Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

A Thematic Overture

In the quiet spaces between life’s grand movements, Sally Rooney finds a universe of human complexity. Sally Rooney’s latest novel, “Intermezzo,” is a tender exploration of that liminal space—the pause between breaths, the silence between heartbeats, the moment suspended between what was and what will be. With her characteristic acuity and an expanded emotional palette, Rooney orchestrates a story of two brothers navigating the choppy waters of grief, desire, and self-discovery in the wake of their father’s death.

The Siblings’ Symphony

Peter and Ivan Koubek are brothers bound by blood but separated by temperament and circumstance. Peter, the elder at thirty-two, is a Dublin lawyer—outwardly successful, inwardly crumbling. Ivan, twenty-two, is a competitive chess player, socially awkward and intensely cerebral. As they grapple with the loss of their father, Rooney conducts their parallel journeys with a deft hand, allowing their stories to harmonize and clash in turn.

Peter’s Discordant Aria

Peter’s life is a cacophony of competing desires and obligations. Rooney paints him with empathetic strokes, revealing a man caught between the comforting familiarity of his enduring first love, Sylvia, and the intoxicating novelty of Naomi, a college student whose youth and vitality both attract and unsettle him. His struggle to reconcile these relationships is set against the backdrop of professional success and personal turmoil, creating a dissonance that threatens to overwhelm him.

Rooney’s portrayal of Peter’s inner conflict is masterful. His attempts to medicate his grief with sleeping pills and ill-advised liaisons are painfully relatable. In one particularly poignant scene, Peter reflects:

“To think, as he has often thought, about her mouth, kissing her, and if she. Her fingers at the back of his neck. Can I touch your mouth? he asks. Feels or hears then somehow the flutter of her eyelids opening. Oh, she says. With your hand, you mean?”

The intimacy of this moment, juxtaposed with Peter’s broader existential crisis, exemplifies Rooney’s ability to find profound meaning in the minutiae of human interaction.

Ivan’s Contemplative Fugue

Ivan’s journey, by contrast, is a more introspective affair. His encounter with Margaret, an older woman with her own complicated past, serves as a catalyst for self-discovery. Through their unlikely connection, Rooney explores themes of isolation, intellectual kinship, and the unexpected ways in which people can find solace in one another.

Ivan’s character arc is perhaps the most compelling in the novel. His growth from a socially inept chess prodigy to a young man capable of deep emotional connection is beautifully rendered. Rooney captures his evolving perspective with subtle precision:

“To love, and for his love to be accepted, yes. It was in fact painful, the relief of all that compression suddenly, to say the words aloud, and hear her saying them, to be loved by her, it was so needed that it actually hurt, and he started to cry.”

This vulnerability, so at odds with Ivan’s initial presentation, is a testament to Rooney’s skill in character development.

The Ensemble’s Interplay

As the title suggests, Intermezzo by Sally Rooney is about the spaces between—between brothers, between lovers, between who we are and who we aspire to be. Rooney weaves these relationships into a complex tapestry, each thread influencing the overall pattern in subtle but significant ways.

Sylvia and Naomi: Counterpoint and Crescendo

The women in Peter’s life serve as both counterpoint and catalyst to his emotional journey. Sylvia, with her shared history and understanding, represents a kind of stability that Peter both craves and resists. Naomi, in her youthful exuberance, offers a tempting escape from the weight of adult responsibilities. Rooney navigates these relationships with nuance, avoiding easy categorizations or moral judgments.

Margaret: A Gentle Refrain

Margaret’s role in Ivan’s life is similarly transformative. Through her, Rooney explores the healing power of unexpected connections and the ways in which grief can open us to new possibilities. Their relationship, fraught with societal judgment and personal insecurities, becomes a tender exploration of what it means to find understanding in unlikely places.

Rooney’s Compositional Mastery

With “Intermezzo,” Sally Rooney continues to refine her distinctive style while expanding her thematic reach. Her prose remains razor-sharp, each sentence crafted with precision and care. Yet there’s a new depth to her writing, a willingness to linger in moments of emotional intensity that marks a evolution from her earlier works.

The Rhythm of Grief

Rooney’s treatment of grief is particularly noteworthy. She captures the unpredictable nature of loss, the way it can recede and then surge forward without warning. In one moment, Peter reflects:

“To make you happy: yes, I want to. Stay, please. Let me. Anything, I’ll do anything, whatever you want.”

This raw plea encapsulates the desperation of a man trying to outrun his pain, a theme that resonates throughout the novel.

The Melody of Connection

Equally compelling is Rooney’s exploration of human connection. Whether it’s the fraught relationship between the brothers or the tentative romance between Ivan and Margaret, each interaction is imbued with significance. Rooney has a gift for dialogue that feels both naturalistic and loaded with subtext, as in this exchange between Peter and Sylvia:

“He smiles at her, showing his braces again, the new white ceramic braces that young people have now. Yeah, there’s a lot of walking around, he says. That’s what people say, forget about the chess, practise the walking. Were you—He breaks off here, with a look that is shyly proud. Were you watching, or? he asks.”

In these brief lines, we sense the weight of shared history, the tentative hope for reconciliation, and the fear of further hurt—all conveyed with remarkable economy.

A Comparative Coda

Fans of Sally Rooney’s previous works, “Conversations with Friends” and “Normal People,” will find familiar themes in “Intermezzo,” but with a newfound maturity. Where her earlier novels focused primarily on the intense relationships of young adults, “Intermezzo” broadens its scope to examine the complexities of family dynamics and the lingering effects of childhood experiences on adult relationships.

In its exploration of sibling relationships and the impact of parental loss, “Intermezzo” calls to mind works like Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” or Ann Patchett’s “Commonwealth.” However, Rooney’s unique voice and her unflinching examination of contemporary Irish life set this novel apart.

The Final Movement

“Intermezzo” is a novel that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned. Rooney has crafted a story that is at once intensely personal and universally resonant. Her characters, flawed and deeply human, struggle with questions of identity, purpose, and connection in a world that often seems indifferent to their pain.

As the novel draws to a close, we’re left with a sense of life’s ongoing complexity—the ways in which our past shapes our present, the unexpected turns that can lead us to new understandings of ourselves and others. Rooney offers no easy resolutions, but rather a nuanced exploration of what it means to be human in all its messy, beautiful complexity.

In the end, “Intermezzo” is a testament to Sally Rooney’s growing power as a novelist. It’s a work that demands to be read slowly, savored, and revisited. For those willing to immerse themselves in its delicate rhythms, it offers a deeply moving meditation on love, loss, and the possibility of renewal.

In the Key of Rooney

Sally Rooney has established herself as one of the most distinctive voices of her generation, and “Intermezzo” only cements that reputation. With this novel, she proves that she’s capable of tackling broader themes while maintaining the intimate focus that has become her hallmark.

For readers new to Rooney’s work, “Intermezzo” serves as an excellent introduction to her style and preoccupations. For longtime fans, it represents a satisfying evolution of her craft. Either way, it’s a novel that deserves to be read, discussed, and cherished—a beautiful interlude in the ongoing symphony of contemporary literature.