough to overcome the multitude of sins Rooney commits in her writing. If this novel is anything to go by, they are so painfully male centric. While the two brothers are foils to each other in how they process grief (which is the red herring of this book by the way), they are foils to demonstrate how men poorly treat women. One brother, Ivan, self labels as an incel, but it’s because he didn’t know any better and was simply testing out world philosophies until he got older. One brother, Peter, is a self labeled human rights activists who champions women’s rights and yet puts himself in a deceitful love triangle that nearly ruins the lives of two good women as collateral.
The novel continually portrays women as the rehabilitation homes for these men and their dysfunctional lives and dysfunctional processing skills. These women are physically and emotionally battered from their own complex lives and yet they are the ones providing therapy, emotional processing, love, sex, and other needs meeting for these two pathetic men. These women could each have such rich lives but instead are reduced to flat, inanimate objects, used only to gratify each brother’s lust or need for emotional soothing. I nearly quit reading this book so many times after reading another onslaught of one of these women being vulnerable and these men preying on their emotional abilities to unwind their traumas.
Another element I absolutely detested was the implicit nodding Rooney was doing in making Ivan a neurodivergent character. First off, I think it quite frankly does nothing for the disability community to see a white, privileged, middle class , heterosexual man, who is a chess savant, be the representation of neurodivergence. Not only does it fall into so many unhelpful stereotypes, but Ivan’s atrocious behavior is often implicitly related to being a by product of his neurodivergence. I don’t think Rooney has the faintest clue of what she was trying to do with this character. I for one saw Ivan representing something else, not neurodivergence. He seems to me to be an example of a person with Borderline Personality Disorder. His character is someone who thinks purely in black and white, who does a lot of splitting (a rationalization in which things or a person are completely good or completely evil), and latches onto a romantic partner immediately and shows a disproportionate emotional attachment to them (sometimes called a “favorite person”). This is not all the issues that people with BPD face and it’s possible that Rooney wasn’t even trying to bring about this correlation. But to me, I see more character traits and thought patterns reminiscent of a personality disorder than neurodivergence in Ivan. And I could do the same analysis for Peter as well (especially with his penchant for violence, emotional gaslighting, and quick devolution into self harm).
In all, while this book has some interesting passages, there are some glaring issues, namely the way in which Rooney writes her women characters. Which is quite alarming to me considering the fact that her readership base is female. She’s basically glorifying a woman’s suffering and emotional abuse in a relationship all for the point of rehabilitating men who are too weak, too shallow, too selfish, and too self possessed? It’s as if you’re stargazing into a puddle. That’s all I could see in this book. And after reading it, I think I’ve seen all that I want to see about Rooney’s works. I prefer my authors and their works to decenter men fully.
I will give Rooney her laurels for two things. The first being that I can understand why people are drawn to her books. She does a good job of fleshing out her character’s thoughts and really showing you their perfections of reality - especially the parts that make them aggravating. I can tell that she understands to some degree the capacity for human psychology, multiplicity of thought, and the miscommunication that happens in all human connections. The second thing is that Rooney does a good job of demonstrating how pervasive patriarchal stereotypes and commodification of women occur, in an overt, brash, incel-labeled manner, and the insidious, internalized, gaslit, and pervasive manners.
I don’t find these writing chops enough to overcome the multitude of sins Rooney commits in her writing. If this novel is anything to go by, they are so painfully male centric. While the two brothers are foils to each other in how they process grief (which is the red herring of this book by the way), they are foils to demonstrate how men poorly treat women. One brother, Ivan, self labels as an incel, but it’s because he didn’t know any better and was simply testing out world philosophies until he got older. One brother, Peter, is a self labeled human rights activists who champions women’s rights and yet puts himself in a deceitful love triangle that nearly ruins the lives of two good women as collateral.
The novel continually portrays women as the rehabilitation homes for these men and their dysfunctional lives and dysfunctional processing skills. These women are physically and emotionally battered from their own complex lives and yet they are the ones providing therapy, emotional processing, love, sex, and other needs meeting for these two pathetic men. These women could each have such rich lives but instead are reduced to flat, inanimate objects, used only to gratify each brother’s lust or need for emotional soothing. I nearly quit reading this book so many times after reading another onslaught of one of these women being vulnerable and these men preying on their emotional abilities to unwind their traumas.
Another element I absolutely detested was the implicit nodding Rooney was doing in making Ivan a neurodivergent character. First off, I think it quite frankly does nothing for the disability community to see a white, privileged, middle class , heterosexual man, who is a chess savant, be the representation of neurodivergence. Not only does it fall into so many unhelpful stereotypes, but Ivan’s atrocious behavior is often implicitly related to being a by product of his neurodivergence. I don’t think Rooney has the faintest clue of what she was trying to do with this character. I for one saw Ivan representing something else, not neurodivergence. He seems to me to be an example of a person with Borderline Personality Disorder. His character is someone who thinks purely in black and white, who does a lot of splitting (a rationalization in which things or a person are completely good or completely evil), and latches onto a romantic partner immediately and shows a disproportionate emotional attachment to them (sometimes called a “favorite person”). This is not all the issues that people with BPD face and it’s possible that Rooney wasn’t even trying to bring about this correlation. But to me, I see more character traits and thought patterns reminiscent of a personality disorder than neurodivergence in Ivan. And I could do the same analysis for Peter as well (especially with his penchant for violence, emotional gaslighting, and quick devolution into self harm).
In all, while this book has some interesting passages, there are some glaring issues, namely the way in which Rooney writes her women characters. Which is quite alarming to me considering the fact that her readership base is female. She’s basically glorifying a woman’s suffering and emotional abuse in a relationship all for the point of rehabilitating men who are too weak, too shallow, too selfish, and too self possessed? It’s as if you’re stargazing into a puddle. That’s all I could see in this book. And after reading it, I think I’ve seen all that I want to see about Rooney’s works. I prefer my authors and their works to decenter men fully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Blood