Normal People

by Sally Rooney

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

WINNER OF THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2018
WINNER OF THE SPECSAVERS NATIONAL BOOKS AWARD 2018 (International Author)
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019

'The best novel published this year.' The Times

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.

This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person's life - a simple yet profound realisation that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk about how we feel and it tells us - blazingly - about cycles of domination, legitimacy and privilege. Alternating menace with overwhelming tenderness, Sally Rooney's second novel breathes fiction with new life.

• ISBN10: 0571334644
• ISBN13: 9780571334643
• Publish Date: 30 August 2018 (first published 28 August 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 16 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Faber & Faber
• Edition: Main
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[pamela]

I spent all of yesterday afternoon ugly crying after reading Sally Rooney's Normal People in one sitting. It was my Discord book club's pick for the month, and I have to admit, I've never been all that interested in reading it. It sounded, for want of a better word, too "normal." I went into it fully expecting to hate it and emerged a few hours later, a blubbering, exhausted mess.

Normal People is familiar and relatable in a way that very few books are. It takes annoying literary crutches that I usually hate (like a lack of communication between characters driving the plot) and contextualised them, making them understandable. I felt a kinship with aspects of both Connell and Marianne's personalities, and it also really subtly brought the psychological effect of abuse onto relationships into the mix in a way that was neither preachy nor exploitative.

One of the things I also really loved about it is that Sally Rooney obviously feels very similar to me about literary fiction, but has managed to subvert that by writing a book that I think all literary fiction should attempt to emulate. Normal People is intelligent, subtle, and well thought out. It fits clearly within a framework of higher education and literary achievement, without pandering to any of the pretensions that come with that. But where it really shines is that every reader will come away from this book with a different message. No character is good or bad, black or white - they're just normal people struggling to get by in a confusing world.

More than anything, Normal People feels like truth. The truth is always intimate and never easy to confront.

[jjunius9]

Honestly I haven't read a book like this for a long time. I don't think anything has moved me to tears and a deep sense of sadness and uncertainty as this has. I literally couldn't put the book down.

If you're looking for a book that has elements of young adult fiction but with an adult spin, this is a great book. Can't recommend it enough. Finished it in one read through (never happens for me).

[Sam@WLABB]

This was such an odd experience for me. I constantly found myself frustrated or perplexed by the actions of these characters, yet I cared about them, and couldn't wait to continue the story. I guess it's very much like rubber necking or watching a train crash - I couldn't look away. I do wish the ending had been different, and I had gotten more closure. I mean, I spent 4 tumultuous years with these two, I think I deserved a little more there.

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[kiracanread]

I didn't love this book, the story and plot was fine but the way in which the author glazed over the sub/dom relationships found in this book I really didn't like. They felt like uneducated views of the topic and that the only release for pleasure from a sub/dom relationship is pain. It felt very diminishing of others in that community.

[maggiefan]

As always I wanted to be one of the people who loved this book, but it didn't happen. This wasn't for me at all. It was boring and didn't make any sense. When I finished the book the first thing I thought was "So what?", and it's not a good sign. I really don't understand the point of this story, especially with such unlikable characters.

[Jyc]

★★★★ // This story has a special way of creeping into your mind and heart without you realizing it. In a world that emphasizes individuality and the need to find your own self within a relationship (whatever it may be), this one talks about needing somebody. I am not a fan of co-dependence, but I like the arguments presented here about leaning onto the only person who actually understands your soul. I would have wanted to see more of Marianne and Connell’s history and relationships with other people, especially with their family. But I suppose the glimpses are enough to give us an idea as to what makes them gravitate toward each other.

For a few seconds, they just stood there in stillness, his arms around her, his breath on her ear. Most people go through their whole lives, Marianne thought, without ever really feeling that close to anyone.

Above everything, this is a great love story despite being quite depressing. It does not trivialize the mental and emotional turmoil that both of its main characters go through just to pack it into something romantic. It tries to let us understand both of their personalities so we can cheer on for their eventual happiness. I also loved the time jumps in between because it helps portray their growing familiarity. It was easy to understand and accept why both of them care about each other because you get a sense of how much their relationship changed through the years.

No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on other people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not. She knows he loves her, she doesn’t wonder about that anymore.

And what about that ending though? So good. I think I’m making a trifecta with this, Summer Skin, and The Sea of Tranquility.

Favourite chapter: Four Months Later (January 2013)

[Bianca]

‪2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge‬
‪25. A book with a two-word title‬

You make me really happy, he says. His hand moves over her hair and he adds: I love you. I’m not just saying that, I really do. Her eyes fill up with tears again and she closes them. Even in memory she will find this moment unbearably intense, and she’s aware of this now, while it’s happening. She has never believed herself fit to be loved by any person. But now she has a new life, of which this is the first moment, and even after many years have passed she will still think: Yes, that was it, the beginning of my life.

— This was such a beautifully honest book about feeling unloved and worthless, about how we care so much about what other people think, about things left unsaid and our lingering regrets, AND MORE. So beautiful and so human. Best book I’ve read so far this year

[luddite]

'Normal People' isn't an easy read. The depiction of the internal struggle and the trajectory of the two lead characters weighs on you. The depression, the anxiety, the abuse - it all weighs on you. But the prose is wonderful. This is excellent writing that gets you to live as another character, deep within their skin and skull. This is writing that leaves a mark on you.

[clementine]

3.5 stars

I love Rooney's simple writing style, and I think she creates complex characters very well. She has a way of getting across existential despair clearly. While I enjoyed this novel and blew through it quickly, I do feel that it's a bit of a more lightweight version of Conversations With Friends. It has so many of the same themes - failure to communicate, dysfunctional relationships with sex, weirdly antagonistic friendships, the pretentiousness of bourgeoisie who believe themselves to be woke. I just think it's a bit less potent in its dealing with these themes, although it also has the added benefit of characters who are much easier to like and sympathize with. I'm also always sucker for a narrative in which two people switch social positions - it's a dynamic that, when written delicately, I find fascinating. I'd recommend this book overall, and I think it'll be less polarizing than Conversations With Friends, but I think the reason I liked Conversations With Friends more is because it gave me so many reasons to hate it yet made me enjoy it despite everything. There was just more to sink my teeth into.