Is Beautiful World, where are you, that Beautiful? - Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, where are you, follows two best friends who are separated and who communicate through emails. They are both in a journey to understand themselves and to find love. In this novel we explore politics, friendship, family and of course love. Alice, the main character, is a mirrored image of Sally, a writer with two book, rich and unhappy. She communicates with Eileen who is finding love with a childhood friend Simon. While Alice starts to fall in love with her Tinder match, Felix. This therefore is a double romance novel, trying to find love with both of the friends.

To answer my question, yes, it is beautiful. But I think that’s where it almost ends. Sally Rooney’s writing in her new novel is superb, she has managed to improve her writing style and bewitch me with her almost perfect narration and description of the natural world.

Finishing any of her novels I always feel like I cannot rate it more than a four star mark. This one was no different. Her novels are character based works but I still felt like the character of Simon was completely underdeveloped. I could almost say he was a boring and uninteresting character. When reading his story I felt like something made no sense and even I felt like he was a kind of creep.

Felix in the other hand I found extremely interesting. I am not saying I liked his character because I did not. But, he did have strong personality traits that really just pushed the story forward multiple times throughout the book. Felix is intrusive, sometimes mean and an overall exciting character. You never expect his next move and how he is going to react to Alice.

Eileen is an okay character. I never found her very interesting or an enjoyable character. All her character thinks about is Simon who, as I said, is not the most interesting so, eventually I felt like I was getting quite bored with their story.

Alice is of course a portrayal of Sally Rooney, she has many layers and depth and I have to recognise that the story between her and Felix felt more readable. She falls in love with him but he doesn’t react the best way. She a famous, very rich, like very, writer, (we get it Sally), who has published two books but feels like she can’t write anymore because she has no ideas.

Something that I enjoyed about both Normal People and Conversation with Friends was all the conversations that the different characters could have about politics or interesting every day debates. These were integrated in the story and felt natural to read. But we don’t see this in Beautiful World, where are you, we are just thrown into a rabbit hole of Rooney’s thoughts and ideologies.

The ending was not exciting, leaving my last hope in the middle of the book. This book was so overhyped that I felt like it would become a new classic or new favourite but it has just turned out to be just another contemporary novel. Overall, I still prefer Normal People over her new novel but I do have to agree that her writing is beautiful and I will continue to read her books.

I am shocked at how confused Conversation with Friends left me - Sally Rooney

After reading Normal People and loving it I knew that the next step was to read Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. I thought it would be a similar style of story and similar characters just a different plot. However, Rooney’s debut novel left me confused. The style is similar but, something that I loved from Normal People was the third person narration and following each character through time and lives. She uses first-person narration in Conversation with Friends meaning we get closer to Frances, our main protagonist. Frances is weird, special but has a complex deep mind. Her thoughts and feelings left me confused and hence the title.

The word confused might sound negative but it is a compliment to the text. As with normal people, Sally Rooney has me starring at the ceiling at 3 am with no other reason than complete and utter awe. Frances is an interesting character to me, I hated her, for most of the star but, the way she is written brings my love to her character. She sees herself as an almost feelingless and inhuman person, but she thinks I could see her depth and complexity. When she is hurt she doesn’t display it the same way as Bobbi or Nick do. She is way more reserved and left outspoken but we can see how deep her trauma goes into. Even though Frances to me is someone I would not like to be friends with, on paper, she is perfect. Sally Rooney has created an extremely complex character and this is enhanced by the lack of communication Frances shares. Even in her mind, she does not share much and this might be for the lack of emotion but, for the lack of understanding of these basic feelings that she has. This is where her intricacy starts.

Nick is the love interest. I believe this character was meant to be the complex character that Frances is. He is supposed to be this two-faced character but, I see him like a meaningless almost dumb character that I hate. Yes, Frances is also part of this relationship but, the way Nick handles it with Melissa, his wife, is incredibly dull. I don’t like his character and there is no complexity behind this.

I missed a better story for Bobbi. She is incredible and I believe the book would have been better if Bobbi’s story and personality could have been explored further. Bobbi is a fun character. The fresh side of the depressing life that Frances is. She knows how to talk and how to communicate. I don’t believe that the book would have been better with Bobbi as the main character as Frances brings the complexity that makes Sally Rooney such a good character builder. Bobbi however could have been further developed into Frances story.

We can gather that Sally Rooney is how her stories are not plot-based but rather character-based. We do not learn from the story and we do not care about the path the story takes to develop. we rather care about how these characters grow and develop. We care about the thoughts these characters go through and what their development is. That’s why this book is so good. I think this book should be read by any lover of books.

Normal People is meant for normal people - Sally Rooney

The popular Sally Rooney novel has captivated me not only because of the writing but because of the raw organic story that she has created. Some people believe that her novels lack a story, something that is entertaining enough. I believe that what makes this book so special is the characters. Her books are not plot-based but rather character-based. The relationships built in Normal People makes you part of it. Marianne and Connell grow up together and you grow with them. Of course, this book takes place over many years but as you read on you feel like you learn new life lessons that they also learn.

The story begins in their last year of high school in Ireland. Marianne is the unpopular misunderstood girl in school while Connell is the popular football player. It starts as a typical high school romance novel. However, they start dating and sleeping together which starts raising questions about Connell’s morals. He is of course embarrassed by Marianne so they keep it a secret. What differentiates this story from others is the growth the characters go through. Once they arrive at uni, the roles change. Marianne is the beautiful popular girl and Connell is the shy misunderstood guy.

What I most enjoy about this is how both have separate lives but they always end up together. Every time they get separated they always find a way to get together. They are friends first and lover second which shows a real organic relationship between the two. This feeling of a normal love story with an internal character growth is what stays with a reader. Sally Rooney creates characters that you understand and sees yourself in even if the story itself is not similar to your own life story.

The time jumps were hard to get used to. She jumps from time to time and flashbacks in almost every chapel. It’s sometimes hard to keep up with these cups. The flashbacks only drive the point of a normal story. When you think you have thought jumps all the time. So, it was hard for me to get used to but once you do I believe it only brings the feeling of the organic sense even further.

Sally Rooney tends to use everyday discussions in her character’s conversations. It might not add anything to the story itself but it does make the character feel more from the everyday society we live in. We can see both sides of an argument usually and if those are not explored there are different opinions on everything. This enhances the idea of a normal story as it shows normal conversations that uni students might be having in today’s society. This also enhances the character’s growth throughout the story and the reader can learn more from them. This novel seems like a glimpse into two people.

The ending is what some people might not like. Yes, an open ending is always infuriating especially in this story as we have seen both characters grow and finally get together. However, this is what the title suggests. It is a normal story between two characters that still have a life (something that some romance stories do not have). Their whole personality is not only based on their love between the two so, but their continuing life without necessarily together only showing that they still have a life and that life also continues parallel to their love story.

This is a story of two friends that are meant to be together. This is a story between two people who grow up and end up finding each other. However, you see it I believe that this story is very touching. The characters stay with you somehow or another. You can comprehend them and see yourself in them. The writing is exquisite and Sally Rooney knows how to create powerful characters.