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Two Stories
Two stories about the uncertainties of attraction, from the acclaimed author of Normal People and Conversations with Friends .
Mr Salary is Nathan. Sukie moved in with him years ago because her mother was dead and her father was difficult, and she had nowhere else to go. Now they are on the brink of the inevitable.
My love for him felt so total and so annihilating that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all.
In Colour and Light , Aidan and Pauline watch a firework display together. They are almost strangers. But their stumbling connection pains Aidan more than any casual flirtation.
He now feels utterly confused as to why they seem to be arguing, confused to the point of abrupt despair.
Mr Salary is Nathan. Sukie moved in with him years ago because her mother was dead and her father was difficult, and she had nowhere else to go. Now they are on the brink of the inevitable.
My love for him felt so total and so annihilating that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all.
In Colour and Light , Aidan and Pauline watch a firework display together. They are almost strangers. But their stumbling connection pains Aidan more than any casual flirtation.
He now feels utterly confused as to why they seem to be arguing, confused to the point of abrupt despair.
Audio CD
First published May 11, 2020
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About the author
Sally Rooney
37 books68.7k followersSally Rooney was born in 1991 and lives in Dublin, where she graduated from Trinity College. Her work has appeared in Granta, The Dublin Review, The White Review, The Stinging Fly, and the Winter Pages anthology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 428 reviews
June 6, 2020
(reread, listened to sally rooney's narration of the story on the new yorker podcast)
"He’s seen the display ten or twelve times now, or however many years the festival has been going. The first time he was a teenager, still in school. He thought that his life was just about to start happening then. He thought that he was poised tantalizingly on the brink, and that any day—or even any minute—the waiting would end and the real thing would begin."
so tantalizingly short. there's a feeling, here, that something is on the brink of happening, that something important has maybe already happened--and then the story ends.
it's just so damn good.
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it's a good time to be a sally rooney fan.
"He’s seen the display ten or twelve times now, or however many years the festival has been going. The first time he was a teenager, still in school. He thought that his life was just about to start happening then. He thought that he was poised tantalizingly on the brink, and that any day—or even any minute—the waiting would end and the real thing would begin."
so tantalizingly short. there's a feeling, here, that something is on the brink of happening, that something important has maybe already happened--and then the story ends.
it's just so damn good.
--------
it's a good time to be a sally rooney fan.
May 25, 2020
This contains two short stories: Mr Salary and Colour and Light. I’d heard good things about Rooney’s short stories, but I think her ideas work better in long-form. Sometimes I like the banality if her characters, but here I was a bit bored. These are quick reads, so not much is lost if you don’t end up enjoying them.
Also, after a conversation about her work with a close friend, I’ve reassessed Rooney’s stories through a different lens which has been enlightening. I think Rooney does write really well, but her characters are all very similar and are frustratingly privileged and can be somewhat disconnected from the world most people experience.
Also, after a conversation about her work with a close friend, I’ve reassessed Rooney’s stories through a different lens which has been enlightening. I think Rooney does write really well, but her characters are all very similar and are frustratingly privileged and can be somewhat disconnected from the world most people experience.
November 7, 2022
I reviewed the first story, "Mr. Salary," separately, and this review is for "Colour & Light":
A short story you can hear Sally Rooney Herself read, on The New Yorker site. It’s a story of three young people, twenty-somethings, Declan, his brother Aidan, and Pauline. As is usual in Rooney, these folks don’t really know how to talk with each other, don’t know how they feel.
“I tend to write characters who are roughly as articulate and insightful as I am about what they think and feel.”
In this story, set up as a kind of potential romance, it’s more about missing than hitting the mark, as Declan, an office manager who seems to drive screenwriter Pauline around, introduces her to his younger brother Aidan. It’s really about how it is people fail to connect. And I paid attention to Rooney’s descriptions as I read to see how it helps us understand that process.
“Outside the windows, the darkness is punctuated only by passing headlights and, far up in the hills, the flickering lights of houses, hidden and revealed through the leaves of trees. Aidan has a feeling of some kind, but he doesn’t know what the feeling is. Is he annoyed? Why should he be?”
