Intermezzo: A Novel Hardcover – September 24, 2024

In her 2022 T.S. Eliot lecture at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin on the centenary of the publication of James Joyce's "Ulysses", Sally Rooney traced the origins of the novel in English back to women, not men, writing in the 18th century. This wonderfully erudite lecture published in the Paris Review is available online, and I recommend it to the attention of those who think Ms. Rooney is not a " serious" writer. She is indeed a serious writer, and "Intermezzo" is vivid proof of that. She said in an interview that she had learned much from the novels of Jane Austen and Henry James. That same moral seriousness is present in this book, which is a beautiful narrative of both internal thoughts and feelings and external actions and deeds, especially sexual deeds, in the interlinked lives of 2 brothers and 3 women in their lives. Sally Rooney used the term " relational novel" to describe books centered on the connections men and women sometimes succeed and sometimes fail to establish between each other. She then went on to show that "Ulysses" is such a relational novel. Her novel recalls not only Joyce but also Virginia Woolf. If you like the writers I have mentioned, you will love "Intermezzo".In a recent interview with the New York Times, Sally Rooney was asked about "big" issues like climate change and why she didn't focus on such topics rather than the relationships of Irish millenials in 21st century Dublin. (This is NOT an American novel please, and its characters and sensitivities are thoroughly Irish.) Ms. Rooney said that yes these larger issues are important, but that people had to live and needed a reason to live and their connections with other people on the micro not the macro scale provide them with hope and motivation to live. I love this book and I especially love the ending whose resolution of the storyline was as powerful and meaningful as the endings of Shakespeare's beautiful romantic comedies like "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The *end* of a story is the most important part. What a dreadful feeling when the author drops the ball at this crucial moment. Have no fear, gentle readers; when you reach the end of this wonderful book, you will be uplifted and you will feel that the hours spent on this reading journey have been well worth your valuable time.

Sally Rooney has done something remarkable in restoring a sense of high seriousness to the romance novel. Having read some of the commentary in the press, I was intrigued to learn, among other things, that the two central characters in the book were both male. Even highly accomplished novelists often have trouble showing the perspective of the other sex, and so I wondered how well she would succeed. A little bit to my surpise, she did it as well as any man, in ways almost a bit too well. The brothers Peter and Ivan are depicted intensely in all their psychological complexity. The three major female characters - Sylvia, Peter's wife; Naomi, Peter's girlfriend; Margaret, Ivan's older girlfriend - are also meant to be complex, but they seem more abstract and less vivid than the men. At the beginning of Offenbach's opera The Tales of Hoffmann, the deluded Hoffmann says that his imagined girlfriend is three women in one: an innocent, a courtesan, and an artist. These are the three major male fantasies, at least in literature and the arts, since at least about the start of the nineteenth century. The lineaments of these, though adapted and a bit disguised, can be discerned respectively in Sylvia, Naomi, and Margaret. The prose of the novel is cryptic, fast moving. It is not only filled with astute psychological observations but also philosophic meditations on the nature of love, such as we find in classic authors such as William Shakespeare and Jane Austen. I became very caught up in the novel and expected to rate it a five (maybe even five plus), but I was very disappointed in the ending. Nothing is actually resolved, from the personal rivalries to the romantic uncertainties. That is not necessarily a flaw in itself, and it may be that these are unresolvable, in which case the novel could end on a tragic note. Instead, having vented their conflicts and resentments, all of the characters are reconciled without any resolution. This not only impresses me as unbelievable. It also senselessly dissipates the drama that Rooney has build up over the previous 400 or so pages. Love ceases to be an existential crisis and becomes a psychological problem to be solved by a therapist, a counselor, or an advice columnist.

After thoroughly enjoying the Normal People streaming series, I attempted a deep dive into the work of Sally Rooney. After reading two of her books, I am jumping out of that pool. This book is enjoyable, with reasonably interesting characters. The plot meant to be profound and symbolic and all that, but I didn’t ultimately care about the arc. I had a similar reaction to Conversations with Friends (something like that). In both cases, the set up of the story-telling felt a bit contrived. A lot of style, not so much substance. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

Looking at Amazon's AI summary of the reviews, I see the not surprising negative comments about this amazing novel from people who think that established norms in prose MUST be followed if one expects to be considered a successful author. Nonsense. I am a former professional writer and lover of good writing and I was just stunned by this book. Rooney has a style that more closely mimics how human beings actually think, and that is just simply genius. I love her structure, I was touched by her powerful development of the characters, and the interaction between them. Just get this book and, with an open mind, read it and be moved by it's beauty. I loved it!!!!