Beautiful World, Where Are You
Ratings322
Average rating3.5
It wasn't awful but I didn't finish it. Nothing grabbed me. I didn't care who got together with who or why. Maybe someone else can find what I missed in it because I love other Sally Rooney.
My first Sally Rooney and it was... fine. I still don't know what Alice saw in Felix, but I appreciated the email sections and the general conversations Rooney was having about modern life and connection and morality.
i started the last 10% of the book convinced that i will only rate it 3.5.
a part of me was thinking, “really? after 90% of almost mundane nothingness we'll get the conflict and climax at the last 10%?”
but i guess i can forgive it because of the imaginary ding that trinkled in my mind when i finally get to the conflict part.
honestly, a lot of their conversations via email bore me. maybe because i just wasn't the type of person who obsesses with the fact that humanity is doomed to fail and we're watching it fall in our lifetime. the only times i enjoyed the emails was when they actually talk about their lives and that was the parts that i started to relate to Eileen and Alice.
i also think that a big part of why i liked the climax was because of how much i relate to the both of them in that situation. i GET them both. very much.
just like Alice, i seem to fall into the ruthless cycle of thinking of the worst out of the people around me. of unconsciously and consciously pushing people away. of choosing the solitary life because i'm secretly scared of letting people in. i'm Alice in a way that i build walls around me, so tall even those who loves me finds it hard to climb over. tiring before they even get to the other side.
at the same time, I feel for Eileen. who was very much loved but not in the way she had wanted. i specifically loved the way Simon talked her down. the way he had explained that maybe she had just found two people who loves her but just not how she wanted them to reach her. I was the same — i know throughout my lifetime people had loved me. but in my mind i kept on thinking that they didn't. that they'll leave me eventually or get tired of me and my endless sadness. but maybe i was just too blind to see it and believe it because i was expecting differently from them. something that i know i wouldn't get from them.
and well, just like them both, i used to believe that i CARED way more than the others did. that i loved people deeper, that all my emotions was not reciprocated equally.
(i was wrong btw. afterall, not everyone expresses emotions the same way)
still, as much as i understand both of them, i like to believe that i have better sense than them both. i don't think i'm much in my head as both of them. and if i am, i sure hope i'm much more of stable person when i reach their age.
like, i find it funny but it's the first time i've read something that both the male characters was much more stable and sensible than the female ones. i didn't like Felix at first but i warmed up to him very much. and i liked Simon greatly.
overall, i liked it. i don't think i'd willingly pick it up again (or maybe i will when i get older) but it was nice. a pleasant reminder that when i get to my 30s i can still be emotional and ~maybe~ fuck up all of my relationships and still get a second chance to fix it all.
Novel ini mengisahkan tentang empat karakter utama, yaitu Alice, Felix, Eileen, dan Simon, yang berada dalam fase dewasa muda dengan berbagai persoalan eksistensial, cinta, dan persahabatan. Rooney menggunakan gaya narasi yang sama yang dipakainya di Conversation With Friends, tanpa tanda baca.
Dalam novel ini ada tambahan narasi melalaui surat elektronik antara karakter Alice dan Eileen. Alice dan Eileen, dua sahabat dekat, sering membahas ketidakpuasan mereka terhadap dunia dan impian tentang kehidupan yang lebih baik. Tokoh-tokoh ini digambarkan secara realistis, terkadang terkesan ironis, namun tetap menyentuh dengan pergulatan mereka terhadap arti kebahagiaan dan tujuan hidup.
Kuakui awalnya aku skeptis, setelah kecewa dengan Conversation With Friends. Namun ternyata persahabatan antara empat karakter utama disini terasa dalam dan menyentuh, terlebih di klimaksnya. Untuk penggemar literary fiction, aku merekomendasikan novel ini untuk kalian.
Beautiful World, Where Are You truly lives up to its name. I went in with some hesitation about Sally Rooney's work, partly because of mixed reviews, but decided to give it a chance after reading Normal People. And I'm glad I did—something about the time I'm in now and who I am made me really connect with this book.
What stood out most to me is the writing. Normally, I feel a bit of “ick” when a novel is set in our present day; I tend to prefer stories set in unfamiliar times or places. But this time, I didn't get that feeling at all. Rooney has a knack for capturing modern language without dropping in the mumbo-jumbo words we use in our daily lives.