Aidan and Declan’s mother recently died: “Their mother was sick for a long time, though she wasn’t old, and he loved her very much, so it’s painful to think of her now. And in fact he tries not to think of her. . . In any case, it’s not as if the pain goes away when he doesn’t think of her. A pain in your throat may get worse when you swallow, may be almost unbearably painful when you swallow, but that doesn’t mean that the pain is gone when you’re not swallowing. Yes, life is full of suffering and there’s no way to be free of it.”
In a lull in a conversation,
“Everyone falls silent. Aidan thinks about the linen room at work, where all the clean sheets are stored, folded up tight in the wooden slats, bluish-white, smelling of powder and soap.”
Aidan feels stuck in his life, working in the hotel: “He’s seen the display ten or twelve times now, or however many years the festival has been going. The first time he was a teen-ager, still in school. He thought that his life was just about to start happening then.”
“I feel like my life basically isn’t happening.”
Pauline is also unhappy with her (busier, tonier) life, where she feels people just want something from her, as she is now successful, though she also seems to kind of pursue Aidan. They talk of mild regrets for having had affairs with people.
Pauline asks him, “I suppose I just wonder, why do we do things that we don’t really want to do? And I thought you might have an answer, but it’s O.K. if you don’t. I don’t either.”
He doesn’t, of course. But they go see fireworks together:
“When the fireworks burst, it’s silent color and light at first, and a second later the noise: a loud crack like something breaking, or a deep low booming that goes into the chest.”
Then they head back to her house: “Aidan realizes, obscurely, that a lot depends now on Pauline’s having enjoyed the fireworks—that if she didn’t enjoy them, if she thought they were boring, not only will he no longer like her but he will no longer have enjoyed them either, in retrospect, and something good will be dead. He says nothing.”
Pauline later says to him, “I’d like to be really alone for a while and for no one to know where I was or when I was coming back. And maybe I wouldn’t come back at all.” She glibly at one point says she might just marry a "country boy" and escape the high society life she is living, which kind of annoys Aidan.
Then they fall into a kind of argument: “He now feels utterly confused as to why they seem to be arguing, confused to the point of abrupt despair. . . He’s conscious of a kind of throbbing sensation inside his head, like the flicking of a light, on and off.”
Not much happens, and neither of them would be able to say why. So it’s uncomfortable, intriguing, a portrait of disconnection, of missed opportunities. The obsession of Rooney in all her work thus far. A lost generation of miscommunication.
Here Rooney talks about the story, which I read after reading the story and writing my review:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-...
A short story you can hear Sally Rooney Herself read, on The New Yorker site. It’s a story of three young people, twenty-somethings, Declan, his brother Aidan, and Pauline. As is usual in Rooney, these folks don’t really know how to talk with each other, don’t know how they feel.
“I tend to write characters who are roughly as articulate and insightful as I am about what they think and feel.”
In this story, set up as a kind of potential romance, it’s more about missing than hitting the mark, as Declan, an office manager who seems to drive screenwriter Pauline around, introduces her to his younger brother Aidan. It’s really about how it is people fail to connect. And I paid attention to Rooney’s descriptions as I read to see how it helps us understand that process.
“Outside the windows, the darkness is punctuated only by passing headlights and, far up in the hills, the flickering lights of houses, hidden and revealed through the leaves of trees. Aidan has a feeling of some kind, but he doesn’t know what the feeling is. Is he annoyed? Why should he be?”
Aidan and Declan’s mother recently died: “Their mother was sick for a long time, though she wasn’t old, and he loved her very much, so it’s painful to think of her now. And in fact he tries not to think of her. . . In any case, it’s not as if the pain goes away when he doesn’t think of her. A pain in your throat may get worse when you swallow, may be almost unbearably painful when you swallow, but that doesn’t mean that the pain is gone when you’re not swallowing. Yes, life is full of suffering and there’s no way to be free of it.”
