An Admirably Even Keeled Review of Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Here's my head and torso doing a Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney review. If you're looking for a review of Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney then guess what, bucko, you found it. Tell your friends about this Beautiful World Where Are You review because I need the serotonin that comes with every single view I receive. Wondering why I keep writing Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney review? That's how SEO works, idiot. Please like and subscribe.
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Fair points about the character Felix..., but I actually found Felix pretty interesting. I think the presence of his character was critical for the story since he was sorta an 'outsider' of the 3 of them and then comes in trying to 'deconstruct' the tensions that they've just avoided talking about. I think especially with his position as being from the working class, his perspective on life and how things are constructed was really different and added a really interesting element to the entire story
I agree a 100% I did not love this character but I felt like he made Alice and Eileen see things from a different perspective.
I agree with you , Felix was an amazing character , flawed definitely but the whole point was to show assuming people are bad just coz they did some shit. He's been totally aware and apologetic of whatever happend. also he's been pretty supportive of Alice and her friendship with Eileen . He's the one who helps Alice understand the dynamics of their relationship .
@@rumanbashir9127 I have a friend that is a little like Felix, so I actually loved his character. I mean, I hated him sometimes too, but I appreciated seeing someone who is a bit like my friend (who confuses me most of the time but I love him) in fiction and also Alice having the same problems with Felix -- and addressing them -- that I do at times with my friend. A lot of people hated Felix but I'm like...I kinda liked him.
This is the best review I have seen of this book. I never thought of Eileen being a version of Rooney if she hadn’t gotten famous and I find that so interesting to think on. One of my favorite aspects of the book was Simon’s relationship to God, and I also wish it had been explored in more depth. I appreciate how much you delved into the problems with Felix’s characterization because it’s what stopped me from completely loving this book, I think the book would have been much stronger if Felix wasn’t a part of the novel at all, or if his terrible behavior was examined and condemned.
Thanks for such a lovely comment, Stephanie! Made my day 😊 I feel comforted in knowing that most other readers seem to find Felix insufferable as well lol. Which would be fine if I found that I learned something from him but I did *not*.
I fully agree! He was so mean and terrible to Alice 99% of the time and it seemed like he was still supposed to be a likable character
@@NN-eg9gw I haven’t seen Rooney speak about the details of the novel, but I would be very interested to hear her break down Felix and explain why she felt him necessary.
There is an interview with Sally Rooney in the Guardian where she says “I no longer feel completely confident about the line that divides abusive people from the rest of.” She’s not saying that in direct relation to the character of Felix, but I feel like perhaps this line of thinking was what led to the creation of Felix. Even with that in mind, the character feels messy. It will be interesting if she ever talks about this directly.
The best video review of the book for me as well (to be fair I've only watched two).
I think the emails represent how the characters are struggling to understand the world, as many of us are. Random thoughts and feelings that some problems are too big for us to even begin to deal with.
Loved your rant about what women should do when they encounter terrible men like Felix! Very spot on.
After finishing "Beautiful world, where are you?" I didn't really have many conclusions and wanted to see how Rooney perceives this book. And BOOM it turnes out I was looking for silver and found actual gold. You may not be an author, but hearing your thoughts is maybe even inspiring. Awesome review, keep going!
I think I've found my booktuber, who's very well informed, very articulate and basically knows what he's talking about. Such a balanced act. 🧡🥂
I loved this review! Truly agree with everything you said here, but especially your thoughts on Felix (I did not like him or Alice’s choices regarding him) and the discussion around God. I think I liked Simon more than you did, but I’m also a sucker for the “friend’s been in love with you the whole time” trope
I’m already curious to see if I’d feel differently about Eillen and Simon if I read it a second time. Something about their connection always seemed off to me. I felt Eileen’s long harboured feelings but didn’t really feel Simon’s. It felt more like telling than showing, to me, if that makes any sense. But I wonder if I just wasn’t picking up on certain things. Anyway, thanks for watching and for leaving such a lovely comment 😊
Respectful relationships are so needed. Its something i try to achieve when i write stories.
i think to enjoy her books sometimes you need to be a little open minded and allow yourself to see things from a different perspective and angle. I also like how through reading about her characters, she really has a way of challenging your way of thinking which is an adventure sometimes. Lovely to hear your breakdown on this book btw!:)
You nailed my feelings towards this book to a T. I share your feelings about Felix and even though I think that charecter is inserted in the story to navigate the the friendship between Eileen & Alice in a sortof gruff matter of fact way for both of these friends to face and vocalise their greivances. But none of his terrible behaviour and almost outright bullying of Alice is ever repremended and there are so many instances where I really wanted her to retaliate and stand up for her self instead of putting up with the toxicty 🙄 This is my first Sally Rooney book but I will be giving “Normal People” a chance next.
