Normal People

Sally Rooney raises this question in her novel which has deservedly won awards. As I write this the tv series is running. You couldn’t wish for 2 better people to act in the 2 major roles (Marianne & Connell) in the book, they are both excellent. Although the story is about 2 teenagers in Ireland in the 6th form, it can apply to any bright teenager moving towards university. The main theme is the change from a youth into an adult and the changes they go through, male and female. The brutality of teenagers towards each other is very well portrayed and reminded me of the Casual Vacancy by Rowling. It’s no wonder this can lead to self-harm and even suicide. Because of mobile phones/social media there is now no escape from bullies. Marianne is the middle-class teenager who is the loner/outsider in the school, whereas Connell is the working-class teenager who is very popular with the boys and girls. Connell’s ma cleans the house for Marianne’s family which means that the 2 keep bumping into each other at hers due to him picking his mother up in the car from there. Nobody likes to talk to M. in school because she is seen as “unclean”. Thus C. speaks to her at the house but not in school due to peer pressure. They have a secret crush on each other which leads to a secret affair between them. Her family unfortunately is crap, her mother is an useless mother and her brother reminds me of Billy’s brother in KES, a really nasty piece of work. C. on the other hand has a very good relationship with his mother and has no siblings. One thing they have in common is that no father lives with them. C. changes to Trinity Uni. in Dublin and his course just to be with M. However, what happens at Uni. is that her personality/character means she takes to the life like to a duck to water. C. however doesn’t take to it and he is lost and lonely; the reverse of the school situation. Their relationship develops over time and its ups and downs we follow closely hoping for a happy ending. This is because you take to the 2 and want them both to be happy and with each other. Rooney captures the trials and tribulations, the conflicts and closeness, the misunderstandings and certainties between the 2 over several years, from late teenager to early 20s. This is a difficult time for any person, the leaving home with all its support structures, and the responsibilities of becoming an adult. But on top of all this they have the added complication and stress of their complex relationship. Normally with these kind of stories you have 1 going off to Uni. and the other remaining behind. Then the stress on the relationship of 1 growing and of them drifting apart. Thus this is a new twist on a familiar story and brilliantly done by Rooney. The tv series is very close to the book and Rooney must be happy how they develop the book. The sexual stamina of both at that age and the 1000 kisses deep must remind everybody who went through this at Uni. The pregnant pauses in the book and tv series are perfect. The nightmare of the foreign holiday which goes wrong and the fall-out; it’s so reminiscent of what many go through. Barrack Obama lists his 20 fave books each year and I’m delighted that this was 1 of them one year.

I read this book back in April but I've waited until now to review it because I wanted to watch the television adaptation and contrast and compare. This is a beautiful story of Marianne and Connell who meet at school in Ireland. Marianne is bolshy, fierce, yet oh so vulnerable and at times naïve. She's essentially broken in many ways, not least because of her family. When they initially spend time together Connell is the popular guy at school and Marianne is the misfit. What's interesting as the book progresses is the way their roles reverse, especially when they go to Trinity College in Dublin. The power in the relationship switches between them more than once. Make no mistake about it, this is a love story but it's a problematic one. No two characters need their heads banging together more than these two. And yet it's so achingly moving and tender it struck right at the heart of me. I'm a sucker for a story about star-crossed lovers and characters who are drawn to each other despite all the odds. It feels like Marianne and Connell are attached by invisible elastic which, no matter what, brings them back to each other. I admit that when I got to the end of the book I felt disappointed. I wanted a different ending for these characters I had become so invested in. But having thought about it since, and having seen the adaptation, I think it's probably the only ending that would have worked. Where I initially wanted to stamp my feet at the ending, I'm now sagely nodding my head. Most book lovers prefer the book to the film or TV version, me included. Having now worked my way through the series I have to say that I have rarely seen a more perfect adaptation. Little has been changed from the book and what has works beautifully. The acting is spot on and I honestly don't think any other actors could have played Marianne and Connell better or more sympathetically. Their portrayal is stunning and the whole series has a mesmerising cinematic feel to it that had me spellbound. Normal People is a very special story. It's about peer pressure, fitting in, family, being a student, being a son or daughter, but above all else it's about love. Pure and simple love. It's wonderful.

