Recommended by the Reviewers Club
Another exceptional read from Sally Rooney. A story about family, relationships, grief and mostly love.
Peter and Ivan are brothers that have very little in common. Peter is in his thirties and is a successful lawyer. Ivan is in his twenties and is a champion chess player and a loner. Both are struck down by a severe grief from their beloved father’s death. Peter struggles to manage his relationships with two very different women, one his age and another Ivan’s age. Ivan meets and falls in love with an older woman the same age as his brother. Peter struggles to understand Ivan’s choices and ridicules him, while Ivan separates himself from his brother.
This is a story about love. It highlights the importance of communicating, acceptance, and understanding in relationships when grief threatens to separate you. I enjoyed the philosophical outlook. I found it interesting to analyse the two completely different characters. Peter is a very emotional character who finds it difficult to deal with his feelings and switch off, and so he turns to medication and alcohol and never seems to resolve anything. Ivan is a very pragmatic young man who desperately misses his Dad and Peter in his life, but cannot deal with Peter’s violent outburst and so he separates himself from his brother.
4/5 Stars