Intermezzo

I finished reading Intermezzo quite some time ago. Storygraph reliably informs me I finished reading on the 5th of March, more than 10 weeks ago. I told myself I would have a little think on this book and how it compared to Sally Rooneys's earlier novels, especially after the disappointment of 2021, and then write a post. I had my think, and I talked about the book with some people, but I never really got around to writing. Perhaps because I never really got around to making up my mind.
Then last week I was in London and Intermezzo was everywhere. And I don't mean in bookshop windows, there were advertisments for the book all over the Underground. The main heading read "Come for the romance, stay for the meaning of life". Which, now that I've searched to get the wording right, is apparently a quote from a reviewer in the Irish Times. And that quote triggered something, as did the new cover design below the heading. So now I am ready to write this post.

To start with the quote; who ever comes to a Sally Rooney novel looking for romance? If you think Normal People or Conversations with Friends (I'll keep it to the novels I liked for now) are about romance, you're missing the point. They are about relationships, sure, about love perhaps, but certainly not about romance. The same is true for Intermezzo. There are romantic relationships in the book, but that is not what it is about. It is about grief, about family, about standing still when the world around you keeps moving at full speed, about coming to terms with change. So yes, I fully agree with the second part of the quote, but it should read "Come for the meaning of life, stay for the beautiful language" or something to that effect. Because the writing is once again great, even if it can be a bit tough to get through, especially the earlier chapters when the grief is still influencing the tone of voice of the characters a lot. But once you get through those, the going is good. 

Because of the language and the personal points of view, the characters in Intermezzo have so much more depth to them than those in her earlier novels, with maybe the exception of Naomi, who felt like Marianne all over again. But the brothers who are central to the novel, Ivan and Peter, are fully developed literary characters with very distinct personalities and voices. They assume so much about the other, based on their livelong bond and own point of view, that they're not really listening, not really experiencing the other anymore.Sally Rooney put such a complex relationship into words by showing, not telling.

I enjoyed reading Margaret's chapters as well, as she tries to protect herself from harm, while realising that she is doing so, but at the same time unable to stop doing it. It is in these very human and relatable ways of thinking that Sally Rooney is at her best. Unfortunately we don't get to hear from Naomi or Sylvia, who I see as equally important as Margaret. So that somewhat detracts from Peter's part of the novel.

Now for the cover image. In the original image, we see Ivan (I think) as a smallish figure in the background while the foreground is framed by Peter's legs (again, I think) and a chess piece, a white queen, laying on its side. This gives a nice insight into some of the main patterns of the novel; the power dynamics between the brothers, how much we 'see' of them in the novel, their loneliness, the importance of chess. 

In the new image, we just get the smallish figure, now accompanied by a dog sitting as a mirror image of the standing person. This to me confirms the smaller figure is Ivan, now joined by his dog Alexei. While I was worried about Alexei's fate for most of the novel (somehow I always care more about the animals than the people in these books), I don't think he is such a important part of the novel that he deserves a place on the cover. Also, by removing Peter from the image, it feels as if Ivan has the stronger voice, as if the book is more 'about' him. But the one won't work without the other, that is the beauty of it. Both brothers are a central part of the story.

So I disliked the quote and I disliked the cover image, which made me write this post to state how much I loved the book. There was quite an intermezzo (yes) between reading and writing about it, but the main parts of the novel still stand out clearly in my mind, despite having read 10 other books in between. I hope the book will reach a new audience with the new marketing campaign, although I do hope they're not just looking for romance, because then they will get so much more than they bargained for.