The forthcoming book from 'We Are Not Like Them' authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride asks the question: Who gets to make the choice to be a mom? Thats partly because Edith herself is only lightly sketched in. By Naoise Dolan. And sometimes youre just not sure anything looks good and nothing quite fits right. Millennials floundering in the realms of the heart. Its unusual and contemplative and just very different. "Much likeNormal Peopleby Sally Rooney, I expect there will be polarizing opinions onExciting Times. va, a 22-year-old Dubliner living in Hong Kong, describes herself as good at men. Naoise Dolan - Exciting Times: A Novel Audiobook. Julian, her posh banker boyfriend, has such an apartment which is just as well, since he also has an arrogance to match his salary. From the jump, Ava approaches the world with cleareyed humor. Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. I related to it immensely. Dolans writing is extremely sharp both cutting and tart but there are places where it feels overly cynical. I have a feeling this one is going to be popping up on lots of summer 2020 must read lists! The actual experiences of local people her age have no effect whatsoever on Ava, the details of their lives mentioned, by the author, only in passing. Exciting Times is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. I love books about disaster women and unlike many of my bookish friends do not seem to tire of them at all. During an evening stroll, she thinks: I didn't need to know how other women went about being together. I wasn't immediately sucked inI think when Edith entered the picture, I became a lot more engaged. 6 min read. The answer Exciting Times seems to offer is yes, in this case they are just as shallow and myopic as one would assume. Secrets, shame, and adoption in the 1960sa poignant tale of a mother's enduring love. Are they as insensitive and indifferent as they seem to the foreign city they call home? PDF Preview: PDF Title : Exciting Times : A Novel: Total Page : 200 Pages: Author: Naoise Dolan: PDF Size : 592 KB: Language : English: . audible mp3, ePUB (Android), kindle, and audiobook. Not so much. But did I like Exciting Times? I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend if you want to read something thats not the normal style." "Telling Time to Minute" contains high-end 3D animations that explain abstract topics visually in detail to understand it more easily. ISBN-10: 1474613446 . For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for theMarie Clairenewsletter. I rolled my eyes a few times. An exquisitely rendered portrait of a unique father-daughter relationship and a moving memoir of family and identity. The most insightful and raw of these are the caustic observations about Irelands repressive attitudes to homosexuality and abortionand how they damage individual lives. A literary and hilarious tour de force. Despite the chip on her shoulder, she falls in with Julian, an Eton-educated English banker who she enjoys being with because they (supposedly) arent that interested in each other: It wasnt like normal friendships where I worried if the other person still liked me. She moves into his swanky apartment, rent-free, and they have sex. Ava is constantly trying to make sense of her situation by framing it in terms of identity: does sleeping with Julian make her a bad feminist? influencers in the know since 1933. by Marie Claire is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. That said, I did not always love this book. "Overall, this surprising novel is believable and piercingly written, with many hilarious linesFor fans of Rachel Khong's Goodbye, Vitamin." Get help and learn more about the design. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. Until she got pregnant at fifteen, she'd . Victoria, or more commonly Vix, lives in a small house; her brother has muscular dystrophy; her mother is unhappy, and money is scarce. None of the English-speaking characters seek to venture beyond their established social circles, where even brief references to elections or the conditions of domestic workers are dismissed as white savior-ish. They barely notice the Chinese characters on street signs, let alone try to understand them. in part two, we watch her coming into the light. @readtotheend. Theres a certain dry, almost deadpan quality in her observation of the lives of her twentysomething characters the complications of attraction, and the gap between whats felt and whats spoken; calmly articulated self-loathing, and precise capturing of class differences that both authors nail down dead. How to Join Marie Claire's Online Book Club. The Irish debut novel everyone is talking about.' - The Gloss. This book also brought back so many memories from my trip to Hong Kong with my friends after college graduation (swipe!). Exciting Times is the debut novel from Irish writer Naoise Dolan (and one of the Headstuff Picks of 2020 ). She, a . June 2, 2020. ), She and Edith are a love story, but also a fear story. m sorry. Margaret Verble is the author of several previous novels, including. Exciting Times By: Naoise Dolan. Exciting Times is very funny in its cool observation and the way it takes us inside Avas spirals of overthinking. @compulsivereadersblog. "Exciting Timesfollows 