s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all]’s review of Beautiful World, Where Are You > Likes and Comments

I'm really looking forward to reading this so I was very happy to see your review! Very comprehensive as usual, and from what I can tell Rooney once again doesn't disappoint. I actually like her characters exactly because they are unlikeable and I do enjoy their contemplations about the world so I now I'm even more excited for this book.

Angie wrote: "I'm really looking forward to reading this so I was very happy to see your review! Very comprehensive as usual, and from what I can tell Rooney once again doesn't disappoint. I actually like her ch..."

Thank you so much! And YES, I completely agree about her characters. I kind of enjoy how flawed they are, it really makes it interesting for me. I think you'll enjoy this one as I felt a big theme of the book addresses that aspect. Thanks again.

Great review S, happy that you drew parallels with her previous works too. Can't wait to read it!

Richa wrote: "Great review S, happy that you drew parallels with her previous works too. Can't wait to read it!"

Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy! I feel like it fits really well with the other books, like variations on a theme or something like that.

I'm looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for your review!

Miya wrote: "I'm looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for your review!"

I hope you enjoy it! I have a feeling this one will be quite polarizing.

I think Normal People was too. I'm interested to see if it has the same feel

Miya wrote: "I think Normal People was too. I'm interested to see if it has the same feel"

Definitely has some NP vibes. I feel it’s closer to Conversations with Friends but also a thing of its own (while definitely a commentary on both). It’s interesting to say the least.

you write such beautiful reviews. i'll come back to this again once i've read this book.

Wonderful, thorough review!

I think this is one of those books I will get more enjoyment from discussing than I did from actually reading. There really is so much to sift through as you have covered so well -- the moral obligation of the novelist; all the religious talk (I don't remember this being a large concern in her previous novels); and on and on. I just wish Rooney would show a bit more range with her characters, since her chief focus is relationship dynamics, they're not well-defined enough for me.

Alishba wrote: "you write such beautiful reviews. i'll come back to this again once i've read this book."

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the book!

Marchpane wrote: "Wonderful, thorough review!

I think this is one of those books I will get more enjoyment from discussing than I did from actually reading. There really is so much to sift through as you have cover..."

Thank you so much! I sometimes find when I’m reviewing a book I notice more and end up liking it more than when I was reading it (I had planned on 3 but argued myself into 4 haha). The religious part IS a bit odd right? I kept wondering if Rooney way trying to proselytize me or if she’d turned religious while writing the book or something. I kept thinking “wait why are we back on this again?” with each Alice email.
True, and the men in this like are just awful. Which I suppose is the point but she really glosses over Felix saying “oh a few months ago I slept with a 16 year old. Lol my bad”. And then Alice is like oh I guess that’s cool because you feel bad, enjoy your torture porn. Wait, WHAT!? And I think I even like him more than Simon?
Yet all that said I had fun reading it I guess? Your review is super spot on. I have a feeling this book is going to be a hot topic of discussion for awhile (I’ve already muted it on twitter haha I’ll read the discourse once the smoke clears and would rather read Goodreads reviews of it anyways)

Elyse wrote: "Your review is helpful -- You underlined the issues - dialogue harshness -and the messiness like a PRO --
and I was soooo expecting to love this book (as I did her past two) -- but I hated the beg..."

Thank you! Yea I really waffled between 3 and 4 stars on this one because there’s a lot that I feel was earned but I wasn’t all that into? Like I still don’t quite believe the relationships because neither of the men had really anything positive about them (other than being absurdly good looking I guess?) like is Eileen a cautionary tale? Simon straight up groomed and gaslit her. And true, the whole nod to the pandemic felt sort of tacked on.

But then I feel like she took a lot of risks and built the novel really well around that. I kind of like her endings for being such non-endings, it sort of just got to a point where the themes had been explored I guess? I read a great review that said it should have ended where it was all just Felix scamming them for money, which would have been great haha. But I guess overall she was trying to capture imperfection and the ways we find to justify waking up every day so that was cool to me, it felt bold and I respect that. Definitely a novel to spark conversation for sure! Thanks again!

Elyse wrote: "Oh my goodness…. I just need to giggle -
Haha … like to told you the other day ( who was i to beat you over the head to have fun)….
But great thoughts about the alternative ending….

Maybe… somebo..."