Loved this! Particularly loved the idea of books needing to model better relationships, like absolutely. I feel like you either see men being shitty and women taking it or the complete flip side where the woman is just completely sure of herself and 'don't need no man' or whatever and more evidence of the relationship dynamic middle ground would be pretty great!
I would love to see more of women saying “you think you’re getting me acting like that? F*** off” LOL. More women putting men in their place, please!
I think these types of men and relationships add drama and trick you into thinking there's more psychological depth to the book. You know, like fridging instantly gives your main hero motivation for the revenge story :)
Loved the rant about Felix and the men people write about.
how did you…articulate most of my mixed feelings and ideas about this book and it’s author…so completely..what..
Great minds, as they say 😊
Your review made me finally set aside a day to read the copy that I preordered. Good timing, right before the weekend!
The novel didn't come together for me until the characters came together and Rooney was able to show the dynamics between the four of them. I didn't think the previous 250 pages were boring, however, because I really love that detached feeling of her writing style. There is something paradoxically immersive about it. I agree with what you said about seeing her tackle the same ideas that she has previously; I could see the similarities in the characters between BWWAY and Normal People and found it fascinating. I'm sure I'll reread the book within the next year to reexamine those themes.
Also, I did recommend this video to my sister, so I hope you enjoy that extra bit of serotonin.
I really like the comparison between the Family Guy criticism and the emails. Do you think it was her attempt at capturing some of the shouting into the wind we do on social media regarding social issues or do you think I'm giving her too much credit... Her disenfranchisement with the literary industry wasn't cringy to me, I went through a similar thing in my life being with the values of people I was around professionally in my past... Regarding the terrible men, a lot of romance novels have these kinds of relationships and men. They just aren't often read by men I think.
I DNFed it… I felt the emails were so fake and just Sally wanting to tell us stuff and preach at us about stuff that most book readers already know- plastics, consumerism, etc. I just couldn’t. Now, I think you’re right though, a book of essays would be my jam. I do find her countercultural ideas inspiring.
Karen, did you have a relationship with Rooney before this? I’m wondering how think it’s compares with her other work?
@@RickMacDonnell nope! I heard of her but haven’t read anything by her.
Hello Rick Thank you for your review. Boomer here! Very much agreed with the God topic...left things hanging a bit.
//Loved your rant about what women should do when they encounter terrible men like Felix! Very spot on//
Very much also agreed with Valeria about this too. Thank you for expressing this so clearly. It feels like going back to the sixties for me. Have we made no progress here at all?
I think I enjoy these TH-cam reviews almost as much as the books themselves!
I also think that she tends to write about dominant men and submissive women (Nick from Conversations with Friends is kind of an exception). I would love it if she wrote a spin off about Bobbi and Melissa's relationship where they are both dominant women. And maybe a spin-off between Felix and Simon too haha
Thanks for the video! Im reading the book now! Greetings from Italy 🇮🇹
youre one of my fav people on earth fr great review!!
Best book review on the internet? Yes
**Faints**
This was an amazing video. I haven't read any of her books yet, but it was great to hear your thoughts.
I adore/love Sally Rooney! I will be reading this book next!
Simon was an intriguing and attractive character. I liked reading his struggle of balancing religion and great desire. The sex scenes always ended too imo. I hated how he couldn't be plain spoken with others though. Obviously he's an educated man but he stumbles around coming up with the basic words to describe his feelings. And what's he doing dating a 22 y/o? Was that all about power and control?
Edit: And yes the phone sex scene. Just whoa. The slow description of him undressing from his suit was such a tease. The power dynamic didn't work for me personally. I prefer vulnerable men. Getting "taken care" doesn't do anything for me. I can take care of myself. But imagine how sexy it would have been for Simon to be the sexual submissive. He's in control at work. He's admired for his kind heart and hard worker. But in his relationships and sex, he'd wants to lose control and be subjugated. The scene of him slowly undressing and describing everything he's doing would have been that much more sexier.
The subjects that were in the emails are very interesting to me, but it did slowed me down in the reading, at chapter 12 I was rolling my eyes, and I love Sally, but it's hard to follow a story with so many tangents that do not connects to the story itself. I felt no connection to the characters like I did in Normal People, and maybe it's just me, but Alice and Eileen sounded like the same person to me, there were chapters that I had to go back and read again because I genuinely could not differentiate them in the emails. Felix makes no sense, when she invited him to the trip I was like "sis, this guy hates u, why? why inviting him??????" it all went downhill from here.
I really appreciate this review, Rick. Fantastically said. I’m looking forward to seeing what I think when I get around to reading this book.
I can’t recall, Brooke: are you a Rooney fan in general?
@@RickMacDonnell I didn’t love NP, but then enjoyed CwF so I want to reread NP and see if I just needed to adjust more to her writing style. We have the same EXACT birthday so I feel like a strange kinship towards her haha
I know exactly what you are talking about regarding the phone scene between Simon and Eileen. I thought it was one of the most sensual things I've read in a book. It was incredible. And like you say, one has to read it, to give it justice.
