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Thursday, August 11, 2022

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

The short review would be this: with friends like these, who needs enemies? I think that on the one hand this is a well written book populated by (for me) unlikable people, but that alone is not enough to summarize my distaste, because there are a number of books for which that is true that I have really enjoyed and loved. The story is set in the post-crash era, among a Dublin elite. Every one works in the arts and denounce the evils of capitalism while most of them are living off inherited wealth. Frances is the exception to that generalization, and she is the main focus. She is hard to categorize, I think purposely so. She is bisexual, and unhindered by things like gender, friendship, or marital status when entering and exiting affairs. She over shares and under communicates, and there is an annoying lack of introspection that runs through her and other characters in the novel. Everyone seems vague, and possibly drugged, which does not prevent them from doing hurtful things to each other. I definitely wanted to finish it to see who lands where, but I am equally definite in taking a break from reading more by this author.

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