That’s right, happy Rosh Hashanah!
Ha yea, I’m guessing the pandemic will be a plot point in a lot of novels a few years from now. Isn’t that a Nicholas Sparks novel…like a big relationship set up and suddenly it’s like “and then he died in 9/11”? Either way, I hope people use it responsibly. I just picked up this book called Grievers that’s about an outbreak quarantined to Detroit, which I’m pretty excited for (grew up just outside of Detroit and was there a few weekends ago surprises by how dramatically it has changed).
Well enjoy some rest time!

Thank you for this review!
I already wanted to read it anyway (I loved Normal people), but it is now higher in my tbr pile.
Just one question : you review is quite glowing, yet it "only" gets 3.5/5 stars, would you be fine with elaborating on that? 😊

Lauteure_a_disparu wrote: "Thank you for this review!
I already wanted to read it anyway (I loved Normal people), but it is now higher in my tbr pile.
Just one question : you review is quite glowing, yet it "only" gets 3.5/..."

Thank you. Oh sure, some of it is stuff I didn't want to talk about yet in the review since it's fairly plot related and I want to give people a chance to read it before I get into that, but mainly some of her arguments are well set up but I felt don't really hold up as well as they could have (particularly the stuff about everyone being flawed tends to center the feelings of abusers like the two men in the novel while completely ignoring those whom are harmed by them). A lot of the discussions on publishing, too, gets a bit odd and problematic to me perhaps. It's a smart book, but it sometimes felt like that gets in its own way to me because it's trying to be so clever to not be able to pin anything on it? Which Oyeyemi did really well in Peaces earlier this year where you can't quite ever say anything for certain. But yea, I enjoyed it well enough for sure and would certainly recommend it. I think I like it more than Normal People, less than Coversations with Friends? Maybe? Definitely gives a LOT to think about. I have a feeling this one will be pretty polarizing and I definitely understand both sides of that but overall enjoyed it. This is going to sound like a cop out but I like reviewing more on what I felt worked than what didn't for me, but I probably didn't balance this one very well haha. Hope that makes sense or is helpful.

Oh man, I dislike the conflation of Sally Rooney with Zadie Smith in that article. Love Rooney, but I can't stand Zadie Smith's books. Excellent review! :)

Anu wrote: "Oh man, I dislike the conflation of Sally Rooney with Zadie Smith in that article. Love Rooney, but I can't stand Zadie Smith's books. Excellent review! :)"

Thank you so much! It is a weird pairing, and Ali Smith as well in his article, which seems to emphasize that maybe its not their styles he dislikes but just that they are women writing literary fiction that is also very popular? Will Self also had some fairly bad takes on Rooney as well. She really gets to some people haha. This one in particular feels like calling out the critics, hope you enjoy this one!

Elyse wrote: "Once again you prove to be just so darn terrific and tell me about a new book all at the same time!! I’m taking notes…. But going out into the pool to enjoy myself but thank you I’m adding Grievers..."

Aw well thank you.
Yeaaaa, that one review gives me pause but I've really liked essays by Adrienne Maree Brown so I figured it's worth a shot ha. Have to support Detroit haha.

Love, love this review! Thanks so much for the considerable thought and effort that went into sharing this. The link to the 'decline of the English novel' article made me chuckle and wince at the same time. When is 'art' ever not in decline in this crazy world we're living in right now?
I must admit I have not read Rooney before. It's always intimidating when confronted with an author new to you: Do you dip into the backlist first, or just jump straight in with the latest?
This one really appeals to me for some reason - that wistful title? - so I'm bumping it up my list.

Gerhard wrote: "Love, love this review! Thanks so much for the considerable thought and effort that went into sharing this. The link to the 'decline of the English novel' article made me chuckle and wince at the s..."

Thank you so much! Isn’t that the worst opinion piece!? Haha it’s such an awful take that The Guardian published an entire piece more or less mocking it: https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...

I had started with Normal People when that came out based on a friends review and liked that one well enough I picked up Conversations with Friends, which is probably my favorite of hers. I feel like this one is definitely part of a larger conversation with her other books, almost a commentary on her career thus far, but I think it would still work just fine jumping in here? It’s an oddball of a book for sure, but I guess they all kind of are. Like, the characters can be infuriating and I think that’s the draw? I read each one in a two day span, they are hard to put down. I do suspect this one is going to be more polarizing than any of her previous books too. Hope you enjoy it, I’ll be really curious to hear what you think! Thanks again.

s.penkevich wrote: "Gerhard wrote: "Love, love this review! Thanks so much for the considerable thought and effort that went into sharing this. The link to the 'decline of the English novel' article made me chuckle an..."

