Sally Rooney writes so well that I still stuck around after I realized she doesn’t use quotation marks at all.
although I’m a chess player, I related much more to Peter, not Ivan. I found the fragmented writing when he’s in his head to be very powerful and not just a gimmick. compare this to his notable elegance as a speaker, and it really augments how much he’s suffering. his story and grappling with his grief and suicidal ideation in the midst of everything else going on is deep and nuanced and very real.
Ivan’s story as a whole was less compelling to me, but the chess parts were really well researched, I was actually shocked Sally Rooney doesn’t play lol. you know anyone under 1500 who knows the mainline English is called a reverse sicilian, or that it’s funny Peter only plays the Evans gambit?