“Beautiful World, Where Are You”

Sally Rooney knows how to capture a reader's attention while telling mundane stories

By: Alessandra Benitez

From an affair between an older man and a college student to two young lovers who don’t know how to communicate, Sally Rooney knows how to capture a reader's attention while telling the most mundane stories. The premise of her new book: two long-distance friends dealing with turbulent love lives. Is it compelling once again? Yes. Her distinctive style and introspection into human nature has never failed to capture my attention. It is not hard to understand why Rooney has captivated so many young people, as all of her characters deal with realistic and contemporary issues, such as heartbreak, loss, insecurities, and love.

In her character-driven stories, Rooney explores the complexities of human relationships. Her characters could very well be based on real people, most of them brimming with life and personality. “Beautiful World, Where Are You” is no exception to her excellent character-building skills. Her ability to make me root for deeply unlikable characters is uncanny. By delving into each character's psyche, she presents people with deeply rooted insecurities, hopes, and dreams, making them too human to hate.  

This book centers on two characters, Alice and Eileen. They are long-distance best friends who update each other about their lives through emails. By keeping up with their love lives, the reader comes to understand the fundamentals of each character's personality and fears. With a slightly more hopeful tone than her other two books, “Beautiful World, Where Are You” is an unlikely uplifting story that people need to read during COVID times. While not everyone loves Rooney (understandable due to the slow pace of her books), I respect that she writes from a place she’s familiar with. This book is definitely a must-read for fiction fans.