In a lull in a conversation,
“Everyone falls silent. Aidan thinks about the linen room at work, where all the clean sheets are stored, folded up tight in the wooden slats, bluish-white, smelling of powder and soap.”
Aidan feels stuck in his life, working in the hotel: “He’s seen the display ten or twelve times now, or however many years the festival has been going. The first time he was a teen-ager, still in school. He thought that his life was just about to start happening then.”
“I feel like my life basically isn’t happening.”
Pauline is also unhappy with her (busier, tonier) life, where she feels people just want something from her, as she is now successful, though she also seems to kind of pursue Aidan. They talk of mild regrets for having had affairs with people.
Pauline asks him, “I suppose I just wonder, why do we do things that we don’t really want to do? And I thought you might have an answer, but it’s O.K. if you don’t. I don’t either.”
He doesn’t, of course. But they go see fireworks together:
“When the fireworks burst, it’s silent color and light at first, and a second later the noise: a loud crack like something breaking, or a deep low booming that goes into the chest.”
Then they head back to her house: “Aidan realizes, obscurely, that a lot depends now on Pauline’s having enjoyed the fireworks—that if she didn’t enjoy them, if she thought they were boring, not only will he no longer like her but he will no longer have enjoyed them either, in retrospect, and something good will be dead. He says nothing.”
Pauline later says to him, “I’d like to be really alone for a while and for no one to know where I was or when I was coming back. And maybe I wouldn’t come back at all.” She glibly at one point says she might just marry a "country boy" and escape the high society life she is living, which kind of annoys Aidan.
Then they fall into a kind of argument: “He now feels utterly confused as to why they seem to be arguing, confused to the point of abrupt despair. . . He’s conscious of a kind of throbbing sensation inside his head, like the flicking of a light, on and off.”
Not much happens, and neither of them would be able to say why. So it’s uncomfortable, intriguing, a portrait of disconnection, of missed opportunities. The obsession of Rooney in all her work thus far. A lost generation of miscommunication.
Here Rooney talks about the story, which I read after reading the story and writing my review:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/this-...
December 3, 2024
I was thrilled to stumble across this audio. I've only just begun to read this author this year. As always, the emotion is deep, portrayed in a sparse way. Sally Rooney reigns supreme with her prose. Always centering on love and connection, and being unsure amongst this.
The all consuming feeling of passion, to act or not to act. The confusion of attraction toward someone who doesn't even appear likeable to the reader. Wherever you lay on the likeability of the characters, the author doubtlessly draws you in to the quick conclusion.
I will read anything by this author, I believe she has something unique. An innate ability to capture human connection, the nuance of her characters and the way in which humans are so often unsure of themselves but always seeking fulfillment whether they can enunciate it or not. I love witnessing their attempts, always feeling heavily connected to her characters.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox app and my public library.
The all consuming feeling of passion, to act or not to act. The confusion of attraction toward someone who doesn't even appear likeable to the reader. Wherever you lay on the likeability of the characters, the author doubtlessly draws you in to the quick conclusion.
I will read anything by this author, I believe she has something unique. An innate ability to capture human connection, the nuance of her characters and the way in which humans are so often unsure of themselves but always seeking fulfillment whether they can enunciate it or not. I love witnessing their attempts, always feeling heavily connected to her characters.
I listened to this via the BorrowBox app and my public library.
October 27, 2021
Randomly listened to this on Audio, the way Rooney paints dramatic scenes closely resembles a script even the dialogue, which makes it is easy for me to get through but sadly it never really goes deep. She has some poignant moments but they are few and far between.
The two stories sort of mirror one another in that both protagonists are struggling with unrequited love steeped with miscommunication in classic Rooney style. I've also noticed a sort of submissive nature and unbalanced power dynamic in most of her romantic portrayals.
The two stories sort of mirror one another in that both protagonists are struggling with unrequited love steeped with miscommunication in classic Rooney style. I've also noticed a sort of submissive nature and unbalanced power dynamic in most of her romantic portrayals.
