Normal People
“I don't know what's wrong with me, says Marianne. I don't know why I can't be like normal people”
I was very sceptical when it came to picking this book up. I had read many, many bad reviews about the book and I didn’t have any experience with Sally Rooney. So, after doing a bit of research I found the BBC has a Tv series base on the book. I decided to watch this first to see how I found the story and if it was good, then I would read the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the series, it was a bit of a hard watch, but I still enjoyed it. So I decided to pick up the book… And it did not disappoint, in my opinion, I think it was one of those books that complimented the show. And they most defiantly worked hand in hand with each other otherwise, the series seems to drag and the book moves far too fast without context or introduction as the show filled in things that the book missed. When I first started reading this book, the first thing that struck me was the lack of speech marks. I had read about this in many of the book reviews but I wasn’t expecting there to be absolutely any. It was very hard when I started this book to get my head around it, but once I started and I understood the writing it wasn’t an issue at all. I can see why some people might struggle with this.
This book is about two characters, Connel and Marianne. It’s a love story but with a twist. This book focuses on the pivotal moments in these characters' lives and often jumps forwards three months, six months to 5 minutes without filling in the connecting time. This story will not inspire or uplift the reader, so if you’re looking for a feel-good rom-com-type book, then Normal People is not for you. But if you’re looking for a book about two, messy, raw and often relatable characters then jump right in! The writing of this book takes you on a journey. I often felt like watching the series and reading the book was like looking inside the characters' heads as you get good descriptions of the characters' reactions and their feelings. In my personal opinion, and that is what it is, my opinion which is fine because this is my review, I think that Connel is one of my favourite characters. And I know that will be an unpopular opinion because of the relationship with Marianne and the way that he treats her throughout this book. But he was one of the most relatable characters that I’ve read. I felt like the emotions and struggles that he faced, especially at university, are some that I have faced in my life. The story itself, like I’ve stated above, is face passed and very jumpy, It’s just 2 people who go through life meeting very often, having sex and then leaving. And then in a few months, the same thing happens again. But whilst this is happening their lives are moving on and they are going to college, university and work. There is a beautiful quote within this book which I felt sums up the book very well and its “All these years, they've been like two little plants sharing the same plot of soil, growing around one another, contorting to make room, taking certain unlikely positions.”. Even though there are only two main characters in this book I still felt it was packed full of drama. You do get the odd introduction of other people but I feel their input did hold a light to the story of Connel and Marriane. There were some very moving and broken scenes with both characters and some that readers might find triggering. But wow what a beautifully captured story that was birthed out of a very difficult story.