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people & Arts Monday 7 october 2024
A13

Book Review: Sally Rooney's latest novel 'Intermezzo' HEALTH

examines unacknowledged grief DOCTOR ON DUTY

Oranjestad
By CURTIS YEE the uncanny sense that "life
Associated Press has slipped free of its net- Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
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Ivan and Peter Koubek's ting" following her first en-
father has just died, but counter with Ivan. "It means San Nicolas
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much about it, let alone to quickly course corrects. Tel.524 8833
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even friends. ing is unfamiliar." Oranjestad:
Peter, the eldest by a de- This is often the meter of Eagle : tel.587 9011
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petitive chess player whose past, illegible and unreal-
prowess for the game hasn't ized until they inevitably OTHER
done much to build his so- burst, fully formed and so Dental Clinic 587 9850
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after meeting Margaret, an they cannot be contained. Urgent Care 586 0448
older woman who's emerg- And it is at this in-between, Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
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ing from the shadow of her restrained and circumspect, Women in Difficulties
own crisis, Ivan's life has where Rooney situates her EMERGENCY
begun to blossom — and novel — consider the title. Police 100
the same cannot be said Intermezzo, an unexpected Oranjestad 527 3140
for Peter. A human-rights move in chess that interrupts Noord 527 3200
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now jaded — Peter's self- exchanges, is a risk that up- San Nicolas 584 5000
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with Naomi, a wry, carefree In the tense, messy contra- Red Cross 582 2219
college student, and Slyvia, dictions of communal grief,
his former flame and long- Rooney weaves together TAXI SERVICES
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"Intermezzo," the fourth A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
novel from Irish author Sal- This cover image released by FSG shows "Intermezzo" by Sally Women in Difficulties
ly Rooney, is a portrait of Rooney. TRAVEL INFO
grief not fully internalized. Associated Press
In her astutely intimate style, Aruba Airport 524 2424
Rooney wades through the insufficient words. These in- garet, Rooney notes that he American Airlines 582 2700
convoluted emotions that stances of almost are where has "an involuntary mental Avianca 588 0059
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and longing, guilt and joy, never fully felt by the con- image, but an idea of an im- AID FOUNDATIONS
all on the cusp of transfor- science, untethering them age, sort of a realization that Aruba Food Bank
mation. from reality for our voyeuris- it will be possible to visualize Tel. 588 0002
In sketching the contours tic pleasure. this at some later point." FAVI- Visually Impaired
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of her characters, Rooney When Ivan first meets Mar- Margaret herself is struck by Alcoholics Anonymous
alternates between the Tel. 736 2952
perspectives as she did in Narcotics Anonymous
her last novel, "Beautiful Tel. 583 8989
World, Where Are You." Her Fundacion Contra Violencia
dialogue, characteristically Relacional Tel. 583 5400
bare and without quotation Centre for Diabetes
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marks, lends a distinct musi- Child Abuse Prevention
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As Peter's mind becomes Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
untethered by pills, Rooney's Women in Difficulties
close third-person voice General Info
dances over the line of spo- Phone Directory Tel. 118
ken and unspoken, slurring
together in long, drawn-out
paragraphs as he wanders
the streets of Dublin — me-
andering sentences broken
by sharp staccatos of self-
pity.
Ivan meanwhile, follows
the well-trod path of other
stunted men, intelligently
methodical yet rambling,
grasping at emotions with facebook.com/arubatoday/