Sally Rooney, who has made a name for herself all over the world with her three novels and successful TV series adaptations, is currently working on her next book and is only 32 years old. Let's take a look at Sally Rooney's life and books.
Sally Rooney is one of the most read and controversial authors today. The factors that make her such a worldwide phenomenon are her simple style, her personality, and the layers of relationships she writes about...
Sally Rooney was born in Castlebar, Ireland, in 1991. Rooney, who studied literature at Trinity University in Dublin, started her master's degree in Political Science at the same university but did not finish it. Instead, she received her master's degree in American literature. She currently lives in Castlebar, her hometown, with her husband, Maths Teacher John Prasifka.
Sally Rooney (born 20 February 1991) is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published three novels: Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), and Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021). The first two were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022).
The author, who worked as a restaurant manager before becoming a writer, published her first novel, Conversations with Friends, in 2017. Normal People, which resonated all over the world and achieved great success, is her second novel. About Normal People, published in 2018, analyses were made in various fields, from impact research to globalization. Her latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You? It was published in 2021. Apart from her novels, Rooney also has stories and poems.
An international phenomenon in a short time
Today, Sally Rooney is shown as the "literary voice of the Y generation". In her novels, while introducing contemporary relationships to the reader in a simple language, she questions the ways of relating through modernity.
The phrase “Salinger of the Snapchat generation” is among the most popular descriptions attributed to the author. The author's literary language and the way she deals with the subjects are interpreted controversially by critics and readers. Among the negative criticisms are that her language is too "plain and plain" and that she does not see relationships from a separate perspective. Sally Rooney actually describes the dogmas of her generation and how society is transforming, both in her language and in the characters she creates. The language she uses while doing this has a realistic style that is identical to what she tells.
Generational and cultural conflicts
Rooney, who is a Marxist and feminist writer expresses this in her interviews; She conveys the reflections of increasing class inequality, patriarchy, and lack of communication in the age of communication, as in today's understanding of relationships, through the dialogues of the characters. On the one hand, "What should a Marxist novel be like?" While the debates continue, the way Rooney's characters are born is never unrealistic or purely malevolent. On the contrary, the characters are people from different walks of life and sometimes from different worlds in the same place. In her books, Rooney reveals the impact of the abstraction of the concept of connection and the lack of communication brought about by digitalization within and between generations.
Selling millions of books at a young age and becoming a phenomenon in the literary world certainly creates great expectations about the author's future projects. The emergence of this expectation is sometimes expressed harshly. However, unlike other phenomena, Sally Rooney is working on her new book by closing her social media accounts in a rural place. She expresses that she does not want to attract attention and that she is not special or superior to other people.
Sally Rooney supports the boycott initiative against Israel for Palestine
Rooney rejected the offer to translate her latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, from the Israeli publishing house Modan, which published her previous two novels in support of the Boycott and Sanctions Movement (BDS) against Israel. She said that she was proud that her previous novels had been translated into Hebrew, but that she would feel right and happy when she found a way to publish her novel in solidarity with the BDS movement.