I have given Normal People by Sally Rooney five out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I am beyond happy that I picked this book to be my first read of 2021. Having watched the TV series adaptation on BBC in 2020 and hearing very good things about this book, I tried not to get too hyped whilst reading it. However, after a few pages in, I fell in love. Part of me wishes I had read the book first as it explains some of the parts from the TV series adaptation that I had gotten a little confused about, however I will most definitely be re-watching the adaptation now that I have finished the book as I want to re-live Connell and Marianne’s relationship visually for the second time. Sally Rooney’s dual narrative in third person was perfect for Connell and Marianne’s story; her writing is simply beautiful and raw. There isn’t a real dialogue in this book when people talk with one another which I thought was going to be difficult to follow, but after a few scenes I managed to pick it up easily. I found myself on an emotional rollercoaster whilst reading this book cover to cover, it was so beautiful and yet eternally heart-breaking. There is a specific quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower which came to mind when thinking about Marianne’s relationships and how she allows others to treat her. The quote is: “We accept the love we think we deserve”. Which is such a sad yet powerful quote and I believe she does exactly that. She doesn’t think of herself as much and believes she’s not worthy so she allows herself to be abused and punished by her relationships. One of my favourite quotes which jumped out at me in Normal People was: “Most people go through their whole lives, Marianne thought, without ever really feeling that close with anyone.” What Connell and Marianne shared was a love so special and one that I will remember for a very long time. I really loved reading the dynamic evolve between Connell and Marianne. I thought it was so beautiful and Rooney captured the narrative so perfectly for this book. Another quote which really stood out to me was: “She is an abyss, that he can reach into, an empty space for him to fill.”. I cannot wait to read Conversations with Friends and other books written by Sally Rooney. I don’t think this book will be for everyone although, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a raw and natural adult romance however, there are trigger warnings for abuse and mental health and it covers suicide in this book as well.

Review of sally Rooney’s normal people. This is not my normal when it comes to reading, but it was part of one of my book club reads. I was dreading it at first, and thought I wouldn’t enjoy it, however I found that I did in the end. I didn’t enjoy the writing style to much, I found it very strange that there were no speech marks when there was dialogue. The first few chapters I struggled with what was speech and what were thoughts.However the more of the book I read, I got used to it. I still feel like it was rather strange but it was also unique in its own way. At the beginning of the book when they are in what I’m assuming is high school or college, I understood the feelings and emotions. They were very similar to what I experienced through my high school life, and to what I assume most people experience at that time of their life. However as the book goes on, I struggled to relate to the characters. They seem to suffer from a lot of depression and to get their feeling across. It frustrated me that a lot of their decisions in life were based on others thoughts of themselves, rather then what they thought or believed. I also felt that they could of made better choices or decisions if they had actually spoken about their feelings and thoughts. I found that the times lines jumped around a bit, but they were easy to follow. On a whole the book wasn’t too bad. Like I said before not my normal, but I wouldn’t say no to another one of Sally Rooney’s books. I would say that it might be seen as a trigger to some people who have suffered with depression or loneliness. This is my personal thoughts of the book and would appreciate no hate. Thank you.

