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A review by pasteli
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.0
This is my second Sally Rooney book because I'm trying to understand the hype. By the end of this book, my indifference has turned to outright dislike.
Sally Rooney is Taylor Swift for readers.
Blah, boring, overhyped, need I say more?
She seems to feel the need to comment about communism in each of her books that I've read, but in a way that makes me suspect she learned about it through instagram accounts instead of reading political theory. She keeps saying 'communism would work but we're all too busy trying to fuck each other for it to be realistic' (not a direct quote, what she implies in her writing). Suffice to say its a very white privilege, first world, white feminism understanding of a political ideology. Plus, her characters that claim to be communist never engage in politics! They claim membership for moral superiority and to appear like a good person. Barf.
I also need to address her "queer" characters. Yes, I put it in quotes. Because her queer characters are written like the straightest cishets I've ever encountered. Maybe they're suffering from internalized homophobia, maybe Sally is writing characters with these traits to gain social justice points. I suspect it's the latter, and her point of discussing communism falling under the same reasoning.
Also, the sexual dynamics in this book...big oof. *CW SEXUAL ASSAULT*
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At one point a female character moves a male character's hand to her throat and asks him to choke and hit her, and then when the male character is disturbed by it says she doesn't even know why she did that? Like bro, WHAT. There's also this female character's obsession about being his wife and how she would take care of him and clean the house and fuck him good when he comes home... it's all veeeery patriarchal and there's no exploration as to why she may feel that way/feel inclined to serve the patriarchy. She says she feels comforted when he takes control and wishes that he would control her whole life because it makes her feel safe. Needless to say this girl has a lot of problems and it's written in a way that doesn't really present it as problematic.
If I had to give Sally a complement, I'd say this: Sally Rooney is excellent at writing unlikeable, dare I say hateable characters. So if hate reading is your thing, this author may appeal to you. But personally I'm going to return to reading things that have literary value.
Sally Rooney is Taylor Swift for readers.
Blah, boring, overhyped, need I say more?
She seems to feel the need to comment about communism in each of her books that I've read, but in a way that makes me suspect she learned about it through instagram accounts instead of reading political theory. She keeps saying 'communism would work but we're all too busy trying to fuck each other for it to be realistic' (not a direct quote, what she implies in her writing). Suffice to say its a very white privilege, first world, white feminism understanding of a political ideology. Plus, her characters that claim to be communist never engage in politics! They claim membership for moral superiority and to appear like a good person. Barf.
I also need to address her "queer" characters. Yes, I put it in quotes. Because her queer characters are written like the straightest cishets I've ever encountered. Maybe they're suffering from internalized homophobia, maybe Sally is writing characters with these traits to gain social justice points. I suspect it's the latter, and her point of discussing communism falling under the same reasoning.
Also, the sexual dynamics in this book...big oof. *CW SEXUAL ASSAULT*
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
At one point a female character moves a male character's hand to her throat and asks him to choke and hit her, and then when the male character is disturbed by it says she doesn't even know why she did that? Like bro, WHAT. There's also this female character's obsession about being his wife and how she would take care of him and clean the house and fuck him good when he comes home... it's all veeeery patriarchal and there's no exploration as to why she may feel that way/feel inclined to serve the patriarchy. She says she feels comforted when he takes control and wishes that he would control her whole life because it makes her feel safe. Needless to say this girl has a lot of problems and it's written in a way that doesn't really present it as problematic.
If I had to give Sally a complement, I'd say this: Sally Rooney is excellent at writing unlikeable, dare I say hateable characters. So if hate reading is your thing, this author may appeal to you. But personally I'm going to return to reading things that have literary value.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence