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You Know the Sun Bothers Me
School’s out for summer, and for our unnamed narrator, that means three months away from his physics high school students to tinker with his ancient Fiat 131 and fret about his all-consuming obsession: Sarah, a tempestuous artist he met online. They sleep together, they text obsessively, but as July’s barbecues and boat trips segue into August’s festi, their intimate moments always reset into platonic disappointment, and she increasingly ghosts him in favour of an ever-changing group of new besties. A sensation on its home island, this book gives poignant voice to a regular guy in his early thirties, trying to get a grip on love, life and growing up, and it paints a high-octane portrait of what it means to live in the hedonistic, overcrowded, workaholic, claustrophobic, contradictory mind-blast that is Malta.
320 pages, Paperback
Published June 9, 2026
About the author
Ryan Falzon
5 books24 followersRyan Falzon (b.1988) is a visual artist, author and educator based in Malta, Europe. In both his visual and literary works, Falzon's preoccupations are millenial generation, relevance to time and space, the grey areas of love and virtual presence. Falzon's much anticipated debut novel, SAJF, was published in November 2022. The novel was exceptionally reviewed by local critics and avid readers alike, labelling SAJF as a voice of a generation.
SAJF was shortlisted for National Book Prize 2023. In 2024, Falzon was awarded the National Emergent Author award by the NBC.
SAJF was shortlisted for National Book Prize 2023. In 2024, Falzon was awarded the National Emergent Author award by the NBC.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 2, 2024
Prosit, Ryan Falzon! Sajf rumanz tal-ġenn.
Fakkarni ħafna fil-passat, kemm meta kont skola sekondarja kif ukoll fiż-żmien meta kont nattendi parties fis-sajf, meta qbist il-ħamsa u għoxrin sena. Niftakar ħafna nattendi Surfside, Exiles, Liquid u anke Paceville dak iż-żmien.
Tiftakar ħafna f’praspar personali meta taqra dan il-ktieb. Dik in-naqra nostalġija sabiħa.
L-unika dispjaċir hu li ma kienx hemm ħafna djalogu, imma nifhem għaliex il-ktieb huwa miktub hekk għax verament mqassam tajjeb—għandek stil ta kitba unika immens.
Għoġobni ħafna l-użu ta’ apps fuq il-mowbajl, speċjalment l-użu ta’ silta minn Karmnu ta’ Randu u vidjows simili. Vidjows li anke fi żmieni skoprejnihom fi żmien l-O'levels.
Fakkarni ħafna fil-passat, kemm meta kont skola sekondarja kif ukoll fiż-żmien meta kont nattendi parties fis-sajf, meta qbist il-ħamsa u għoxrin sena. Niftakar ħafna nattendi Surfside, Exiles, Liquid u anke Paceville dak iż-żmien.
Tiftakar ħafna f’praspar personali meta taqra dan il-ktieb. Dik in-naqra nostalġija sabiħa.
L-unika dispjaċir hu li ma kienx hemm ħafna djalogu, imma nifhem għaliex il-ktieb huwa miktub hekk għax verament mqassam tajjeb—għandek stil ta kitba unika immens.
Għoġobni ħafna l-użu ta’ apps fuq il-mowbajl, speċjalment l-użu ta’ silta minn Karmnu ta’ Randu u vidjows simili. Vidjows li anke fi żmieni skoprejnihom fi żmien l-O'levels.
May 1, 2023
Raw. A book for the millennials, for the introverted, for those who seek connection but need to be left alone. For those that live for instant gratification, for those that seek a quick fix to soothe the void and end up feeling even more empty. For those that feel numb, isolated, unseen. For those that exist but do not live. For those that experienced unrequited live (who hasn’t?). Most of all for the Sarahs and the protagonist that live in each one of us. A must read.
February 6, 2023
I succumbed to social media pressure and read Ryan Falzon's book, Sajf, even though:
a) I detest most aspects of summer, most of which are so explicitly described in this book, my skin crawls at the thought that my least favourite season will be upon us in circa 120 days.
b) I read this book during what has statistically been the coldest, wettest week in years - the irony is not lost on me!
c) I usually prefer to read books in season (who reads A Christmas Carol in July, anyway?!)
After reading all 300 pages, I don't know:
- whether I just want to take the next flight out of the country and never look back
- whether this country is really just raising the next generation of spineless degenerates, who are the way they are, possibly through no fault of theirs
- whether to finally accept the fact that good prose may not always sound poetic but can sometimes be a hotchpotch of languages strung together by a stream of expletives that would give any self-professed religion devotee a heart attack.
a) I detest most aspects of summer, most of which are so explicitly described in this book, my skin crawls at the thought that my least favourite season will be upon us in circa 120 days.
b) I read this book during what has statistically been the coldest, wettest week in years - the irony is not lost on me!
c) I usually prefer to read books in season (who reads A Christmas Carol in July, anyway?!)
After reading all 300 pages, I don't know:
- whether I just want to take the next flight out of the country and never look back
- whether this country is really just raising the next generation of spineless degenerates, who are the way they are, possibly through no fault of theirs
- whether to finally accept the fact that good prose may not always sound poetic but can sometimes be a hotchpotch of languages strung together by a stream of expletives that would give any self-professed religion devotee a heart attack.
January 26, 2023
Impressed is an understatement.
I read it in less than 24hrs. Once you start it is hard to stop. The reading speed becomes one with the speeding of the driving during the late night hours, the excessive drinking, the excessive number of Tinder swipes, the excessive dependency on social media, the excessive everything including the extreme solitude.
And then in mid-book, there is a pause, a reality check, a slap of coldness in the face, and then again and again it all speeds up, it's hard to keep up... and then Summer is over.
The rawness of it all somehow brings a feeling of nostalgia for me - of days (and nights) many moons ago - when life was so different.
Can't wait to see what's next from Ryan!
I read it in less than 24hrs. Once you start it is hard to stop. The reading speed becomes one with the speeding of the driving during the late night hours, the excessive drinking, the excessive number of Tinder swipes, the excessive dependency on social media, the excessive everything including the extreme solitude.
And then in mid-book, there is a pause, a reality check, a slap of coldness in the face, and then again and again it all speeds up, it's hard to keep up... and then Summer is over.
The rawness of it all somehow brings a feeling of nostalgia for me - of days (and nights) many moons ago - when life was so different.
Can't wait to see what's next from Ryan!
August 8, 2026
I’m so glad I got to find a piece of contemporary Maltese literature!
I understand why it’s so popular here; it’s written in such a way that it’s easy to get sucked in and relate to the writing. I love seeing and hearing about places that I know and understand that are inherently part of the culture.
It’s prose that isn’t necessarily supposed to be beautiful or eloquent. The problems of the main character are ones that can be considered pathetic but also ones that are so widespread and normalized that you can’t even bat an eye. So, it’s like am i a fan of the characters? No. But, I can imagine them so easily, as if they were sitting beside me at a bar and hear everything they’re saying? Yes. Therefore, on a societal scale, super relatable and well-done.
I understand why it’s so popular here; it’s written in such a way that it’s easy to get sucked in and relate to the writing. I love seeing and hearing about places that I know and understand that are inherently part of the culture.
It’s prose that isn’t necessarily supposed to be beautiful or eloquent. The problems of the main character are ones that can be considered pathetic but also ones that are so widespread and normalized that you can’t even bat an eye. So, it’s like am i a fan of the characters? No. But, I can imagine them so easily, as if they were sitting beside me at a bar and hear everything they’re saying? Yes. Therefore, on a societal scale, super relatable and well-done.
September 2, 2026
A tear through the Maltese summer in a souped up Fiat 131. Visceral and modern, focusing on obsession, social media, addiction, and loud endless drumbeat of living a digital life in a world that actually exists.
June 27, 2026
Ideal for the heat wave.
September 22, 2026
It was okay. It was a chill read but I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing really did
August 21, 2025
Qatt ma qrajt ktieb li jġib l-essenza tal-persuna Maltija b'mod daqshekk preċiż.
August 29, 2026
You Know the Sun Bothers Me is a sweaty, messy, funny and occasionally frustrating portrait of a man who seems to be drifting through his own life. Set over one long Maltese summer, it follows an unnamed physics teacher in his early thirties as he spends his break tinkering with an ancient Fiat 131, drinking, scrolling, partying and obsessing over Sarah, an artist he's met online.
What I enjoyed was how Falzon manages to make inaction interesting. Very little happens in the conventional sense, yet the narrator's endless cycle of drinking, driving, texting and waiting becomes strangely compulsive. His relationship with Sarah is equally frustrating. They sleep together and obsessively message each other, but their relationship constantly slips between intimacy and disappointment. You know exactly where it's going, but you still keep watching.
The writing has a wonderfully frantic energy to it. There's plenty of humour, but underneath it is loneliness, insecurity and a pretty uncomfortable picture of a man struggling to work out what he's actually doing with his life. The Malta of the novel feels just as important as its narrator. It's overcrowded, hot, hedonistic, contradictory and impossible to escape.
I did find the narrator difficult to like at times. His self-absorption, obsession with Sarah and tendency to drift from one bad decision to another can become exhausting, and some of the repetition occasionally tested my patience. That seems deliberate, but it doesn't always make it easier to read.
Still, there's something quite refreshing about how unpolished and honest it feels. This isn't a story about someone triumphantly finding themselves. It's about being stuck, wasting time, wanting something you can't have and slowly realising that adulthood doesn't necessarily arrive with any great revelation.
A funny, frustrating and surprisingly poignant portrait of loneliness, lust and aimlessness, wrapped up in one blisteringly hot Maltese summer.
What I enjoyed was how Falzon manages to make inaction interesting. Very little happens in the conventional sense, yet the narrator's endless cycle of drinking, driving, texting and waiting becomes strangely compulsive. His relationship with Sarah is equally frustrating. They sleep together and obsessively message each other, but their relationship constantly slips between intimacy and disappointment. You know exactly where it's going, but you still keep watching.
The writing has a wonderfully frantic energy to it. There's plenty of humour, but underneath it is loneliness, insecurity and a pretty uncomfortable picture of a man struggling to work out what he's actually doing with his life. The Malta of the novel feels just as important as its narrator. It's overcrowded, hot, hedonistic, contradictory and impossible to escape.
I did find the narrator difficult to like at times. His self-absorption, obsession with Sarah and tendency to drift from one bad decision to another can become exhausting, and some of the repetition occasionally tested my patience. That seems deliberate, but it doesn't always make it easier to read.
Still, there's something quite refreshing about how unpolished and honest it feels. This isn't a story about someone triumphantly finding themselves. It's about being stuck, wasting time, wanting something you can't have and slowly realising that adulthood doesn't necessarily arrive with any great revelation.
A funny, frustrating and surprisingly poignant portrait of loneliness, lust and aimlessness, wrapped up in one blisteringly hot Maltese summer.
July 25, 2023
Tears through Malta in a souped-up BMW 3 series with one eye on Instagram and another on the girl in the passenger seat. Clocks the island’s desires, disappointments and prejudices and paranoia, all during a blistering summer of drink, sex and junk food. Brilliant. Lush book production by Kotba Calleja.
August 14, 2023
Xi ħaġa differenti mis-soltu.
Ktieb li tibda taqrah u jtik li tkompli taqra u taqra u taqra. Kultant iħassbek, kultant idaħħkek, kultant tinduna li tkun qed tidħak bik innifsek. Ma tkunx tridu jispiċċa dal-ktieb.
Ktieb li tibda taqrah u jtik li tkompli taqra u taqra u taqra. Kultant iħassbek, kultant idaħħkek, kultant tinduna li tkun qed tidħak bik innifsek. Ma tkunx tridu jispiċċa dal-ktieb.
September 20, 2026
Mid, repetitive and boring. Sorry I don’t get the hype?
Mate, just let go of this woman, she is so toxic to you. Why are you into her anyway? She has nice tits and does some art that you don’t even like, ok and?
Also, get off FB and IG and go to therapy. Thanks.
Mate, just let go of this woman, she is so toxic to you. Why are you into her anyway? She has nice tits and does some art that you don’t even like, ok and?
Also, get off FB and IG and go to therapy. Thanks.
July 18, 2026
Going to meditate on this one for a while. The perfect depiction of the anxious / avoidant situationship, written in an epic poem / diary entry manner.
July 31, 2026
“This year and a half has felt like an intense hangover”.”
“That was a blast of a summer.”
“That was a blast of a summer.”
August 4, 2026
brother ew
August 31, 2026
I tore through this book; it was really captivating but a slice of Malta life that wouldn’t have been very interesting to me if set somewhere else. Certain people will love this though.
July 5, 2026
Summer is a whirlwind
January 26, 2023
Ir-rumanz debuttanti ta' Ryan Falzon, b'mod mexxej u onest tani biljett tad-dħul fil-ħajja ta' ġenerazzjoni qrib tiegħi, u tant 'il bogħod, li minkejja kollox tgħaddi mill-angst eżistenzjali ta' dejjem fit-trejqiet imħarbta li jkollna ngħaddu minnhom, fosthom tal-imħabba, tal-appartenenza, ta' x'sens għandha din il-ħajja. Sajf jiftaħ dawn il-mistoqsijiet kollha, u aktar. Ġenjali l-użu tal-listi li juża n-narratur tagħna, bla isem, fejn iniżżel l-affarijiet li qed jaħseb dwarhom f'eżerċizzju ta' ħsieb liberu. U t-tqabbiliet li jagħmel, fejn drabi jolqot il-likk b'vokabularju ġdid u frisk, u drabi oħra jħallik tistaqsi hux qed jitmejjel bik. Dan għalija huwa l-ktieb Malti tas-sena.