Read
October 26, 2023introverted until someone mentions Sally Rooney
June 28, 2022
Perfect way to try Sally Rooney. I am intrigued. I will definitely read a novel from her.
June 28, 2020
there's a lot to be said about sally rooney's works (all fans need to read that criticism of her in 'the point' it is incredible) but there is no denying that she is an amazing writer!!!!! i think she is an even better short story writer than she is a novelist.
March 20, 2025
This slapped. I always love Sally Rooney, her writing is so precise and her dialogue/ interactions feel very human and real. I wish both short stories were whole novels, they felt a bit unfinished to me, but I think that about most short stories. Also, Sally, if you’re reading this (she’s not), PLEASE start using quotation marks, they are actually pretty cool and subversive and even Karl Marx uses them.
July 17, 2021
Argh, TOO SHORT. She's so good, irritatingly so, that these stories whet your appetite, draw you in. .. then leave you completely unsatisfied!!!! Can't wait for her new novel!
April 28, 2021
I think I'll need to give them some more thought. But they definitely feel like there's a lot brewing under the surface. There's something she captures about people and their nature so well.
December 23, 2024
Po Intermezzo som stále prahla po próze Sally Rooney, a tak som siahla po jej dvoch poviedkach – Mr. Salary a Colour and Light – v audio podobe.
To, ako píše Rooney o súčasnej dobe a vzťahoch-nevzťahoch, ma asi bude stále baviť. Pekne strávená hodina počúvaním.
To, ako píše Rooney o súčasnej dobe a vzťahoch-nevzťahoch, ma asi bude stále baviť. Pekne strávená hodina počúvaním.
March 12, 2021
➶ 2021 books: 32/60
This book consisted of two short stories and I wasn't fond of either.
I've mentioned Sally Rooney's writing and how I have a very weird relationship with her books before but I just really disliked this one.
The first short story followed a 19 year old girl living with a man in his 30s and their complicated relationship. I found their conversations and relationship fairly uncomfortable. The emphasis of him being at her christening and being like a 'niece' really didn't sit right with me, especially whilst they had a sexual connection.
The second story was just boring. Though short, absolutely nothing happened and I already can't remember a single thing that happened.
This book consisted of two short stories and I wasn't fond of either.
I've mentioned Sally Rooney's writing and how I have a very weird relationship with her books before but I just really disliked this one.
The first short story followed a 19 year old girl living with a man in his 30s and their complicated relationship. I found their conversations and relationship fairly uncomfortable. The emphasis of him being at her christening and being like a 'niece' really didn't sit right with me, especially whilst they had a sexual connection.
The second story was just boring. Though short, absolutely nothing happened and I already can't remember a single thing that happened.
November 28, 2023
Yeah even I don't know what I just read right now
September 8, 2020
ally Rooney is on her way to becoming one of my favorite contemporary authors. The way she talks about emotions is so realistic and so in tune with today's generation. Her 'Normal People' was a beautiful story about two people and their complex relationship.
As the name suggests, Two Stories, focuses on two stories that deal with the uncertainties of attraction. Yes, we've all read about the uncertainties of love before, but this one couldn't get more realistic and raw.
In the first story, Mr. Salary, Sukie moves in with Nathan when her father becomes difficult to manage after her mother's death. She had nowhere else to go. Nathan's sister is married to Sukie's uncle, that's how they know each other. They are not lovers, but Sukie knows what she feels for him.
"My Love for him felt so total, so annihilating, that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all."
There is so much unsaid in this story. There clearly is a huge age difference between the two of them and Nathan couldn't be more indifferent towards her. He knows she loves him, but he doesn't want to do anything about it. She on the other hand, doesn't want to let go.
The second story, Color and Light, is about you strangers Aiden and Pauline, who watch a firework display together. He's only known her briefly, but he can't stop feeling the connection. Worse, she's his brother's friend and he doesn't know if there is more to their friendship. And Pauline is confused in more ways than one.
You feel for the two characters in this one, succumbing to their uncertainties. The short story doesn't find enough time to explore more, but the blankness in it is what makes it so beautiful.
I listened to this one on @audible_in and it is a less than two hour read. But, the impact it leaves lasts much longer. Sally Rooney's characters are mundane, average and so flawed that they make the perfect protagonists and the connection the reader feels with them is so real. Her take on complex relationships is honest, unfiltered and as real as they come. You feel a connection with it even when there is none.
As the name suggests, Two Stories, focuses on two stories that deal with the uncertainties of attraction. Yes, we've all read about the uncertainties of love before, but this one couldn't get more realistic and raw.
In the first story, Mr. Salary, Sukie moves in with Nathan when her father becomes difficult to manage after her mother's death. She had nowhere else to go. Nathan's sister is married to Sukie's uncle, that's how they know each other. They are not lovers, but Sukie knows what she feels for him.
"My Love for him felt so total, so annihilating, that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all."
There is so much unsaid in this story. There clearly is a huge age difference between the two of them and Nathan couldn't be more indifferent towards her. He knows she loves him, but he doesn't want to do anything about it. She on the other hand, doesn't want to let go.
The second story, Color and Light, is about you strangers Aiden and Pauline, who watch a firework display together. He's only known her briefly, but he can't stop feeling the connection. Worse, she's his brother's friend and he doesn't know if there is more to their friendship. And Pauline is confused in more ways than one.
You feel for the two characters in this one, succumbing to their uncertainties. The short story doesn't find enough time to explore more, but the blankness in it is what makes it so beautiful.
I listened to this one on @audible_in and it is a less than two hour read. But, the impact it leaves lasts much longer. Sally Rooney's characters are mundane, average and so flawed that they make the perfect protagonists and the connection the reader feels with them is so real. Her take on complex relationships is honest, unfiltered and as real as they come. You feel a connection with it even when there is none.
December 19, 2022
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💬 “My love for him felt so total and so annihilating that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all. If he left my line of sight for more than a few seconds, I couldn’t even remember what his face looked like.”
💬 “I suppose I just wonder, why do we do things that we don’t really want to do? And I thought you might have an answer, but it’s okay if you don’t. I don’t either.”
💭 After reading her three novels, I decided it was time for a couple of Sally Rooney’s short stories. Two Stories is comprised of two of these - ‘Mr Salary’ and ‘Colour and Light’.
In classic Rooney style, these stories involve miscommunication, complicated characters, and not a lot actually happening… and I loved it. These stories also explore the uncertainty of attraction between two people; the emotions discussed are raw and real, her protagonists flawed but honest, as they always are. Both stories also gave me a weird underlying sensation that something was about to happen - or perhaps it had already happened - but then the stories ended. As frustrating as this was, I think creating and maintaining this feeling is both is both clever and what makes these stories so special.
‘Mr Salary’ was my favourite of the two - I just loved it. Although it’s just over thirty pages long, I felt as if I really knew the characters. However, ‘Colour and Light’ was also interesting as by having three main characters, it showed a different dynamic from the ‘Mr Salary’ which focused on just two people.
If you’re Sally Rooney fan, or even if you’re not, I would recommend reading these, even though they are irritating short. Like, leave you screaming ‘but what happened NEXT’ short. Anyway, I highly recommend Two Stories for a super quick read.
💬 “My love for him felt so total and so annihilating that it was often impossible for me to see him clearly at all. If he left my line of sight for more than a few seconds, I couldn’t even remember what his face looked like.”
💬 “I suppose I just wonder, why do we do things that we don’t really want to do? And I thought you might have an answer, but it’s okay if you don’t. I don’t either.”
💭 After reading her three novels, I decided it was time for a couple of Sally Rooney’s short stories. Two Stories is comprised of two of these - ‘Mr Salary’ and ‘Colour and Light’.
In classic Rooney style, these stories involve miscommunication, complicated characters, and not a lot actually happening… and I loved it. These stories also explore the uncertainty of attraction between two people; the emotions discussed are raw and real, her protagonists flawed but honest, as they always are. Both stories also gave me a weird underlying sensation that something was about to happen - or perhaps it had already happened - but then the stories ended. As frustrating as this was, I think creating and maintaining this feeling is both is both clever and what makes these stories so special.
‘Mr Salary’ was my favourite of the two - I just loved it. Although it’s just over thirty pages long, I felt as if I really knew the characters. However, ‘Colour and Light’ was also interesting as by having three main characters, it showed a different dynamic from the ‘Mr Salary’ which focused on just two people.
If you’re Sally Rooney fan, or even if you’re not, I would recommend reading these, even though they are irritating short. Like, leave you screaming ‘but what happened NEXT’ short. Anyway, I highly recommend Two Stories for a super quick read.
February 20, 2024
These short stories were just not for me. Sally Rooney is just not for me. I can’t connect with her writing style (even when i read ‘Normal People’). I know that her stories are raw and deep & i love raw and deep but for some reason when i read her books, i end up asking myself “what did i just read?”. I listened to the audiobook of ‘Two Stories’ TWICE and i still can’t grasp what i read.
*Spoilers ahead*
Both stories explores the topic on unrequited love.
‘Mr Salary’ was just so creepy to find out that the MMC is like 30 and the FMC is 19…. and they’re having a relationship which involves sex as well… he even referred to her as his “niece”.. my godddd 😫😳 i was literally mortified.
‘Colour and Light’ was so boring.. i nearly DNF-ed the book.
Unfortunately, i don’t think i’ll ever be picking up any of Sally Rooney’s books in the future.
*Spoilers ahead*
Both stories explores the topic on unrequited love.
‘Mr Salary’ was just so creepy to find out that the MMC is like 30 and the FMC is 19…. and they’re having a relationship which involves sex as well… he even referred to her as his “niece”.. my godddd 😫😳 i was literally mortified.
‘Colour and Light’ was so boring.. i nearly DNF-ed the book.
Unfortunately, i don’t think i’ll ever be picking up any of Sally Rooney’s books in the future.
April 17, 2021
Mr Salary is classic Sally Rooney, whilst Colour and Light perplexed me a little. Very worthwhile spending the time to listen to both.
April 25, 2023
aiden and pauline walked so alice and felix could run
October 17, 2023
I don't rate this one very high readers, I'm afraid it just wasn't for me, I didn't get the 1st story at all, then I biffed it as a DNF through the 2nd story, the 2nd was a turn off because one of the characters is called Pauline, and she was being verbally abused and I wont tolerate it.... I know, I know, it's a fictional story, but I never swear at myself, and this is what it felt like.
January 14, 2025
I love Sally Rooney! I would have preferred to read these short stories rather than listen to them but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
July 12, 2021
Two Stories is an audio collection of two short stories by Irish author, Sally Rooney.
Mr. Salary is narrated by Aiofe McMahon. Twenty-four -year-old Sukie Docherty returns from Boston because her father, Frankie is dying. She’s met at the airport by Nathan, who provided a place to live and probably more care than her father ever did, when she was at college in Dublin. She can admit now that she has always been attracted to him, but has never acted on it.
Colour and Light is narrated by Sam O’Mahony. Aidan Carney first meets Pauline in his older brother Declan’s car when getting a lift home from his job at the hotel. She asks some strange, rather personal questions: is she flirting with him? Is she Declan’s girlfriend? Later encounters seem full of mixed messages and cryptic remarks, disturbing enough that Aidan is relieved to leave.
Both narrators are excellent, and both stories have the feel of being the start of a longer work, thus leaving the reader wanting more.
Mr. Salary is narrated by Aiofe McMahon. Twenty-four -year-old Sukie Docherty returns from Boston because her father, Frankie is dying. She’s met at the airport by Nathan, who provided a place to live and probably more care than her father ever did, when she was at college in Dublin. She can admit now that she has always been attracted to him, but has never acted on it.
Colour and Light is narrated by Sam O’Mahony. Aidan Carney first meets Pauline in his older brother Declan’s car when getting a lift home from his job at the hotel. She asks some strange, rather personal questions: is she flirting with him? Is she Declan’s girlfriend? Later encounters seem full of mixed messages and cryptic remarks, disturbing enough that Aidan is relieved to leave.
Both narrators are excellent, and both stories have the feel of being the start of a longer work, thus leaving the reader wanting more.
December 23, 2022
sally rooney's characters and their relationships are always deeply (and inexplicably, in a way) unsettling for me, in the sense that they're both unrealistically insufferable and not at all. it's a double edged knife of sorts, in which you both despise and relate to the characters, understanding their thoughts and behavior while almost begging them to stop, change and not be like that, please and thank you.
normal people is one of my favorite books, and with each piece of writing, i become more certain that sally rooney might be one of my favorite authors. oh well.
normal people is one of my favorite books, and with each piece of writing, i become more certain that sally rooney might be one of my favorite authors. oh well.
March 24, 2024
idk what I was really expecting LMFAO y'all already know I really don't like short stories but here I am picking up more short stories. I love Sally Rooney with my entire being so I'm like ok lemme just read these stories bc I'll read anything from her. I didn't really vibe with it. I like her novels much much more than her short stories. well I'm not really gonna say much. these stories were just whatever. I didn't hate them. I just didn't like them very much. but if I gave Sally Rooney 2 stars I think my heart would break. 3 will suffice. ok bye!!!!!!!
August 19, 2022
I would love to see a short story collection from Rooney!
March 20, 2023
Maybe I’m a hater?
October 16, 2025
i enjoyed mr salary a lot more than colour and light. the latter reminded me of a john green novel (think looking for alaska or paper towns), and i don’t mean that in a good way
December 29, 2023
3.5 ⭐
I liked Colour and light more.
I liked Colour and light more.
October 12, 2023
This was a lovely audiobook to listen to on the train. I really enjoyed the first story - I would have loved to read a long form book/novel about it.
This is the first thing by Sally Rooney I’ve personally encountered, but do plan on reading some of her popular books!!
This is the first thing by Sally Rooney I’ve personally encountered, but do plan on reading some of her popular books!!
May 8, 2021
"He thought that his life was just about to start happening then. He thought that he was poised tantalisingly on the brink, and that any day—or even any minute—the waiting would end and the real thing would begin."(Colour and Light)
I gather that Sally Rooney is a hit or miss author for many people. Some people love her work and some love to hate her characters. I find that I am poised tantalisingly(to put it her way) in the middle of this spectrum. My experience with Sally Rooney has been one of utter bafflement because I never seem to make up my mind about her. Last summer I read 'Normal People' which I gave a generous three stars. I understood the appeal of the book and the discussions it provoked but again I couldn't begin to care for any of the characters. Maybe I will re-read the book this summer and finally finish watching the series and re-evaluate my feelings for the book. And do I intend to read 'Conversations with Friends' as well before the series comes out.
'Two Stories' is an anthology of, well, two stories 'Mr. Salary' (published in a slim Faber and Faber volume, 2016) and 'Colour and Light' (published in The New Yorker, 2019).
I listened to the audiobook this morning to have a quick read. 'Colour and Light' is available on The New Yorker's website with the author herself narrating the story.
'Mr. Salary' begins at the Dublin Airport, where Sukie, a 24 year old grad student returning 'home' from Boston is being picked up by her kinda sugar daddy, Nathan, the titular Mr Salary. The story focuses on their relationship, the complicated and long past they share with snippets of flashbacks to Sukie's family background. Nathan, a 40 year old techie and related to Sukie's family, offers to house and 'adopt' Suki when she begins college on a debt. From there on, what started as a temporary co-dependent arrangement dragged into a 'three-year-long-thing-without-a-name' . An interaction occurs, one that sparks Sukie to see her life for truly what it is - a hollow space she inhabits, without a sense of purpose and direction. She feels estranged from her own life, living in the corners and shadows, not knowing where she'll go.