22-year-old Ava as she leaves Ireland to teach in Hong Kong. The fact that Naoise Dolan is being touted as "the new Sally Rooney" is nothing short of an insult to Rooney's work. Only 2 left. Caitlin, on the other hand, lives part of the year with her wealthy mother Phoebe, whos just moved to Albuquerque, and summers with her father Lamb, equally affluent, on the Vineyard. They trip her up and get in the way. Her first novel. Politically alert, heartbreakingly raw, and dryly funny, Exciting Times is thrillingly attuned to the great freedoms and greater uncertainties of modern love. Eek! She has been shortlisted and longlisted for several prizes, including The Women's Prize for Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year . And also coming out: Ava slowly falls for Edith, a Hong Kong lawyer. An intimate, bracingly intelligent debut novel about a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer Do put it on your TBR and let me know what you think." Exciting Times. Results for "Exciting Times" "Naoise Dolan" 12,128 results. Her elegantly simple writing allows her ideas and musings to shine. Naoise Dolan. After a local waiter replies to her English greeting in Cantonese, an irritated Edith points out one of Avas blind spots: Youre not noticing because youre white, she says, people see me and assume Im from here. Edith might let Ava off the hook, but why should todays reader do the same? I loved Exciting Times and could see within the first few chapters why it's on lots of best books 2020 lists. Soon they are sleeping together, and Ava moves into Julians flat. In Exciting Times, Naoise Dolan's debut novel, the characters have better problems than most of us do. She's instructing the dispassionate topic of grammar to youngsters in Hong Kong. The title of Naoise Dolan's debut novel, "Exciting Times," is a clever trick an ambivalent phrase that reads one way in millennial deadpan, an additional way as an . [1] For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Naoise Dolan . Multiple friends of mine whove read Sally Rooneys phenomenally popular novel. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. Naoise's debut novel EXCITING TIMES was published by W&N in the UK and by Ecco in the US in 2020, and became a Sunday Times bestseller, widely translated and optioned for TV. Click here and be the first to review this book! However, they did enjoy the political and historical references throughout the novel, albeit having to do a bit of research on the topics themselves. Edith Zhang Mei LingEnglish name Edith, Chinese name Mei Ling . Available in used condition with free delivery in the UK. She creates her own isolation, whilst being envious of those who are not lonely. After confiding that she called her college savings account her abortion fund, she says: I knew some women who saved with their friends, and they all helped whoever was unlucky. Edith has much in common with Julian: an Oxbridge pedigree and a high-powered, high-paying job. Exciting Times PDF Details. You liked the writing style ofNormal People. exciting times naoise dolan ending explainedlivrer de la nourriture non halal. Like New Very Good Good. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. She hinges on the idea of a strong female, but then plays out the stereotype. GENERAL FICTION, by I'm highly anticipating another Naoise Dolan book, I wonder if there could be another instalment of Ava going by Exciting Times book ending. This years Womens Prize for Fiction longlist includes quite a few of these disaster women books and I for one am really pleased with that. Its not plot-driven and Ava as a character distances herself from people in the book, so shes not intrinsically likeable. Julian is a banker who likes spending time with Ava, but incapable (or simply unwilling) to express his feelings for her. Dolan's debut novel, Exciting Times, is a smart, funny, . Sentences are short. About a third into the story, when I was starting to wonder where everything was going, were introduced to Edith, a lawyer from Hong Kong who starts to capture Avas attention away from Julian. Judy Blume. In stylish, uncluttered prose, Naoise Dolan dissects the personal and financial transactions that make up a life--and announces herself as a singular new voice. The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother. @what_leah_reads. Politics FBI agents, prosecutors argued over Trump before raid 8:48pm Gophers Scoggins: Give . In June, we're reading author Naoise Dolan's debut book, Exciting Times a novel about an Irish millennial expat in Hong Kong who finds herself in a love triangle with a male banker and a female . "Okay wow, what a great book! Stories so good, you won't need a bookmark. Figures such as Victoria serve to generate much of the books caustic wit. Eileen was six years older than me. Its a great pick for everyone whos sensitive and introspective, but also cynical and scared of relationships." Dolan was born in Dublin, Ireland. Let the BookTokking Begin, New Colleen Hoover Book Sells 800K Copies, Colleen Hoover Dominated Book Sales in 2022. Though this model of relationship-as-power-struggle is hardly new, Dolan brings a fresh 21st-century sensibility to it. Bookshop For Authors Bookshop . The book was first published in April 1st 2020 and the latest edition of the book was