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challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infertility, Alcohol
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
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief
Minor: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Death of parent
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally a novel from Sally Rooney with an original plot and different characters to her other novels.
As someone who is on the spectrum, I was able to empathize with Ivan's struggles very well as I find him to be autistic coded. Unfortunately, like most autistic-coded characters, Ivan is portrayed as a genius.
In a way, I could also empathize with Peter, as he is the older brother, the protector and often left on his own.
Peter's parts were hard for me to read, but maybe that was just Rooney's way of expressing his problems with alcohol and drugs.
If you combine both brothers into one character, they would remind me of Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit.
All in all, a good read. Might be one of my favorite Sally Rooney books. I'm glad she has evolved.
As someone who is on the spectrum, I was able to empathize with Ivan's struggles very well as I find him to be autistic coded. Unfortunately, like most autistic-coded characters, Ivan is portrayed as a genius.
In a way, I could also empathize with Peter, as he is the older brother, the protector and often left on his own.
Peter's parts were hard for me to read, but maybe that was just Rooney's way of expressing his problems with alcohol and drugs.
If you combine both brothers into one character, they would remind me of Beth Harmon from The Queen's Gambit.
All in all, a good read. Might be one of my favorite Sally Rooney books. I'm glad she has evolved.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
There is nothing more quintessential Sally Rooney than her book being called “Intermezzo”—an interlude or brief composition—as that’s what Rooney does best: stories about ordinary people during short intervals of their lives.
I have always liked “slice of life” fiction and perhaps that’s what has always drawn me to Rooney’s works. They’re not trying to be some epic tale of woe or romance or adventure. They’re human, they’re impassive at times but still multidimensional, they’re extraordinary in the ordinary. They’re passionate but not in a way that feels overdone. They’re full of love and desire, but that’s not the entire point.
More than ever before, “Intermezzo” brings to the forefront the complexities, intricacies, simplicities and extremities of existence, this time following the reflective but not parallel lives of brothers Peter and Ivan whose father has recently died.
Though separated by a decade and differing personalities, they both look for the same things in a partner. They don’t get along, they don’t see eye to eye and yet—they care for people in similar ways. Ivan, a stellar chess player and the younger of the two, wants to make Margaret happy and to feel safe despite her being older than his brother. Peter wants to take care of both Sylvia and Naomi, one the love of his life and the other his current girlfriend. Ivan is an overthinker, humble in his overly capable abilities, funny in simple ways, if a little socially awkward. While Peter is an addict but often the more adept and sensical of the two. They clash in their feelings toward each other and each other’s romantic relationships as they make their way through their grief, not always acknowledging it in healthy ways. It’s messy and real. You’ll root for one brother over the other, and the next moment desperately wish for resolve. Family is complicated, and even more so when you bring outside romantic interests into the equation. Such is life.
While long winded in its paragraphs and the lengthiest of Rooney’s books to date, “Intermezzo” is essential reading if you are looking for a novel about the interpersonal complexities of the average millennial amidst the backdrop of modern day Ireland. Or really if you’re looking for any book that takes a deep dive into sibling relationships and how they change and take shape over time.
I feel like I have a lot more to say about this one but I’m unsure how to express it in a way that makes sense, so I’ll just leave you with some favorite lines:
“Peter naturally unable to be thirsty on main, he has a career to think about.” (Rooney is so funny and I think people forget that since her books are supposed to be serious and melancholic)
“But say if you take the example of a teacher, they go into work every day and like, teach children to read. The school isn't making any profit, obviously, because it's free to go there. But I think we all agree, the children should learn to read, so we better pay someone to teach them. Since that person needs to eat, and so on. If we organise everything in view of profit, we get things happening in the economy that make no sense. Like in this example, no one has a direct profit motive for teaching children, but the whole economy will collapse if people can't read. You get the same problem with infrastructure, and all kinds of things.”
“You know, life can be sad. It’s no good pretending to be happy all the time.”
“They were both embarrassed, he thinks, but happy at the same time, and there was a pleasant feeling of foolishness between them that made them want to laugh even though nothing was funny.”
