Sally RooneyLiterary Fiction · Contemporary Literature·b. 1991
Normal People
Synopsis
Set in Ireland, Normal People follows Connell and Marianne, two young people from the same small town in County Sligo whose lives stay quietly entangled over several years. At school Connell is well-liked and Marianne is a prickly outsider, yet a private understanding forms between them that neither is willing to make public. When both leave for Trinity College Dublin their social positions reverse, and the pull between them survives new relationships, class anxiety, long silences, and repeated misreadings of each other's intentions.
Sally Rooney charts the shifting balance of power between the two with unusual attention to the small betrayals and tendernesses that shape an intimate relationship. Money, status, and the difficulty of asking plainly for what you want run beneath nearly every scene, as do questions of mental health, control, and belonging.
Written in spare, present-tense prose that moves fluidly between the two characters, the novel is less a conventional romance than a study of how two people keep finding their way back to each other while struggling to say what they mean. It is a portrait of first love and its long aftershocks, and of the ordinary damage people do to those they are closest to.
How it reads
Prose complexity 7/10
Content warnings (9)
DepressionSuicideDomestic AbuseAbuseBullyingSexual ContentDeath Of A ParentGriefEmotional Abuse
- I expected a lot more from this because of how hyped this book is. But the immaturity of the characters made it such a painful read.
- #bookreview : Normal People by Sally Rooney This novel is centered around the lives of Connell and Marianne , two teenagers who live in the same town and who are significantly different from each other. At school, Marianne is always alone and appears to be odd and rebellious at times while Connell is liked by everyone and has a certain amount of popularity. They usually meet after school when Connell goes to Marianne’s house to pick up his mom who works there and one day the two strike up an awkward conversation that will literally change them for real through the upcoming years. We will see their relationship untangle throughout the years and learn a lot about the senses of admiration, friendship and love . I loved how raw the interactions between the two of them is . I loved how they can be easily true to one another and reveal who they really are to each other. Exposing their weaknesses and their vulnerabilities , their soft trays and their darkest thoughts all at once . Every scene in which they are together has an enchanting taste. The way they are so close but yet so distant at the same time. Their enlightening conversations and how deep they are into their insecure feelings. All the above was perfectly captivated by the author and her smoothly flowing writing style but it did feel kind of excessively dramatic towards the second half of the book . The lack of communication is the central cause of their many breakups. As self absorbed teenagers who constantly deal with stress and anxiety , you’d quiet understand their childish behaviors and quirky antics toward each other but as they move to college and the dynamics of the relationship change, their actions start to weight in as immature and inexplicable most of the time. Marianne becomes the popular college girl who everyone is drawn to like a moth to a flame and Connell is now the loner and thr one with no friends and he starts to struggle with that immensely. There’s this absurd YA touch that screw up the plot in a big way but the depth of the characters and the subtlety of the author make up for it eventually. Rooney goes on to bring us a full figure on their intertwined lives with meticulous insight. The attempt to talk about sensitive topics like abuse and depression is not a triumphant success, nor a disastrous failure. Victims of abuse try to escape from it with a tendency to avoid having such relationships what so ever . And here it doesn’t make sense that such a brilliantly educated and self aware character is still looking for a submissive relation without seeking professional help . This subplot is delusional at best and illogical too . The character who suffers from depression does go to therapy and does look for a way out but doesn’t commit to work on himself, and fails at communicating his true emotions to the other which also kind of absurd in its own way. In the end I gave it five stars because I was absorbed by it entirely but after finishing up the tv adaptation and thinking about how everything unraveled pragmatically, I think I’ll stick up with my first rating because it did touch me on a ver personal level . It heartbreakingly surprised me as romance in itself is not my cup of tea and this novel moved me and ignited my passion for the entire genre . It left its mark on me and had a meaningful impact on my own life . Yes , it’s not a perfect tale , but at the end of the day no book is perfect anyway and I would actually recommend it to my fellow book lovers
- I almost am surprised at how much I liked this book. I went in with really low expectations, simply because I know people either really love or hate this book and was afraid I’d fall into the latter. Instead, I found myself loving how real all of the characters were. Some of them frustrated me, I just wanted everyone to talk. Where the miscommunication is usually a downfall in other books, I feel like it was really well done in this. All I wanted was Marianne and Connell to just TALK. They each went through such major things in their lives that affected their mental health. But that’s what made it real. I think cause I could see my own habits in them, it made me frustrated. It was refreshing to see characters who are so clearly flawed with no real redemption by the end of the story, but you’re still rooting for them. The story telling in this is so blunt and in your face that it forces you to feel for the characters. Funnily enough, watching the show actually made me love the book even more. Daisy and Paul really did a great job bringing Marianne and Connell to life.
- This was a perplexing yet thought-provoking read that left me with mixed feelings. Recommended by a friend, I approached it with curiosity, intrigued by its short length and widespread acclaim. However, from the start, the book’s unconventional structure, reminiscent of a TV show script, threw me off. The absence of traditional dialogue markers made it challenging to discern who was speaking, adding an extra layer of confusion.<br><br>My biggest gripe with the book lies in its reliance on the tired trope of characters sabotaging their own happiness due to a lack of communication. It’s a narrative device that frustrates me to no end, as it often feels contrived and unnecessary. Despite this, “Normal People” ventures into unexpected territory, delving deep into the complexities of relationships and human nature. While I struggled with certain aspects, I couldn’t deny its raw exploration of life’s messiness and the intricacies of human connections.
- A tiny review that I postponed posting for a while: Okay, Sally Rooney knows how to write BUT this wasn't for me. I hated the characters, the pseudo deep intellect, the conversations, le mal être, the ennui... I'm certain that 15 years ago I would have adored this book, but the present day me utterly disliked it. (And I don't like that I disliked it, I wanted to love it, I tried. I suffered.)
- tries to be deep, but the slow pacing and emotionally immature characters made it hard to enjoy. Marianne’s struggles are portrayed well, but Connell feels frustrating and passive. The writing style, with its grammar quirks, distracted more than it impressed. Overall, an average read that didn’t live up to the hype…..
- Easily one of the worst books I’ve ever read in my life. Okay, maybe I just didn’t get the concept — probably. But still… what a terrible story. What awful characters. Everything was awful. And the damn writing? Honestly the ugliest I’ve ever seen.
- 3.5 ⭐️
- 3.5