It is almost impossible to understand Sally Rooney’s books objectively. Whether it’s the rumor mill influence in the literary world’s hype machine, or the taste of her previous books still lingering on their tongues, most readers are bound to have some (potentially high) expectations.
Interlude, as well as her other novels Conversations with Friends (2017), the New York Times bestseller Normal People (2018), and Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021)? follows the inner lives of a small number of Irish characters. It has the same dry humor, millennial indifference, and heterosexual longing.
But the interludes are richer, slower, denser, like eating a slice of cake, full of syrupy metaphors. It marks a change in Rooney’s writing, perhaps not in the content, but deep down she’s willing to walk for her characters.
Kathy McCullough of ABC RN’s The Bookshelf said Rooney’s writing, like British writer Margaret Drabble, reflected “the interests of the time”. (Courtesy of Allen & Unwin)
“Intermezzo” follows two brothers, Ivan and Peter, in the wake of their father’s death. They each have their own messy romantic relationships, but it is their fragmented relationship that is at the heart of the novel.
They are presented to us in contrast. Peter, 32, is a human rights lawyer and previously a prominent debater. “He’s the type of person who moves very smoothly on the surface of life.” Ivan is described as an “oddball” and “complete oddball” who is over 10 years younger and has a lack of social capital, adult braces and a tapering chess career.
Although all are written in the third person, Rooney changes the writing style to reflect each brother’s perspective. In Ivan, she takes the time to lavishly question the world and nearly every social interaction. In Peter’s case, she is unstable and pushy. Short, sharp sentences form a trance-like flow of emotions, actions, and thoughts, all jumbled with Xanax.
Despite their different positions, each of the brothers grapples with the same questions caused by grief. “Under what circumstances can life be endured?”
Why are millions of people obsessed with ordinary people?
Peter is floating in a sea of self-loathing. He is caught between two women. Sylvia, an ex-girlfriend whose relationship ended after an accident left her debilitated, and Naomi, a young university student. The accident left Sylvia in chronic pain and unable to have sex, and their relationship “was torn apart by circumstances”. Although she is portrayed almost like a saint, in contrast, Naomi’s character is defined by her sexuality, completing the Madonna/whore dichotomy. Peter even joked at one point, “Latest model, fully featured.”
Rooney’s supporting roles are often lightly developed, allowing the protagonist to sing. But Sylvia and Naomi’s stunting seems like a deliberate, if not offensive, comment on the way men characterize the women in their lives.
Another woman connected to the brothers is 36-year-old Margaret, who falls in love with Ivan, who comes to play chess at the art center she runs. Her point of view is the only point of view we see other than her brother’s, and her sections are horribly bland. She works, drinks a cup of coffee every day, visits friends, and worries about her failed marriage. Only after meeting Ivan did she realize “how distorted her previous outlook on life had been,” and at the age of 36 she excruciatingly believed that there was no joy left in her.
Rooney was shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize for Normal People. (Courtesy of Faber/Kalpesh Lathigra)
Rooney is growing older with her readers, her focus shifting from the frivolity of youth to what it means to grow old and ugly and mature. Fans of Rooney’s previous work may miss such a voice, as there is no narrator as dry and charming as Frances from Conversations with Friends. Instead, the characters are “scarred by experience,” with even 22-year-old Ivan lamenting the early days of his career as a young chess prodigy.
Margaret thought this at one point. “It drives me crazy thinking about the other life you could have had.” For some, this is perhaps a dramatic perspective of a 30-something; For others, Rooney may reflect very honest feelings of regret.
Her characters imagine the moves they could have made on the chessboard of their lives.
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Many of the novels address these theoretical questions. Rooney’s characters are incredible debaters, able to talk to themselves, each other, and the reader about all sorts of ethical difficulties.
But Morality and Philosophy is a recurring protagonist in all of Rooney’s novels: a “life of hidden desires shared between two people” and what must be done to ensure it. He is a supporting character.
Intermezzo is darker than Rooney’s previous work, but there is hope. Rooney writes about love and connection with deep honesty. That’s not realistic at all. Instead, it was hyper-colored, increasing the saturation of people’s desires and lives.
While some readers may find this dark work a step away from her previous style, Intermezzo is an older, more world-worn sibling to her previous work. So it feels like a natural progression.
And for those who come to Intermezzo as Rooney’s first novel, it certainly won’t be the last.
Listen: Kate Evans and Kathy McCuller discuss Interlude on ABC RN’s ‘The Bookshelf’
Intermezzo will be published by Faber & Faber.