This isn't a fast-paced read by any means. Although I've added it to my “Literary Fiction Recs” list, I wouldn't suggest it to just anyone. You need to be in the right mood for it. If you're looking for a story where the plot isn't central but instead just want to explore the lives of relatable characters who feel the same confusion, longing, and wonder many of us experience in the world, I think you'll appreciate this one.
Alice and Eileen are two young Irish women who have been friends since college, now out making their way in the world. Alice is a novelist who has published two successful novels and has recently recovered from a mental breakdown. She's renting an old rectory in a seaside village 3 hours from Dublin. Eileen works for a literary journal and shares an apartment in Dublin with roommates. Part of this novel is the text of the long emails they exchange about how they're feeling about life, with existential questions like what one should do about the suffering of people living in deep poverty or under oppressive regimes. The rest of the novel follows Alice and Eileen as they navigate their relationships with young men Felix and Simon. Alice meets Felix, a warehouse worker who doesn't read novels, on Tinder. Although their first meeting is inauspicious, they keep meeting and surprisingly, Alice asks Felix to come with her on a work trip to Rome (and equally surprisingly, he agrees). Eileen has known and loved Simon since she was a young girl, but although they are close friends and occasionally have sex, they have never been in an acknowledged Relationship.
There are occasional romantic moments, but these relationships are spiky and uncomfortable. Alice and Eileen are smart and capable young women, but they are both uneasy with their places in the world and with the vulnerability that is necessary for "Relationships" to grow. The epistolary parts of the novel are the easiest to read, I think because Alice and Eileen are comfortable with representing themselves in writing, where they have control over how they come across. Their in person interactions with each other and with Felix and Simon are painful at times, because all their insecurities, resentments, and fears are so close to the surface. So, I admire this book, but it is not a cozy read.
This book. I loved the dynamic between the philosophical emails and the mundane everyday life scenarios. All characters á la Sally Rooney felt so achingly real and after reading this book, I could not have thought of a better title.
Contains spoilers
Una novela de costumbrismo, lenta pero profunda. Te hace cuestionarte muchos aspectos y creencias a la vez que se lo cuestionan las dos protagonistas. Eso me encanta.
En general me ha gustado mucho, las reflexiones de los correos entre Alice y Eileen han sido probablemente mi parte favorita. Es cierto que no he conseguido conectar completamente con lo personajes y eso ha hecho que pasando la mitad del libro me haya costado más seguirlo. Creo que es la forma en la que escribe Sally lo que hace que me cueste implicarme con los personajes, escribe de una forma que se me hace un poco impersonal.
Just finished “Beautiful World, Where Are You” by Sally Rooney, and honestly, it's a bit of a mixed bag.
First off, it took me a while to get into it. The first 50 pages were a bit of a slog, but once I connected with the characters, things picked up. Rooney's got a knack for creating interesting people – I found myself really invested in their stories and struggles.
Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the social and political commentary. Look, I get what Rooney's trying to do, showing how these characters think about the world and all. But man, it felt so disconnected from the actual story. Every time it popped up, it yanked me right out of the plot. Not a fan of how that was handled.
Character-wise, Eileen and Simon's relationship had me hooked. Alice and Felix? Not so much. Felt like their romance needed more deapth.
The book's structure was pretty cool – switching between regular chapters and emails. Never seen that before, but it worked for me.
Gotta say, some of the themes hit close to home. The loneliness, the feeling that no one likes you, wondering if you could do better in life – yeah, I felt that. Made the characters super relatable.
In the end, I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. The characters and relatable themes pulled it up, but the distracting social commentary knocked it down a peg.
Would I read more Rooney? Maybe. I've got “Normal People” sitting on my shelf, so I'll probably give that a go. But if it's packed with the same kind of disjointed social commentary, I might have to call it quits on Rooney after that.
Bottom line: It's a decent read if you're into character-driven stories and don't mind some philosophical musings thrown in. Just be prepared for some random societal deep dives that might throw you off your reading groove.