'Colour and Light', her most recently published story follows the strange interactions between two characters, Aidan, a country boy working at a local hotel in an Irish village by the coast and a woman he sees in his brother, Declan's car one day. What follows is several weeks of snatched conversations and buildup of tension between Aidan and Pauline, the woman he sees outwardly like people around her see her as : a somewhat vaguely successful(it's not revealed explicitly if she is or isn't) screenwriter in this rundown part of Ireland, minding her business. Meanwhile Aidan doesn't know the nature of the relationship between Pauline and his brother, who she refers to as a 'car friend'. Are they lovers? Friends? Passing acquaintances? Pauline is a figure coloured in mystery. These questions are never answered in a truly Sally Rooney fashion.
I think I need some time and another listen to process the ending of both these stories because Rooney is notoriously good at open and abrupt, unresolved endings between her characters. I don't think I have deciphered yet what the meaning is behind the stories but the quote I have added above resonates with me a lot and has made me ponder. Rooney is cunningly skilled at making you self-introspect and forcing you to put yourself in the shoes of her characters, whom you might find to be utterly intolerable or unlikeable but their actions spark a fire of reflection within yourself - are you really all that better or different than them? Would you have acted differently if you found yourself in these precariously muddy situations such as the characters? I am still figuring that one out for myself.
I gather that Sally Rooney is a hit or miss author for many people. Some people love her work and some love to hate her characters. I find that I am poised tantalisingly(to put it her way) in the middle of this spectrum. My experience with Sally Rooney has been one of utter bafflement because I never seem to make up my mind about her. Last summer I read 'Normal People' which I gave a generous three stars. I understood the appeal of the book and the discussions it provoked but again I couldn't begin to care for any of the characters. Maybe I will re-read the book this summer and finally finish watching the series and re-evaluate my feelings for the book. And do I intend to read 'Conversations with Friends' as well before the series comes out.
'Two Stories' is an anthology of, well, two stories 'Mr. Salary' (published in a slim Faber and Faber volume, 2016) and 'Colour and Light' (published in The New Yorker, 2019).
I listened to the audiobook this morning to have a quick read. 'Colour and Light' is available on The New Yorker's website with the author herself narrating the story.
'Mr. Salary' begins at the Dublin Airport, where Sukie, a 24 year old grad student returning 'home' from Boston is being picked up by her kinda sugar daddy, Nathan, the titular Mr Salary. The story focuses on their relationship, the complicated and long past they share with snippets of flashbacks to Sukie's family background. Nathan, a 40 year old techie and related to Sukie's family, offers to house and 'adopt' Suki when she begins college on a debt. From there on, what started as a temporary co-dependent arrangement dragged into a 'three-year-long-thing-without-a-name' . An interaction occurs, one that sparks Sukie to see her life for truly what it is - a hollow space she inhabits, without a sense of purpose and direction. She feels estranged from her own life, living in the corners and shadows, not knowing where she'll go.
'Colour and Light', her most recently published story follows the strange interactions between two characters, Aidan, a country boy working at a local hotel in an Irish village by the coast and a woman he sees in his brother, Declan's car one day. What follows is several weeks of snatched conversations and buildup of tension between Aidan and Pauline, the woman he sees outwardly like people around her see her as : a somewhat vaguely successful(it's not revealed explicitly if she is or isn't) screenwriter in this rundown part of Ireland, minding her business. Meanwhile Aidan doesn't know the nature of the relationship between Pauline and his brother, who she refers to as a 'car friend'. Are they lovers? Friends? Passing acquaintances? Pauline is a figure coloured in mystery. These questions are never answered in a truly Sally Rooney fashion.
I think I need some time and another listen to process the ending of both these stories because Rooney is notoriously good at open and abrupt, unresolved endings between her characters. I don't think I have deciphered yet what the meaning is behind the stories but the quote I have added above resonates with me a lot and has made me ponder. Rooney is cunningly skilled at making you self-introspect and forcing you to put yourself in the shoes of her characters, whom you might find to be utterly intolerable or unlikeable but their actions spark a fire of reflection within yourself - are you really all that better or different than them? Would you have acted differently if you found yourself in these precariously muddy situations such as the characters? I am still figuring that one out for myself.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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