Blog Nº 38
“Everyone’s always going through something, aren’t they? That’s life, basically. It’s just more and more things to go through.”
I first read Conversations with Friends in 2018 shortly after it was published, and I thought it was one of the most captivating and relevant novels of recent times. I have recently re-read it now that the hotly anticipated TV adaptation is out, and it did not disappoint on second reading. From the young and incredibly talented Irish author Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends is a truthful, sharp, witty and sometimes cruel novel about the realities of love and youth.
Set in Dublin, Conversations with Friends follows Frances and her best friend (and ex-girlfriend) Bobbi. Both university students, Frances and Bobbi often perform poetry together at spoken word events on the Dublin literary scene, and it is at one such event that they catch the attention of Melissa, a journalist and photographer in her thirties. Melissa invites the two friends into her home where they meet her husband Nick, an actor. The lives of these two sets of people become increasingly tangled as Frances and Nick begin an affair and Bobbi and Melissa grow closer, causing emotions to run high in this novel of intense clarity and vulnerability that examines the pitfalls of adult relationships.
Something that critics praised across the board when Conversations with Friends was published was Rooney’s unique prose style. As the narrator, Frances speaks to the reader with such a sharp lucidity and thrilling confidence, and there is little in the way of figurative or ornamental language. This style allows Rooney to write extremely well on the condition of youth and the mental and physical turmoils which can accompany it, and I am glad that I was able to read it for the first time when I was the same age as Frances and Bobbi. The lack of floral, descriptive language means that the four central characters are the focus, and Rooney gives each of them convincing layers of fragility and tentativeness as well as strength and wit, making for a real page-turner of a social drama.
Sex is a leading theme throughout the book as it ties the four main characters together. Frances and Bobbi used to be a couple and remain best friends, though they have moments of sexual chemistry within this story. Melissa is bisexual like Frances and Bobbi is gay; it is quite clear that Bobbi is attracted to Melissa and we find out that they kiss at least once. Frances and Nick begin an affair, while Nick also reignites his sexual relationship with Melissa partway through the novel after we are told it has been stagnant for some time. When describing Frances and Nick’s sex life, Rooney excels at portraying their relationship as sensual, sexy and intense while at the same time keeping it realistic and vulnerable, as the two often have trouble communicating. This could be due to the ten-year age gap between them, the strain of keeping their affair a secret or because they are both portrayed as quite awkward people. Either way, Conversations with Friends is an interesting examination of how sexual attraction and encounters can make or break a social group.
I would highly recommend Conversations with Friends, and I hope now that the TV series does not disappoint.
Happy reading,
Imo x
ImoReads 