Love her writing style, love how she crafts characters. That said, I don't think the book was groundbreaking, even though this is in no way held against the book. It portrayed a bite of a life of people, and maybe I am not in a place (in life) to be taken away by it. It was fine.
i liked the writing in this but man these people are ANNOYING my god is this what dating is like? I'm so glad I don't do that!!
i liked this! the pacing felt a little off at points, particularly the build up to the end felt rushed & abrupt but other than that i enjoy the writing style. also more than other books i've read, the characters felt like real people with lives that happened before & lives that will continue after the moment in time that's captured in the book
the first half was difficult for me to get through, some of the chapter triggered me so much (even if I knew what the book was about, I chose to read it so... my bad)
the second half was interesting, I was just trying to understand the behaviors of Felix but didn't succeed lol
and then... the final chapter was kinda silly, I mean it was very simple and easy (but maybe we should see the life like Eileen did, idk)
“you can leave if you like, but you're welcome to stay. you might flatter yourself you've hurt me very badly, but i can promise you i've been through worse. and when i said i loved you, i was telling the truth.”
“And life is more changeable than I thought. I mean life can be miserable for a long time and then later happy. It's not just one thing or another—it doesn't get fixed into a groove called ‘personality' and then run along that way until the end. But I really used to believe it did.”
Det kan godt være at jeg ikke er målgruppen i Sally Rooneys lesekrets, men etter å ha lest Conversations with Friends og Normal People, bøker jeg likte, tror jeg dette ble èn bok for mye med Sally Rooney. Conversations with Friends var hennes første bok, og dermed den friskeste. Man skal heller ikke se vekk fra betydningen av identifikasjonspunkter, og mens Normal People mer kjentes ut som beskrivelsen av en ungdom jeg aldri opplevde (mangel på faktisk ungdomsromantikk), hadde Conversations personer jeg kunne relatere til.
Beautiful world, derimot, opplevdes stort sett bare som trist, en bok som er skrevet på ren vilje, med et persongalleri jeg trodde ville engasjere meg, og som jeg kanskje kjente meg igjen i. Men nei,stilmessig svinger det alt for mye, måten skildringene fremstår, er slik jeg ville skrevet ting på dager jeg ikke er inspirert, hvor setningene ikke kommer flyvende, og avsnittene sammentvungne.
Men det er kanskje slik det er å være i trettiåra og ikke ha landet, landet personer eller landet tilknytninger. Hvis det er slik det er å være Millennial er det langt fra der jeg er, og det virker som den tristeste generasjonen mulig. Kanskje er det derfor folk liker denne boken, men for meg blir det håpløst selvopptatt og .... kan man si knotete? Jeg håper Sally Rooney opplever en epifani før neste skriveprosjekt, for hvis dette er utviklingen i hennes forfatterskap, er jeg usikker på om jeg gidder lese neste bok.
What an exasperating novel! Literally half of it is made up of the most inane, indulgent emails where characters ponder about consumerism and cosmetics and the philosophy of relationships, with zero theoretical background. Literally hundreds of pages of people just saying shower thought nonsense about labor and the exploitation of the global south and being like “idk if that makes sense, I've just been thinking about it.” These are the sorts of conversations I have with friends over coffee and they tell me to read a fucking book.
The parts that aren't Wikipedia rehashes are also bizarrely inert. Huge chunks of the book read like alt text (constant plain descriptions of characters opening messaging apps), with almost no character voice because it's written in this detached third person style where everyone is a soup of the author just trying to have a single coherent idea. The back third of the book is the best by a wide margin because the emails go away and characters actually interact, but even that is too little too late because it's coming in with dynamics that are explicitly pulling from decades of friendship we barely see. We're meant to assume these characters are best friends despite only having uncomfortable interactions and bizarre emails. Then - psych - it's COVID time and we're talking about how actually nothing changed and isn't it sad we can't go to the cinema. Just exhausting stuff.
Finally, there are ongoing gestures at queerness which are so fucking obnoxious. Two of the characters are supposedly bisexual but everyone craves the traditional stability of heteronormativity. The book literally ends with a character getting pregnant and talking about marrying her childhood best friend and moving to the country.
This will certainly appeal to a certain type of middle class liberal that fancies themselves progressive but refuses to engage with actual materialist reality. Why consider decades of theory when you can act like you're the first person who has ever thought maybe it's wrong to subjugate much of the world to preserve an expendable lifestyle. Rooney is so transparently trying to come to terms with her own wealth and celebrity and it's just embarrassing.
What a fucking let down after Normal People.
For the most part I found Eileen's story more compelling than Alice's story. It was pretty to read most of the time but it was also kind of a slog to wade through. So much miscommunication happening. There were sections that I really enjoyed, like the wedding chapter. Overall, I liked it but I didn't love it. Can't see myself ever reading it again.