That rebuttal argument from 'The Guardian' is hysterical! Maybe the novel is...undead? Or becoming zombified, in this age of pandemics and tyrannies, bread and circuses. Anyway, the debate is far too much fun for anyone to declare it over anytime soon!

Your comments about Rooney's books as part of an authorial meta-dialogue reminds me of Ali Smith, Rachel Cusk, Deborah Levy, Nell Zink. [If the novel is dead, it sure is still kicking a lot!]

Gerhard wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Gerhard wrote: "Love, love this review! Thanks so much for the considerable thought and effort that went into sharing this. The link to the 'decline of the English novel' articl..."

Hahaha I am here for the undead novel apocalypse! I love how in every era people think it’s the end of art, it’s especially interesting now when there is so much access to artists who just…tweet it right out. I think Rooney isn’t on twitter which is probably for the best?

Ooo good connection with Ali Smith and Cusk. I do tend to really enjoy self aware novels, and if anything she shows she’s able to hang with that here

I read 3 quarters of your review and my God! I am floored by your insights. But I have yet to finish reading the whole lot, Penkevich, to come and tell you what it is I really felt to have read it full.

I really feel that if I had met you and had a conversation on literature, we could have gone talking for hours, with me preferring to stay quiet most of the time, in humble delight of learning so much from YOU.

Will finish and tell you fully about it!

s.penkevich wrote: "Hahaha I am here for the undead novel apocalypse! I love how in every era people think it’s the end of art, it’s especially interesting now when there is so much access to artists who just…tweet it right out. I think Rooney isn’t on twitter which is probably for the best?"

I do think that social media has over-complicated matters for both readers and writers. Some take advantage of it, as with SF writers like John Scalzi and James S.A. Corey, who enjoy interacting with fans (and telling them off when they talk crap), which is very much part of their brand engagement (and it doesn’t detract from them as writers.) But you’re right, I can’t imagine Rooney or Cusk or Zink … tweeting or … TikTokking. What if there are typos in the text, or visible cellulite in the video clip? And shouldn’t they be writing instead of doom-scrolling or meta-twerking?
What does fascinate me about Rooney and Smith, in particular, is the longevity, or historic resilience, of these ‘so in the moment’ novels. Will they still be read, let alone understood, in a decade’s time?

Elyse wrote: "Just curious>>>
If you both 'had' to only read one of these woman -- (Smith, Cusk, Levy, or Zink) -- who would you choose? ---(maybe not even a fair question --but I see big differences between all of them)."

Wow Elyse, that is a fascinating question, and demands an impossible answer. For me, I'm attracted to this kind of open-ended / meta / experimental writing, so if you read Levy you're bound to bump into Cusk or Zink. Yes, they are all fundamentally different, but kind of on the same plane.
I have to say these are the most challenging writers for me: I have often wanted to throw my tablet on the floor out of sheer frustration (Levy and Cusk in particular).
But then these are the books that tend to linger in my mind the longest, and that I think about at the strangest moments when reading other books.
I think it's important to be able to appreciate a book for its technical artistry or insight, even if you disagree with the author's viewpoint or think their writing sucks.
I know there is this assumed 'disconnect' between readers and writers ... but boy, when that spark ignites, it is as if this writer has crawled into your headspace with a highlighter to show you exactly what is important in the world.

Was awaiting for your review

I was granted an extract of her novel. It was very dry and I got no sense of the characters. I can see from your very excellent, thorough and thoughtful review that I needed to be exposed to a bit more than the first chapter (if it was even an entire chapter - not sure!)
I was not going to bother with this one after reading the extract, but since you gave it such a glowing review, then I will put it on my TBR list again.
I'm not surprised that she is jousting with her critics. That seems to be her personality. She is very strong-minded, which is a good thing in this world. She needs to allow people to have their own opinion and just let it be, but I get that it gave her something really interesting to write about and "really sink her teeth" into the literary world.
Great job!

Elyse wrote: "A fly on the wall -- enjoying all these comments!!! >> and thoughts --Thanks for that Guardian link too --
and loving your conversation with Gerhard!!!

By the way --I read Rooney's books --in or..."