“And what if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? Why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another?”
“… mutual attraction - which even makes sense from the evolutionary perspective - is simply the strongest reason to do anything, overriding all the contrary principles and making them fall away into nothing.”
“—life, which is now the most painful ordeal conceivable—“
“Go on in any case living.”
God, I love Sally Rooney!!!
I have always liked “slice of life” fiction and perhaps that’s what has always drawn me to Rooney’s works. They’re not trying to be some epic tale of woe or romance or adventure. They’re human, they’re impassive at times but still multidimensional, they’re extraordinary in the ordinary. They’re passionate but not in a way that feels overdone. They’re full of love and desire, but that’s not the entire point.
More than ever before, “Intermezzo” brings to the forefront the complexities, intricacies, simplicities and extremities of existence, this time following the reflective but not parallel lives of brothers Peter and Ivan whose father has recently died.
Though separated by a decade and differing personalities, they both look for the same things in a partner. They don’t get along, they don’t see eye to eye and yet—they care for people in similar ways. Ivan, a stellar chess player and the younger of the two, wants to make Margaret happy and to feel safe despite her being older than his brother. Peter wants to take care of both Sylvia and Naomi, one the love of his life and the other his current girlfriend. Ivan is an overthinker, humble in his overly capable abilities, funny in simple ways, if a little socially awkward. While Peter is an addict but often the more adept and sensical of the two. They clash in their feelings toward each other and each other’s romantic relationships as they make their way through their grief, not always acknowledging it in healthy ways. It’s messy and real. You’ll root for one brother over the other, and the next moment desperately wish for resolve. Family is complicated, and even more so when you bring outside romantic interests into the equation. Such is life.
While long winded in its paragraphs and the lengthiest of Rooney’s books to date, “Intermezzo” is essential reading if you are looking for a novel about the interpersonal complexities of the average millennial amidst the backdrop of modern day Ireland. Or really if you’re looking for any book that takes a deep dive into sibling relationships and how they change and take shape over time.
I feel like I have a lot more to say about this one but I’m unsure how to express it in a way that makes sense, so I’ll just leave you with some favorite lines:
“Peter naturally unable to be thirsty on main, he has a career to think about.” (Rooney is so funny and I think people forget that since her books are supposed to be serious and melancholic)
“But say if you take the example of a teacher, they go into work every day and like, teach children to read. The school isn't making any profit, obviously, because it's free to go there. But I think we all agree, the children should learn to read, so we better pay someone to teach them. Since that person needs to eat, and so on. If we organise everything in view of profit, we get things happening in the economy that make no sense. Like in this example, no one has a direct profit motive for teaching children, but the whole economy will collapse if people can't read. You get the same problem with infrastructure, and all kinds of things.”
“You know, life can be sad. It’s no good pretending to be happy all the time.”
“They were both embarrassed, he thinks, but happy at the same time, and there was a pleasant feeling of foolishness between them that made them want to laugh even though nothing was funny.”
“And what if life is just a collection of essentially unrelated experiences? Why does one thing have to follow meaningfully from another?”
“… mutual attraction - which even makes sense from the evolutionary perspective - is simply the strongest reason to do anything, overriding all the contrary principles and making them fall away into nothing.”
“—life, which is now the most painful ordeal conceivable—“
“Go on in any case living.”
God, I love Sally Rooney!!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship
dark
emotional
medium-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
At the center of this book are two brothers who are grieving the death of their father and trying to get their love and professional lives together. Emphasis on trying...
I felt most for Sylvie who is dealing with chronic pain after a car accident and struggles with seeing herself as a complete person post accident.
In classic Rooney style, expect a whirlwind of miscommunication, destructive behavior, and a dash of capitalist critique.
I felt most for Sylvie who is dealing with chronic pain after a car accident and struggles with seeing herself as a complete person post accident.
In classic Rooney style, expect a whirlwind of miscommunication, destructive behavior, and a dash of capitalist critique.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Death of parent
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Abandonment, Alcohol