“Alice, Do you think the problem of the contemporary novel is simply the problem of contemporary life? I agree it seems vulgar, decadent, even epistemically violent, to invest energy in the trivialities of sex and friendship when human civilization is facing collapse. But at the same time, that is what I do every day.” Feeling everything and more but no courage to admit that you feel. Blaming the world of being distant but being detached yourself.

In the fairly new novel from Sally Rooney Beautiful World Where Are You we follow the best friends Alice and Eileen entangling life and their role in it. As they are not living together they write long philosophical and heartfelt emails while in real life they seem distant and detached.

I love the novels by Sally Rooney and although I had difficulty getting into this one I did ended up liking it. The narrative was detached, but so was the behavior of the characters. It had lyrical writing but at the same point it was alienating. It had clear philosophies but the decisions Eileen and Alice made where incomprehensible at the same time. The beauty in it? Life consists of opposites. Definitely worth the read. It’s a book that needs time to sink in and it has almost zero plot, but it was a wonderful read.