Hey sorry for the delay was out camping. I really need to read Levy! I somehow have yet to do so. I just read my first Cusk last month and really loved it, I might pick her because I'm eager to read her trilogy and I've read a bunch of Ali Smith already haha. I do love Smith a lot.

ANd that makes sense. I've seen people rating this one all up and down the stars, it seems to be pretty polarizing ha. Which is cool, I think that was her point? I "enjoyed" this one far less than the other two but at the same time am rather impressed with it? If that makes sense? Its well constructed for what it is. It kind of makes me wonder if she's trying to shake off some of the popularity?

Nilanjana wrote: "I read 3 quarters of your review and my God! I am floored by your insights. But I have yet to finish reading the whole lot, Penkevich, to come and tell you what it is I really felt to have read it ..."

Ooo are you enjoying it so far? There were times where I really wasn't and then 5 pages later I'd claim it was amazing haha. I feel like theres a lot going on beyond the plot that I'm pretty into though.

Ha well I hope I'd be able to make some coherent points, I feel like I ramble mostly trying to chase an idea and not sure if I ever catch it.

Gerhard wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Hahaha I am here for the undead novel apocalypse! I love how in every era people think it’s the end of art, it’s especially interesting now when there is so much access to artis..."

True, I do really appreciate an author that can engage on social media well but also don't see it as indicitive to their novels? If that makes sense. I read both Brandon Taylor books because of how much I enjoy his twitter and LOVED both, but I also went into Real Life expecting it to be funny based on his tweets and woooooah is that book sad haha. I think about all the "greats" though who would probably be insufferable. Like, Dostoevsky would just shit post about the French all day most likely and I'd have to be like "ok you are kind of a dick" haha.

The in the moment novels fascinate me. It will be interesting to see which hold on and age well (though also access to reprints of editions is so imperitive on the market so like, will they still sell is also unfortunately a big piece of that). I read that Patricia Lockwood No One Is Talking about This this year and enjoyed it but that is one I really wonder how it will be even 5 years from now since it is so heavily in the present (and even some of it seemed dated already even 2 years out from the references). But it was kind of cool in an ephemeral way for it?

Bookoffholic bookwart wrote: "Was awaiting for your review"

Aw thank you, I hope it was worth the wait!

Susan's Reviews wrote: "I was granted an extract of her novel. It was very dry and I got no sense of the characters. I can see from your very excellent, thorough and thoughtful review that I needed to be exposed to a bit ..."

Thank you! Yea that makes sense, this book felt…fairly detached compared to the others? My theory is that it’s her way of showing how we can’t really know other people when we judge them I guess? I feel like this one was the least enjoyable but the most “literary” of her books maybe? But yea, jousting with them critics aspect was super fun.

Gorgeous review, really nuanced and detailed. I find myself agreeing with most of it though I did find that some of their letters read like mouthpieces for the author (not that I necessarily believe they are). I also adore Brandon Taylor's newsletter!

(ps I think you may have written Simon where you mean Felix :) )

Sara wrote: "Gorgeous review, really nuanced and detailed. I find myself agreeing with most of it though I did find that some of their letters read like mouthpieces for the author (not that I necessarily believ..."

Thank you so much. Yea, some of the letters felt like she wanted to write socio-political essays but thought 'eh i'll throw them into the book instead'. Like, the Bronze Age essay is right there in the early wikipedia draft stage haha. Taylor is the best! His one about The Chair recently is such a good piece on current art.

Oooo okay yea i probably did that, let me find it thanks. They are fairly interchangable characters though haha.

Amazing review! This was a joy to read as you brought up a lot of my thoughts and also points I didn't even think of. I think your rating is fair as well, I gave it around 4.

Did you change your rating to 1 star ? Because it says 3.5 at the end of your review. Although 1 star seems fair to me.

Oh boy. What happened?

Anya wrote: "Did you change your rating to 1 star ? Because it says 3.5 at the end of your review. Although 1 star seems fair to me."

Ooops I went to write a comment and had to put my phone away and I think I somehow did "butt dialing" but for rating changes haha

Heather wrote: "Oh boy. What happened?"

I think I re-rated it shoving my phone in my pocket haha. That or my phone hates this book and wanted to spite me....

Troy wrote: "Amazing review! This was a joy to read as you brought up a lot of my thoughts and also points I didn't even think of. I think your rating is fair as well, I gave it around 4."