published in April 16th . None of them will be wrong, really, it's just one of those books. Besides school and uni . I know its frustrating that any new young female writer must find themselves compared to Sally Rooney. The novel takes place a few years after the 2014 Umbrella Movement, peaceful demonstrations that galvanized Hong Kongs youth, who were demanding open elections, in a renewed spirit of protest. When Julian returns to London for six months for work, Ava meets Edith, a smart and beautiful Hong Kong lawyer. Ava is an accurately drawn emblem of the zeitgeist, but as such, she stands apart from it, isolated. Books that read fast, cut fluff, and get to the point are your jam. And damn I wish I could figure out why exactly. Every time she typed out a note in her phone to send to the other characters, only to delete it, my soul died a little. This novel is a tedious account of one girls romantic flings during a year of living abroad in Hong Kong. Fiercely intelligent, brutally funny and written with such heart, Exciting Times announces an impressive new voice in literature. "When you are craving a loveable story with depth and true character developmentthis should be your next read.". Naoise Dolan, 2020. But there are nuances that made me literally stop reading and think about what Dolan had wrote. Do you take delight in words like "gormless"? You like an unreliable narrator (thinkEleanor Oliphant) as you read. - Hilary Mantel. Queer romance. Don't the best books teach us something we don't know? Feelings for Edith but, confusingly, also for Julian. With Naoise Dolan on the literary scene, there are Exciting Times ahead.' - i-D. BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfictionbooks that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Heres how it works. I enjoyed his money and he enjoyed how easily impressed I was by it.. <style> body { -ms-overflow-style: scrollbar; overflow-y: scroll; overscroll-behavior-y: none; } .errorContainer { background-color: #FFF; color: #0F1419; max-width . Nordstrom has been the go-to destination for fashion editors alike, and this season is no different. I liked Exciting Times a lot more than the average GR reviewer. Politics, class, and race anxiously hover over the entire novel. She's a long way from her home in Ireland. This gives the novel a strangely solipsistic feel, like a hall of mirrors, where every attempt to gaze outward is met only by your own face. NOTE: I am coming in here a little over a year after writing this because I have changed a bit as a reader and reviewer, and want this, which is still getting eyes on it pretty constantly, to reflect that. Exciting Times : A Novel [PDF] PDF Under: Categories eBooks & Readings. I am a huge Sally Rooney fan, ergo, this book was such a treat for me. Like Rooney, Dolan writes in a deadpan style. But Julians impending return means Ava must decide not so much between her lovers as between Edith and the expensive flat that she doesnt pay for. Just $45 for 12 months or CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE | That doesnt make for a worthy heroineor it might make me 'too old' to empathize. RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020. In my opinion,Exciting Timesreads very similar. So while the storyline and characters didn't do it for me, I'm interested to see what Dolan puts out next. I loved him potentially, she thinks. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. Offline, shes likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop. Anyone can read what you share. Her debut novel, Exciting Times, was a Sunday Times bestseller, widely translated, and optioned for television. Its something I appreciate in memoirs and also in literary fiction. Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times is shortlisted for the 2020 Young Writer of the Year Award. "Dolan's preoccupation with power is often couched in humor but always expertly observed. I think I may be experiencing a personal jadedness with these narratives that prevented me from fully enjoying my reading. Ava is a 21-year-old who leaves Ireland, where shes convinced everyone hates her, to become a teacher of English as a foreign language in Hong Kong. GENERAL FICTION, by So lucky us, really. Ava admires how Julian handles his advantages, how he could calmly note where he benefited from unfairness not self-indulgently like I often did, but factually. As their undefined relationship goes on, she begins to develop her own brand of romantic longing, which begins with a desire for his life of privilege. By contrast, Avas written correspondences social media posts and emails she labors over, analyzes, doesnt send or sends by accident become increasingly vulnerable in their disclosures as the book moves along. