Intermezzo by Sally Rooney caused quite a stir when it came out. There was a big, highly marketed release, and people hailed it as Rooney’s best work so far, a triumph, the only that’s almost universally accepted as good literature ™. But after reading it (twice now), I have to wonder — why this particular book?
Is it, perhaps, because it centers male perspectives, or because, on the surface, it has less romance than her other books (it does not, for the record)? It’s unclear, and also hardly something we can put on Rooney, though. She has little control of how her work is perceived, and according to her interviews, she cares a lot about these characters.
But it’s funny to me that Beautiful World, Where Are you, which follows two women and their complicated relationships with the world and each other, is so much less well-received than Intermezzo (which, if you don’t know, follows two men and their complicated relationships with the world and each other).
Not to say that Intermezzo is a bad book. It wasn’t on the first read, and it is even less so on the second. The prose is stellar as always, and the characters rendered beautifully. There’s a melancholy and tenderness to the way this author writes. It puts you in a mood, a headspace I can hardly describe but that I love being a part of nevertheless.
It isn’t flawless, of course. Rooney often gets stuck on this imagery of paleness, slenderness, slightness, which calls to mind a sickly Victorian child. And I can understand enjoying an aesthetic, and the way some of these words sound strung together, but is no woman strong, thick-limbed? Is there anyone in her world who is not waifish, who is darker-skinned, less graceful?
I would enjoy seeing her describe a different type of character instead.
The story follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan, in the aftermath of their father’s death, as they handle their grief, individual relationships with women in their lives (girlfriends, mother), their personal issues, and each other.
And though Peter’s perspective is harder to follow and he is harder to like (again, on the surface), I ended up enjoying his chapters the most. They’re raw, open, painfully real. Ivan starts out more likable, but I was frustrated with him a lot of the time, and he showed little growth in the end.
Overall, I don’t believe Intermezzo is bad, I just don’t feel like it’s as good as everyone says it is. As a long-time Rooney fan, I love the experimental nature of the prose and seeing different perspectives, but I miss the hopefulness of her previous work.
It’s a good exploration of grief (in different forms and from different sources), and how people deal with it. The last third is particularly good, when we see Peter, Ivan, and the rest of the characters interact more, which is, to me, what this novel needed more of. Less of Ivan’s incessant (incel-like, at times) rambling, and more of what made Rooney’s other work greater, in my opinion, which is interpersonal relationships and how they shape our lives.
I enjoyed reading your review. I particularly appreciated that it wasn’t all praise, which is what I’ve read on a lot of other websites. I shared a lot of your feelings about the book. Mainly, I felt ambivalent and not as engaged with the story and characters as her other books. I could see Rooney’s crafting and why she employed that style, but I often found it distracting or too repetitive, so I skipped quite a bit. Perhaps, some better editing would have helped?
I agree with you completely! Many people say this is Sally Rooney’s best book yet, but I don’t think so. I mean, it’s a good book, but as you said, I found it far less engaging than her other works. My personal favorite is Beautiful World, though Normal People will always have a special place in my heart. What’s your favorite?
Finally a proper review of this book. I was considering to put it down several times, which us a rare thing for me to do.I think it is highly praised as it had a massive marketing campaign ! it was everywhere…bookshops had special evenings on , windows dedicated etc.. I think her all her her other books were better.
Yes, I agree that this book had so much more marketing than her other books! There were even hand-drawn dust jackets, tote bags, etc. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I do believe that all of this influenced how people felt about it, at least a little. I’m curious to see how everyone will feel once the hype has died down a little.