Thank you so much! Your review is quite wonderful as well. Yea, I feel like I have to stick with 4 (i had accidentally switched it to 1 star...hope you didn't see that haha), if only because I can't stop thinking about it and wanting to talk about it. I feel like so many things happen in this book where I thought "wait, are we NOT going to talk about that, Rooney?!" that I have to start randomly shouting parts of the book to anyone who has read it haha.
Thanks again, glad you also enjoyed!

s.penkevich wrote: "Nilanjana wrote: "I read 3 quarters of your review and my God! I am floored by your insights. But I have yet to finish reading the whole lot, Penkevich, to come and tell you what it is I really fel..."

I haven't read the book S. Penkevich. : )

As promised, I just re-read the whole of the review and researched references you made here and there. Lots of insights that often traverse my OWN mind that the author seems have spoken about.

The talk about themes on 'poverty often being considered as artistically unsuccessful' has been a long-held complaint I had against the world at large!

Glad you brought it up!

All these talks are mostly exchanges between Alice and Felix ?

Looks like some read I am going to love myself!

This line brought up by you---> Characters discuss how, as atheists, why do they place so much emphasis on there being no divine morality and then still demand a moral purity from others.<-----is something that has often crossed my own mind for purposes of my way of living (although I justify this paradoxical take on morality as valid!)

Still, deep to entertain as a part of this insightful discussion of yours!



Loved reading it very much!

I like the ramble. I ramble all day long myself. When heard it is always more than necessary. Which isn't your case by the way! I found all relevant and very intriguing!

Oh so, your ecstasy oscillated while reading?! I'm intrigued to learn about this author. Seriously!

Nilanjana wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Nilanjana wrote: "I read 3 quarters of your review and my God! I am floored by your insights. But I have yet to finish reading the whole lot, Penkevich, to come and tell you wha..."

Thank you! Ooo well I hope you do enjoy when you get to it. It’s certainly a fascinating (and sometimes frustrating) read. Frustrating only that the characters are just…kind of irritating or terrible people (especially Simon) but not in a way that distracts from reading but just feels fairly real? I haven’t stopped thinking about the book if that says anything and am at all times wanting to talk about it. There are some pretty strange things that happen or are said that she simply presents and then never talks about it again and each time I was like “are we just going to ignore that!?” Hhaha. Which then makes you want to talk about it with people, kind of a brilliant tactic really. It’s constructed in a way that feels like she is daring you to criticize it without being exactly what she is critiquing, at least that’s my theory.

Yea that bits about morality are interesting and I too have struggled with trying to define it similarly. It ends up being more religious than I expected but recently I had a friend make the point that online moral purity culture feels like the modern version of religious purity (used more to exclude people for missteps than be a guide for living, was his point) and I think that might be what she is getting at? I’ll be curious what your take is on that when you read it.

But yep, it definitely oscillated. There were points where I was annoyed but that ended up making me want to read it more haha. The bit about popular authors never writing anything of substance (Alice’s insistence) or about real life struggles made me think “Toni Morrison would NOT be okay with that”. Her books definitely all take place in quite a bubble of white privilege, which gets frustrating here but I also think is part of the point?

Wow and here I am rambling now. Well thanks again, glad you have enjoyed my long rant in search of an impression on the book!

Great review, but it's Felix, not Simon, that works in the warehouse.

Olivia Mohtady wrote: "Great review, but it's Felix, not Simon, that works in the warehouse."

Thank you so much! Ah yes, I keep meaning to correct that thanks

No worries!

s.penkevich wrote: "Heather wrote: "Oh boy. What happened?"

I think I re-rated it shoving my phone in my pocket haha. That or my phone hates this book and wanted to spite me...."

Ha! Phew... I was worried some kind of controversy forced a re-rating. :)

Heather wrote: "s.penkevich wrote: "Heather wrote: "Oh boy. What happened?"

I think I re-rated it shoving my phone in my pocket haha. That or my phone hates this book and wanted to spite me...."

Ha! Phew... I wa..."

The Patriarchy cannot silence my Rooney love!

Amazing review. I DNFed the book after 30 pages though. The author isnt for me, I decided.

Sookie wrote: "Amazing review. I DNFed the book after 30 pages though. The author isnt for me, I decided."

Thank you so much! Yea, that is fair. I think Rooney either really works for someone or not even a little and I totally can see why haha.