This review is so accurate. You have some very solid points here.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching, Natalia 😊
I read Rooney's first two books almost as soon as I could (within two or three months). I came to a conclusion that she was for some generations much younger than I am. So I was so far choosing not to read this latest. I've watched/read several reviews of this book. Still on the fence. Love your video. The part that intrigues me the most is it is about writing and being an author, the rest just sounds like more Rooney.
I didn’t really enjoy normal people so doubt I would pick this one up. Great review! I liked how you set up where you stand regarding the author
I loved this book, and so much of it resonated with me-- I thought Eileen's relationship with her parents was interesting, especially... Buuuuut, I absolutely agree with you that the part-epistolary format felt a little lazy. I was lucky to mine enough gold nuggets from them as the book went on, but in the beginning I was like, "oh no... this is not gonna work." Also, totally agree with the quality of the sex scenes-- it's such an impressive skill Rooney has when crafting a scene, every little subtlety is brought to light (without ever feeling overwritten) and it makes you feel like you're watching it in real life, or you're living in it. I think that speaks to how uniquely GOOD she is at this genre. While I loved CWF, I really disliked Normal People... but somehow still have this urge to re-read it... it's such an interesting dichotomy that I can appreciate an author so much while still being so divided on my enjoyment of her books! I keep waiting for another Sally Rooney to come along and do it better than Sally Rooney, but I've yet to find it. Anyway, great review!!
I'm avoiding reviews because I'm starting this tomorrow and want to go in unbiased - saved in my watch later for next week ☺️
I have now watched two reviews of this book and feel I'm good to go. I've only read a short story by Rooney, which was pretty good and I'd be interested in more, but my samplings of her first two books didn't exactly scream my name. I don't agree that books should model good relationships per se, but neither am I keen to read work that just sets the crap out there, and says, That's the way it is - yeah, we know. Enjoyed your discussion a lot.
Enjoyed your review.
I've never read a Sally Rooney book. I am tempted because I am curious if the generational differences would be obvious/irritating/ amusing to me as an older than millennial.
Thanks for watching, Brian. That would a pretty interested road into her books. A different perspective I’ve yet to see on booktube. At the very least, the content would be interesting! Very curious to see what you’d relate to and where the gaps would be
I've only heard of Sally Rooney because Steve Donoghue is so dismissive of her craft.
I’m having such a hard time getting through this book for some of the issues you’re talking about. The emails feel so disjointed and the emails in particular don’t feel authentic. I can’t figure out who would talk that way. None of it seems to apply or matter to the story. I have a book club meeting for this book on Friday and idk if I’m going to be able to get through it in time. This is my first time reading Rooney. Also the lack of quotation marks drive me mad.
Thank you for this video. It helps a lot
I thought the same thing about Eileen and Alice's emails. I personally wasn't interested in a lot of the random topics she brought up..I ended up zoning out of my audiobook during the exploration of those topics
Excellent thumbnail, articulate points, great pros, great cons; you said things I also thought but forgot to mention in my video; your description made me laugh; all of this just pisses me off. A+ video, arsehole.
I am going to frame this
Loved Normal People. Really enjoyed your review and can’t agree with you more about modeling behaviour that does not reward unhealthy male-female relationships, especially.
14:00 ❤
great review, not planning on reading this one, but her way of talking about interesting topics without doing the work of incorporating them into the story sounds clumsy..
I thought so. Some people absolutely love that though so … different strokes for different folks! Thanks for watching 😊
@@RickMacDonnell agreed but also it's a novel and you can always do a collection of essays. But that's my opinion. btw I read The Golden Mean on your recommendation and loved it! have you ever read Mary Renault? fire from heaven for example. I think you might like it
@@Nastya-uj9bg Fires From Heaven has looooong been on my TBR. Good reminder so thank you! I’m so glad you liked Golden Mean 😊 it’s such a great book
@@RickMacDonnell oh pls pls pls read it! and do a review. I'll be waiting! 😁
Enjoy your channel
Thanks, Joe! I appreciate each and every view, truly 😊
i know this book showcases (obviously) flawed relationships but the whole alice and felix situation was a little unsettling like honestly felix just pissed me off a lot of times
13:50 - 16:00 THANK YOU!!! Disappointing especially because it came from a female writer. I'd like to see female characters who spot toxic narcissistic behaviour, realize how unhealthy these relationships are, and get the hell out! Stop normalizing toxic, disrespectful, gaslighting behaviours in fictions!
true but sally rooney wrote it like that to showcase different relationship dynamics and although i honestly dont like felix and how alice didnt take much notice of his behavior (as well with eileen and simon), i do think it is interesting how she showcases the line between a flawed but not yet abusive relationship.
but yea once again i did not enjoy at all how alice let felix walk all over her it pissed me off
Gave the book 1 Star 😕
Fair enough. What were your issues? Just curious