Title: Conversations with Friends
Author: Sally Rooney
First published May 25, 2017
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Rating: 3.79
Overview
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney is a captivating novel that follows the lives of two college students, Frances and Bobbi, as they navigate their way through life while performing spoken-word poetry in Dublin. When a journalist named Melissa takes an interest in their performances, Frances finds herself drawn to Melissa’s sophisticated lifestyle and her attractive husband, Nick.
Although Frances is a firm believer that private property is a cultural evil and Nick is the embodiment of patriarchy, their flirtation leads to an unexpected intimacy that neither of them anticipated. As Frances tries to maintain control of her life, her relationships with Nick, her father, and even Bobbi begin to unravel.
With raw intensity and profound insight, Conversations with Friends explores the complexities of youth, love, and the human condition.
About the Author
Sally Rooney, a Dublin resident, was born in 1991 and holds a degree from Trinity College. Her written pieces have been featured in several publications including Granta, The Dublin Review, The White Review, The Stinging Fly, and the Winter Pages anthology.
Editoral Review
“Conversations with Friends” by Sally Rooney is a modern masterpiece in the realm of contemporary literature. Published in 2017, the novel chronicles the complex relationships between four young adults living in Dublin.
Rooney’s writing style is pointed and exquisite, and her characters are multi-dimensional, eliciting both empathy and frustration from readers. The novel follows the story of Frances and Bobbi, two former lovers and aspiring poets who perform spoken word together at events around Dublin.
After being approached by a well-known, older journalist named Melissa, the two are swept into her social circle, which includes her actor husband, Nick. As the four become entangled in each other’s lives, a series of betrayals and complicated desires come to the surface, forcing each character to confront their own flaws and the limitations of their relationships.
Rooney’s prose is beautiful and restrained, capturing the subtleties of human behavior and emotion with precision. The novel is a meditation on intellectualism, capitalism, and love, gracing the reader with Rooney’s keen insight into the ways in which we navigate our own lives and relationships.
A main strength of the novel lies in the character development, as Frances and Bobbi’s motivations and desires are explored in depth. Their relationships with each other and with those around them are both realistic and nuanced, demonstrating Rooney’s deep empathy for the human experience.
While the novel’s pacing can be slow at points, this is more than compensated for by Rooney’s stunning language and character development. Her portrayal of young life in Dublin is both breathtaking and poignant, and her ability to capture the subtleties of complex relationships is uncanny.
Comparing “Conversations with Friends” to Rooney’s debut novel, “Normal People,” it’s clear that this author is one to watch. Both works explore the tenuous nature of human relationships and draw attention to the ways in which we navigate social and emotional complexity.
However, “Conversations with Friends” is the stronger of the two, with a more compelling plot and more developed characters. In terms of flaws, “Conversations with Friends” can occasionally feel meandering, but this is a minor critique in the grand scheme of things.
Rooney’s writing is so strong that it never feels like a hindrance to the story, just a slight distraction from it. Readers who enjoy deep character studies, explorations of complex relationship dynamics, and well-crafted speculative fiction will find much to appreciate in “Conversations with Friends.” However, those who prefer fast-paced or plot-driven work may find the novel less satisfying.
Overall, “Conversations with Friends” is a brilliant example of contemporary literature, and Sally Rooney has cemented herself as a vital voice in the literary landscape. The Washington Post gives this novel a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
