Die Brüder Peter und Ivan Koubek haben gerade ihren Vater beerdigt. Peter (32) ist klug, erfolgreich und weltgewandt. Er arbeitet als Anwalt in Dublin. Ivan ist fast zehn Jahre jünger und introvertiert. Er tourt als Profi-Schachspieler durch Irland. Die Brüder haben nicht viel gemeinsam und doch zwei Parallelen: die Trauer und Probleme in ihren Liebesbeziehungen.

„Intermezzo“ ist ein Roman von Sally Rooney.

Die Struktur des Romans ist klar und durchdacht: Er besteht aus drei Teilen und insgesamt 17 Kapiteln. Erzählt wird im Präsens und in chronologischer Reihenfolge aus wechselnder Perspektive, die sich stilistisch unterscheiden.

In sprachlicher Hinsicht hat mich der Roman definitiv überzeugt. Der Schreibstil ist atmosphärisch, wortgewaltig, bildstark, einfühlsam und stellenweise poetisch. Die Dialoge klingen authentisch. Gelungen erscheint mir auch die deutsche Übersetzung von Zoë Beck.

Die beiden Brüder stehen eindeutig im Fokus der Geschichte. Die Charaktere wirken auf mich nicht sympathisch, aber lebensnah. Die Personen verfügen über viel psychologische Tiefe.

Auf inhaltlicher Ebene geht es diesmal zwar auch um Liebe und romantische Beziehungen, vorwiegend jedoch um die Familie. Wichtige Themen sind die Trauer und das Weiterleben nach einem Verlust. Dies macht die Geschichte ein wenig düster, aber auch bewegend und zum Nachdenken anregend.

Auf den fast 500 Seiten hat der Roman durchaus ein paar Längen. Überwiegend ist die Geschichte dennoch unterhaltsam und fesselnd, obwohl die Handlung recht übersichtlich bleibt.

Der deutsche Titel, ein Begriff aus der Schachwelt, der aus dem englischsprachigen Original wörtlich übernommen wurde, ist wegen seiner Mehrdeutigkeit eine gute Wahl. Auch das Cover gefällt mir.

Mein Fazit:
Mit „Intermezzo“ hat Sally Rooney einen lesenswerten und ausgereiften Roman geschrieben, der Lust darauf macht, auch ihre früheren Geschichten zu entdecken.

My grandson is into construction vehicles so I thought he’d like this book but he wasn’t a fan. He’s 2.5 years old and I wondered if it was because the book wasn’t focused solely on vehicles or if it was the book’s text. The book is focused on building a library so we had painters, plumbers, and movers, working with the construction team.

The first part of the book the construction team is getting the building ready. They’re digging the holes, poring the concrete, adding the walls and floors until they finally put the roof on. It’s now time for the inside of the building to get finished. Pipes, wires, paint, and furniture are added. Finally, the books are placed in their assigned spot, the door opens up wide, and a new adventure awaits.

I enjoyed the illustrations in this book as they’re bright and colorful. They don’t show a lot of detail but just enough to get the point across. The last page in the book has some Machine Facts which discuss the different trucks in the book. I thought the rhyming text was a bit too much for me. I can see some individuals liking it but the words on some of the pages, just didn’t make any sense to me and I had to do some eye-rolling. Some kids like this silly talk yet I thought other words could have been used which would have made more sense on these pages. It’s a good book to read about how a library is constructed and I think most children will enjoy it. 4 stars

“Build the frame. Build the frame.
Hammer all day long.
Make the stairs and floors and walls.
Bing! Bang! Bong!"

"Fill the holes. Fill the holes.
Let the concrete drop.
Spread it fast before it sets.
Sloosh! Slosh! Slop!"

A Princess keeps popping up in a little girl's soup, dish water, bath water, and puddle. She has instructions for the little girl. What could those instructions be? Will she be able to follow all those instructions?

I enjoyed this story. It's adorable as the little girl follows the instructions the princess gives her. I liked that it showed her doing what was asked of her without preaching. The illustrations are cute and fit the story well. Perfect for your pre-schooler.

Darcy and her twin brother Jamie have inherited their grandmother's house which they are to remodel and sell, dividing the proceeds of the sale. Jamie hires Tom, a childhood friend, to do the remodel. Darcy is there to make sure the remodel is what she wants. Tom has always carried a torch for Darcy as she has for him but neither will admit it. This has caused Darcy to travel the world, hooking up for one-night stands while Tom has been engaged for some years to the same woman. Will working together finally make them admit their need and love of each other?

I enjoyed this book. There was a lot of subtle humor in it especially on Darcy's part. Tom is strait-laced but she does get to him. They are a perfect couple. I like how they work together. It made me smile throughout the book watching them dance around each other. This was a fun read!

by Daphne DuMaurier

This is a Classic written in 1938 that has the poetic feeling of stories written in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. The story starts out with a tone of remembrance about a place called Manderley. You can hear a sadness in the 'voice' of the first person narrator, even without knowing anything about the person whose memories we're about to experience. We are never given her first name, but she soon becomes known as the second Mrs. de Winter.

In some ways the first couple of chapters seemed a little slow and I found it hard to identify with the main character, who is far too shy and self-deprecating. Yet I found myself being drawn in to her story and although I thought Max de Winter was a real beast to her, I approved of the choice she made and in the same circumstances, I'm sure I would have done the same thing. She did love him after all, despite his gruff ways, and choices for women in that time were very limited. I might well have strangled her employer.

I wasn't quite halfway through when I noticed hints that certain assumptions about things at Manderley might not be as they seemed. What unfolded had some real surprises in store.

I couldn't identify with the second Mrs. de Winter at all, yet I found myself drawn into the story and wanting to see what happened. Her mental scenarios of how things might turn against her became silly and there were times I wanted to slap her and tell her to do something other than what she was doing. My biggest complaint would be the ending. If this book had been published recently, I would expect a sequel to tell me what happened after the ending events. A lot of questions about what would follow were left unanswered. Other people have tried writing sequels, but they haven't caught my interest.

I'm giving this 4 stars because the quality of the writing is superb, but in fact I didn't like any of the characters. I do have to admit that they were well defined though, and I will probably read more of DuMaurier because of the quality of her writing.