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, The literary rumor mill portrays Naoise Dolan as the new Sally Rooney, and that suggestion alone might push a writer onto the bestseller list these days. $15 at Amazon. Don't get me wrong, it's not the story itself, the story as a concept it totally up my alley (it has to be, because it sounds like a Sally Rooney novel): A 22 year old Irish expat living in Hong Kong who finds herself in a love triangle with a cold English banker who doesn't want to be her partner but will let her live in his expensive appartment for free, and a young woman from Hong Kong. I found her style of writing very unusual and can see why people would compare her to Sally Rooney based on that. evenings that often end in drunken blackouts or in bed with her sort-of boyfriend Julian, who . When he leaves to go work in London again, Ava is left wondering what their exact relationship status is, caught between being a sugar baby or being Julians girlfriend. Have I compared this book to Sally Rooney enough times yet?? ROMANCE | Naoise Dolan: seasons the novel with insights about class, gender, race and language. (Image credit: Design By Morgan McMullen), (Image credit: Design by Morgan McMullen), We're InspiredCrisp Suiting and Bold Beauty is All We Can Currently Think About, Revolve Is Having a Huge One-Day-Only Saleand You Can Get $100 Off These Legendary Gucci Sunglasses, Jo Piazza and Christine Pride Tackle the Complicated Topic of Motherhood in 'You Were Always Mine', 'Token Black Girl' Is Our October Book Club Pick, 25 Books by Latinx Authors You Should Read Immediately, Join #ReadWithMC: Marie Claire's Virtual Monthly Book Club, 'Mika In Real Life' Is Our September Book Club Pick. Now I know what the phrase razor sharp wit really means. EXCITING TIMES is an acerbic tale of sex and love, set in the social media age * The Herald Scotland * Incredibly readable * Belfast Telegraph * With Naoise Dolan on the literary scene, there are EXCITING TIMES ahead * i-D * The Irish debut novel everyone is talking about * The Gloss * I savoured every shrewd line * Dazed * A sharp, witty and . But when she asks whether he loves her, he cannot say more than "I like you a great deal." Welcome to Hong Kong, where Julian (English) is a banker and Ava (Irish) is a leech. Ahead, we're showcasing the best fashion and beauty looks you can recreate now. But the intellectual aura inserted across the novel felt taut and occasionally reaching. "Droll, shrewd and unafraida winning debut." Which path does Ava end up taking? While there, Ava meets Julian, a rich banker from London, who invites her to move into his home. I need to have a protagonist I can rally behindand Avas self-pitying rants just made me irritated and wanting her to find a good therapist. Omnipresent yet subtle, Hong Kong doesn't overshadow the characters and their struggles in trying to figure out life. She is highly attuned both to the power dynamics at play (do you want me to depend on you? she asks him) and to her moral predicament, as she adds up how much money she is saving on rent, as well as on the clothes and meals Julian pays for with the funds he doesnt know what to do with. The comparison was mentioned repeatedly in the book's marketing materials, in reviews, in interviews, and in the 28-year-old's author biographies. All Rights Reserved. This can be really interesting territory for a novel, but it didn't completely work for me here. She's sharing an Airbnb with roomies that don't like her. Colleen Hoover Though the novel had mixed reviews, one thing readers did agree on is that Dolan is a unique and smart writer who they'll continue to support throughout her career. Ava wants to be herand wants her. Nine months later, out popped their new child known asExciting Times. Ava eventually comes to recognise that her cynicism is the protective garb of youth, but it is something the book also struggles to shrug off. Nenia I yeet my books back and forth Campbell, review of Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan on LonesomeReader. Naoise Dolan's debut novel, Exciting Times shares a lot of similarities to Sally Rooney's Normal People (and shades of Conversations with Friends). Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Sigh. Lots of reviews are making the Rooney 'millennial lit' comparison which is fair but I'd add. His privilege is the invisible third party in the relationship. In a novel where human connection is such a challenge, these flickering pixels provide one of the most affecting and powerful moments. The Irish author, who will appear virtually at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, set her multi-award winning novel in Hong Kong It all adds up to a bracing, refreshing first novel, with hints of greater things to come. Exciting Times takes place in Hong Kong around 2015, when 22 year-old Ava leaves Ireland to take a job as a TEFL teacher and find her own way in the world.This is a novel of many layers. I often had to re-read passages, as subtext also plays a huge part in the book. EXCITING TIMES is a joy from start to finish, and the perfect balm for these times-fresh, funny, sharp. The project, based on Irish writer Naoise Dolan's debut novel, hails from U.S. financier-producer Black Bear Pictures, which optioned rights to the book ahead of its June 2020 U.S. release to . Blume knows the way kids and teens speak, but her two female leads are less credible as they reach adulthood. You have to understand that this is the kind of story I have very high standards for because the plot is an evergreen plot: young person at loose ends making her way in the world and deciding who to love. Edith is a local, sophisticated, and enthusiastic lawyer who falls in love with Ava and isnt afraid to say so. Why do you like me? Ava asks him. Do you marvel at clever sentence structure when encountered in a book? After graduating from Trinity, Dubliner Ava moves to Hong Kong to teach Englishthe only thing she is qualified to doand gets hired mostly because she is white. Noting that the school hires only white people, she remarks: Like sharks teeth, teachers dropped out and were replaced. From the jump, Ava approaches the world with cleareyed humor. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University. This debut novel tells the story of a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer Add to cart. Julian is a banker. "Echoes of Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends resound in this exacting debut novel about a young Irish woman living in Hong Kong who becomes embroiled in a love triangle with a wealthy man and woman." If youre looking for likable and well-rounded characters, a happy love story, and everything packaged up in a neat box, this isnt it. [3] A college debater, she co-convened the Irish Mace competition in 2015/16. The novel goes on to discuss the history of colonialism by the British of the Irish and Hong Kong. The more I think about this novel the more it suffers in my estimations. Who said I liked you? he counters. anyway i picked this novel up solely because of the sally rooney comparisons and in the second chapter itself a sentence begins like because i lacked warmth [] which reminded me of the quote in rooney's second novel that goes [..] marianne lacks warmth, by which she means the ability to beg for love from people who hate her. what i will say in my measured judgement is that rooney's writing, especially considering. Button, water, Tuesdayanything with two syllables zipped up then down like a Gothic steeple. Already drawing comparisons to Sally Rooneys work, Exciting Times, by Naoise Dolan, has many of the familiar tropes of the millennial novel covered: Jealousy and obsession, love and late capitalism, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege. Oh . Very . Everyone should read it right now. Stories that focus on social issues such as class and LGBTQ+ are of interest to you. The novel is shot through with moments of such startling self-awareness as this. Genre: Literary Fiction Yet like many millennials, Ava exhausts the bulk of her mental energy on her bank account. @booktrax. Written in a Woolf-esque internal monologue from Ava's perspective, we are met with an inner conflict that struggles to reconcile her disapproval of capitalism and a hyper-sensitivity to class structures . But Im going to just get it out of the way, for Naoise Dolan is Irish, in her mid-20s, and her debut was previewed in literary magazine The Stinging Fly while Rooney edited it. This is the kind of book that people are going to have vastly different opinions on. In sixth grade, when Victoria Weaver is asked by new girl Caitlin Somers to spend the summer with her on Marthas Vineyard, her life changes forever. - Vogue Categories: Ava herself would give much the same impression, which is a sign the book is successful even if it doesn't make it universally appealing. I would have liked for Dolan to explore the experiences of native Hong Kong residentsfor instance, she allude to coffin homes and student protests without going into detail. With Ava still living in Julians apartment, she and Edith fall into a quick friendship that evolves into a relationship. Es un libro en el que la protagonista est tan bien retratada y es tan cruda y llena de aristas que, realmente, casi da igual lo que le pase a ella personalmente, porque lo que te interesa como lector es su voz, su forma de ver el mundo y su forma de verse a s misma. Im sorry. It also turned into a really beautiful queer love story, taking turns I hadnt anticipated at the outset of the novel. Its the closest well ever come to telepathy: she realises Edith is thinking about her at that moment, and it changes everything. Naoise Dolan is in her late 20s and has often been compared to Sally Rooney. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan is published by W&N (14.99), Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Those whove spent time in Hong Kong cant help wondering what its like to be among the Anglophone transplants who work and party there. ISBN: 9781474613446. Missed out on our June book club pick? BookBrowse LLC 1997-2023. Her relationships are dysfunctional and we see her repeatedly make choices that we know (or think we know) are wrong for her. Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number), 6 Queer Debuts To Read During Pride Month, Shortlists for Dalkey Literary Awards Are Revealed, Colleen Hoover Is Back. An upcoming glossy series based on the debut novel of the same name by 29-year-old Irish author Naoise Dolan - and streaming giant Amazon will be behind it. Read an excerpt from Danielle Prescod's new memoir, here, then dive in with us throughout the month. @thereaderignites. Because truly, if you love her books, dont sleep on this one. Ava is pulled into the orbit of wealthy, privileged banker Julian who comes from London. GENERAL FICTION, by I worried this might endanger our friendship, but so far it seemed to be facilitating it., Their friendship eventually moves through phases of awkward flirtation into a romantic affair, taking place mostly in Julians apartment, and in secret, as Edith is not out to her parents.