| Irish wunderkind Sally Rooney has been described as the first great millennial novelist — "the Jane Austen of the precariat." The prickly characters of her bestsellers "Normal People" and "Conversations with Friends" embody my generation's mood: anxious, lonely and ground down by late capitalism. Yet, while the title of her latest may read as a similarly depressed cri de coeur, the text of "Beautiful World, Where Are You" suggests that Rooney — and possibly her generation — may have discovered a glimmer of hope. "In the earlier novels, Rooney's characters are typical young moderns," I write in my review. "They name-check left-wing theorists and feign political action, critique the idea of meritocracy while scrambling up the ladder — but their coping mechanisms are shallow: They sleep with married people and beg for violent sex to numb or express their pain. In 'Beautiful World,' however, they're exploring a different way of being." The surprise is that it's unexpectedly trad: religion, commitment and a boundaried life are portrayed with new appeal. So, is this the new zeitgeist? Rooney would know …  (Erik Voake) The author's latest novel redefines the old-fashioned search for meaning. By Christine Emba ● Read more » | | | | Even if Manchin fell in line, Democrats would still struggle to stuff all their various goodies and giveaways into a $3.5 trillion package. By Catherine Rampell ● Read more » | | | Trump's charges of fraud in 2020 are not about looking back, as many Republicans insist. They are about establishing the predicate to challenge future election results more effectively. The Opinions Essay ● By Robert Kagan ● Read more » | | | | What if the China challenge is fundamentally economic and technological? By Fareed Zakaria ● Read more » | | | | Running the Pentagon is the toughest management job in the government, and Lloyd Austin has had a head-spinning first year. By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | In blocking funding for Israel's Iron Dome system, the Squad and others have gone from slurs to real-world consequences By Marc A. Thiessen ● Read more » | | | It's not the physician's place to judge. Until it is. By Teneille R. Brown ● Read more » | | | | Words matter, and adopting the language of mandates feeds into a larger, dispiriting tendency to pathologize ordinary policymaking. By Jamal Greene ● Read more » | | | | New developments suggest the reckoning will be broad and deep. By Greg Sargent ● Read more » | | | Matthew McConaughey for Texas governor? Not unless he can explain what his political values are. By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | | Sen. Tim Scott ducked out of the most important changes the Senate could have made. By Eugene Robinson ● Read more » | | | |
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