What are you reading, Mr Sattentau?
One of the great things about novels is that the better ones can offer the reader insight into the psychology of human interactions. Sally Rooney is a young Irish novelist who specializes in portraying relationships from the inside out, so one gets an unusually deep ‘stream-of-consciousness’ perspective of how and what her protagonists feel and think. You live their lives for a while. Rooney became famous a few years ago when her second book – “Normal people” – was adapted into an excellent (and very successful) BBC series about the passionate but halting relationship between two young people during high school and University. She has just published her 4th novel, “Intermezzo,” and it is written in the same vein as her previous books – engaging, moving, insightful and funny.
The father of two brothers has just died and they are grieving. Their grief is expressed against the backdrop of a complex family history, and neither of the brothers is coping well with the feelings that the death evokes. Ivan, the younger brother, is a socially awkward and introverted chess player (Intermezzo is a chess term) without a partner or ‘proper’ job, whereas Peter is a successful and outwardly confident lawyer with a wide social circle and two girlfriends. We learn from their internal narratives that the relationship between the brothers is strained, and at times breaks into direct conflict.
The story moves backwards and forwards between the brothers and their partners (Ivan meets someone near the beginning of the book), and we are immersed in their pain and joy, triumphs and failures. Rooney specializes in siding with the socially marginalized (as beautifully portrayed by Marianne and Connel in “Normal people”), and her description of Ivan’s emotional journey is vivid, revealing, and strikingly honest. In particular, Rooney brings out Ivan’s authenticity and how it contrasts and conflicts with the slick persona of his brother Peter. Peter, despite his apparent social and professional success, is confused, unhappy, and ultimately desperate, and struggles to recognize his own feelings and communicate them to anyone else. To reveal more would risk spoiling the story – suffice to say that this is an utterly believable emotional rollercoaster full of heart and soul which speaks to us about shared humanity. The big message for me is that reading this type of literature makes us more empathetic – everyone is different, complex and has an internal life that may not reflect our perception of them.
Sally Rooney: Intermezzo, Faber And Faber Ltd., 2024
Other Sally Rooney books: Conversations with friends, Normal people, Beautiful world, where are you?
