Reviews

A totally captivating book about not much. Well, not much except love and all the complication and feelings - and the crazy - that come with it, in this era.

It took me a few chapters to accept that "Conversations with Friends" was not going in the direction I thought it was. (All the better for it. With all the "we"ing at the start between such different characters - Frances and Bonnie - I was certain Conversations would reveal itself to be a story of a single person w a split personality.) But no, no tricks - just really compelling characters ... and GREAT sex scenes. In Conversations, Rooney writes coming of age - especially coming of age in love - the way I experienced it. And she seems to have a keen eye for the countless ways that families (and friends and lovers) can be so (quietly) fucked up. A perfect Saturday totally absorbing read.

[Reading Conversations immediately after reading Pineapple Street helps me better understand all that felt missing from the latter. With Conversations, there's just so much more there there! PS was a dot-to-dot where CwF was a maze? Its more than just preferring anti-establishment folk to the 1%-ers. I think PS written by Rooney is a book I would like to read ...]

Lines I loved:
I could have tried harder to engage myself, but I probably resented having to make an effort to be noticed.
I knew she was being strategic, and the she wanted me to ask, so I didn't.
Some kinds of reality have an unrealistic effect
I learned not to display fear, it only provoked him. I was cold like a fish.
I started to realize how much time I spent appeasing him, being falsely cheerful
Something being over is not the same as something never having happened.
As a feminist I have the right not to love anyone.
It seemed practically evil to have so much sex with someone who you would later allow to burn to death.
Gradually the waiting began to feel less like waiting and more like this was simply what life was: the distracting tasks undertaken while the thing you are waiting for continues not to happen.
What youre doing now is deceiving her just for the illusion of control, which probably isnt worth it.
I still have that impulse to be available to you.
You live through certain things before you understand them.

claire502's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gigi74's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

allytmacd's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really understand why Rooney is so polarizing, but I think I get her writing. As opposed to my criticism for my previous read ('A Lady for a Duke', Hall), where the characters didn't feel like real people, Rooney's characters almost feel too real. They are deeply flawed. Sometimes their decisions don't make much sense. They are selfish and boring and normal. They feel SO human. While Frances is certainly unlikable, I found her perspective familiar. Like I was reading a 100% real random diary. My only real complaint has to do with how unintelligent the dialogue makes me feel sometimes.

emilynguyen_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

More...