For someone who is a big fan of the BBC series adaptation (and watched the series a few times now), I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read and finished it in six days and I loved it(!). I do also love a good coming-of-age story. There are some differences in the book that play out differently in the series, and I liked them but also... didn't at the same time. There are some scenes between the characters I really liked and was kind of disappointed we didn't get to see them on screen (although I can understand why). Nonetheless, the story is still emotional, and the main characters are still lovable and relatable. Reading the book as well as watching the series really does hit you in the feels with all those different moments: your last year of secondary school, starting a new chapter in your life, and learning how to navigate it. Meeting new people, saying goodbye to old friends. Wondering if you'll ever see them again. As well as facing new challenges. Furthermore, the different topics this book explores: friendships, relationships, power dynamics, jealousy, class, mental health and the intricacies of love and intimacy are all quite powerful. There were moments between the characters that added more depth to them. The moments where we get to see Connell and Mariannes' inner thoughts and desires were also really intriguing and gave us a new insight on how these people think and feel about certain things. I know it's very divisive with Sally Rooney books that they don't have speech marks, but I was fine with it. Overall, I thought this book was masterful. Just like the series. I look forward to reading more Sally Rooney books very, very soon. Thank you, Sally Rooney, for giving us this really emotional story about love and for making the BBC series happen in the first place. You truly are a national treasure. Thank you.

There has obviously been a lot of press about this book and, although it has taken me awhile to get to it, I was looking forward to reading it. I think it’s probably fair to say that my expectations were fairly high but I had no real idea about the storyline, so I went in with an open mind. Normal People follows two individuals, Marianne and Connell, as they begin to tackle the messiness of becoming adults, from high school, uni, travelling and getting their first jobs. We follow the pair (sometimes together, sometimes separated) as they navigate life and find themselves constantly falling in and out of each other's lives. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I understand some of the reviewers when they say that nothing happens and it’s repetitive but I think it’s just because the actual story is quite subtle. One of my favourite books in the world is ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara and ‘Normal People’ drew some similarities to that for me. It is a story of love, loss and self-destruction and it is rolled out over a long time period. I found the writing easy to follow (once I got used to no quotation marks!) and I enjoyed the language used and the phrasing. We learn about the characters' viewpoints in chapters and the timeline jumps from the same day to many months later. This is the first Sally Rooney book that I have read but I found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it and also after I had finished. I found this strange as nothing really happens in the book, like I said, it’s quite subtle, gentle and enjoyable. I will check out more books by Sally Rooney after this one.

great book, used for english lit NEA

Sally Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, released in 2018, charts the complex on-again-off-again relationship between two young people, Connell and Marianne, in post-economic downturn Ireland, beginning from their time in their final year of secondary school in County Sligo, all the way to their university years as students at Trinity College in Dublin. Connell is a young man from a working class background, who is extremely bright and well-liked at school, whereas Marianne comes from a wealthy, upper middle class background but is unpopular, yet equally as intelligent as Connell. They first meet by way of Connell’s mother, Lorraine, working as a cleaner for Marianne’s mother at her large family home, and both Marianne and Connell begin a secret relationship, away from the knowledge of Connell’s school friends and the outside world. Each of the two main characters forge a bond, in which they are the only two people who really understand one another, and this book explores their complex relationship through Sally Rooney’s stripped back, minimalistic yet dialogue-heavy, writing style. This book deals with themes such as what it means to come-of-age and fall in love in an economically-depressed, post-recession contemporary Ireland, it also deals with the pains of first love, themes of social inequality, miscommunicating one’s feelings in a relationship, mental health and domestic violence. This book is a great millennial love story and character study of two young people from opposite sides of the social divide, who fall in love in a contemporary setting. This novel is very relatable to the millennial generation but also has a timeless quality to it, and it aspires to be a future classic piece of Irish literature, which will not doubt be studied one day in academic circles.

I almost read this book in one-go and I'm not a huge reader. Their relationship is so fragile yet so strong throughout the probably one of the most difficult time: the transition of high school to college year. It felt like I was in it, standing and seeing this couple struggle and grow. Can't wait to see the tv show on bbc now.

The book was in good shape when it arrived. The rating does not represent a rating of the story.

Inte läst än och för er som inte vet så finns det inga " eller - för dialoger så ni är förberedda på det

Wow! People had recommended this book but I had been putting it off. It has been quite a challenge to read as I’m in a weird position in my life, but still would totally recommend reading it. So good descriptions of feelings that I had never thought off and they describe them so accurately. Great reading!

The book arrived clean and carefully packaged. I’ve started reading it. The series is exactly the same as the book.