Title: Conversations entre amis
Author: Sally Rooney
First published May 25, 2017
400 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 9782823610710 (ISBN10: 2823610715)
Rating: 3.79
Overview
In Dublin, two former lovers turned best friends, Frances and Bobbi, are making waves in the young Irish art scene as poet-performers. During one of their readings, they meet Melissa, an older photographer married to Nick, an actor.
They discuss, they create, they criticize capitalism just as Joyce’s characters once criticized religion. They take pictures, they write, they live.
It’s the beginning of a friendship, a seductive tale leading to a “four-way marriage” where mixed emotions run rampant. When Frances falls madly in love with Nick and begins a torrid affair with him, she suddenly threatens the overall balance of their friendship.
But Conversations with Friends is not just an ordinary story of adultery. It’s an endearing, empathetic portrait of contemporary young adults – the millennials who struggle to find their place in the world their elders have left them.
Frances’s poetic, carefree, sometimes naive voice is one of extraordinary freshness and represents her generation in many ways.
About the Author
Sally Rooney hails from Dublin and was born in 1991. She completed her studies at Trinity College and has since had her writing featured in various publications such as Granta, The Dublin Review, The White Review, The Stinging Fly, and the Winter Pages anthology.
Editoral Review
Conversations entre amis by Sally Rooney is a compelling contemporary novel that explores the complexities of young love, friendship, and personal ambition. Rooney is an Irish author and playwright who has been hailed as one of the most talented and incisive voices of her generation.
Conversations entre amis, her debut novel, was first published in May 2017 and met with critical acclaim for its postmodern structure, vividly drawn characters, and incisive social commentary.
The novel is written in the first-person perspective of Frances, a 21-year-old poet and college student, who becomes embroiled in a tangled web of relationships with her ex-girlfriend Bobbi, their married friends Nick and Melissa, and Melissa’s famous and enigmatic husband, an actor named Nick Conway.
The narrative unfolds as a series of conversations, both spoken and unspoken, between these four characters and others, including Frances’s estranged father, a former communist activist. Roaming through the streets and parties of contemporary Dublin, the novel delves into themes such as class conflict, artistic ambition, gender and sexual identity, infidelity, and societal pressure.
Rooney’s prose is sharp, precise, and evocative. She has a sharp eye for detail, whether it’s a landscape or a gesture, and renders her settings with a tactile sense of realism.
Her characters are keenly observed and distinct, and their interplay is both natural and electric. The plot is driven by conversations, both mundane and deeply revelatory, and seamlessly integrates flashbacks, emails, texts, and poetry.
Rooney’s language oscillates between witty banter, sardonic humor, and lush lyricism, adding layers of emotional depth to the story.
However, Conversations entre amis is not without its flaws.
The plot can be meandering and episodic at times, and some of the secondary characters feel underdeveloped or stereotypical. Additionally, the novel’s preoccupation with postmodern literary tropes may alienate some readers who prefer a more straightforward narrative structure.
Despite these limitations, Conversations entre amis is a poignant and powerful exploration of the human heart and mind, as well as the society that shapes them. Rooney’s narrative skill, prose style, and sociopolitical insight make her a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary literary landscape.
Fans of Rooney’s work will find echoes of her debut in her subsequent novels, such as Normal People and Beautiful World, Where Are You.
Overall, I would highly recommend Conversations entre amis to readers who enjoy literary fiction, contemporary romance, or social commentary.
Its timing and relevance to current events, particularly in terms of gender identity and sexual politics, make it a timely and thought-provoking read. I would give the novel a solid 4 out of 5 stars, based on its memorable characters, arresting prose, and bold thematic scope.