Prosit ukoll lil Kotba Calleja tal-pubblikazzjoni, teknikament impekkabbli - ħasra li hemm wisq żbalji fit-test li kellhom jinqabdu mill-qarrejja tal-provi. B'dan il-ktieb Kotba Calleja jistabbilixxu ruħhom fil-qalba tal-letteratura kontemporanja relevanti u li għandha tinstema'.
Prosit ukoll lil Kotba Calleja tal-pubblikazzjoni, teknikament impekkabbli - ħasra li hemm wisq żbalji fit-test li kellhom jinqabdu mill-qarrejja tal-provi. B'dan il-ktieb Kotba Calleja jistabbilixxu ruħhom fil-qalba tal-letteratura kontemporanja relevanti u li għandha tinstema'.
October 8, 2023
Ħa nibdew minn hekk.
Bħala Maltin, bħala nies b'demm Mediterran, is-Sajf iżomm għadd ta' konnotazzjonijiet li dan il-ktieb jinkludi fih, fosthom:
1) Iż-żmien fejn kollox jillaxka
2) Żmien fejn l-emozzjonijiet jaħarqu
3) In-nostalġija għal żmien aktar liberu ta' meta konna tfal jew studenti meta s-sajf kien kważi kellu status ferm ogħla miċ-ċelebrazzjonijiet reliġjużi li l-kultaralment insara jħaddnu
4) Is-sess.
In-narrattiva, ambjentata mad-dinamiċi frustranti u eżileranti tas-situationships li tant niddilettaw bihom il-lum il-ġurnata qisha stallett li jinfdek fl-istonku–– għallinqas għalija hekk kien il-każ.
Il-logħob ta' stennija ffisata għal messaġġ imġiddem wara jiem ta' astinenza (element li bil-kuntrarju ta' ħafna min-nies li jippruvaw jippreżentaw dinamiċi elettroniċi, Falzon jurih b'mod naturali għall-aħħar) f'salt jinqeleb f'intimità profonda, il-"push and pull" tar-relazzjonijiet mingħajr definizzjoni hija riflessa b'mod vertwosk għall-aħħar. Għalhekk infaħħar lill-awtur għall-mod li bih ikkontrolla r-ritmu tas-sentenzi li b'mod kważi perfett (ħlief lejn l-aħħar verżjoni li ħassejt kienet miktuba b'inqas luċidità mis-sezzjonijiet l-oħra) jirriflettu l-instabbiltà u l-inċertezza tar-relazzjoni ta' bejn in-narratur u Sarah (il-persuna l-oħra fis-situationship).
Intant, l-unika ilment li kelli jiena u naqra dan il-ktieb huwa li kien hemm żbalji ortografiċi u sintattiċi mhux ħażin li bħala persuna tikka pittma fuq dawn l-affarijiet serviet bħala tikka xkiel għalija jiena u naqra.
Bħala Maltin, bħala nies b'demm Mediterran, is-Sajf iżomm għadd ta' konnotazzjonijiet li dan il-ktieb jinkludi fih, fosthom:
1) Iż-żmien fejn kollox jillaxka
2) Żmien fejn l-emozzjonijiet jaħarqu
3) In-nostalġija għal żmien aktar liberu ta' meta konna tfal jew studenti meta s-sajf kien kważi kellu status ferm ogħla miċ-ċelebrazzjonijiet reliġjużi li l-kultaralment insara jħaddnu
4) Is-sess.
In-narrattiva, ambjentata mad-dinamiċi frustranti u eżileranti tas-situationships li tant niddilettaw bihom il-lum il-ġurnata qisha stallett li jinfdek fl-istonku–– għallinqas għalija hekk kien il-każ.
Il-logħob ta' stennija ffisata għal messaġġ imġiddem wara jiem ta' astinenza (element li bil-kuntrarju ta' ħafna min-nies li jippruvaw jippreżentaw dinamiċi elettroniċi, Falzon jurih b'mod naturali għall-aħħar) f'salt jinqeleb f'intimità profonda, il-"push and pull" tar-relazzjonijiet mingħajr definizzjoni hija riflessa b'mod vertwosk għall-aħħar. Għalhekk infaħħar lill-awtur għall-mod li bih ikkontrolla r-ritmu tas-sentenzi li b'mod kważi perfett (ħlief lejn l-aħħar verżjoni li ħassejt kienet miktuba b'inqas luċidità mis-sezzjonijiet l-oħra) jirriflettu l-instabbiltà u l-inċertezza tar-relazzjoni ta' bejn in-narratur u Sarah (il-persuna l-oħra fis-situationship).
Intant, l-unika ilment li kelli jiena u naqra dan il-ktieb huwa li kien hemm żbalji ortografiċi u sintattiċi mhux ħażin li bħala persuna tikka pittma fuq dawn l-affarijiet serviet bħala tikka xkiel għalija jiena u naqra.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews