Normal People by Sally Rooney

 

Softcover version

Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.

*****

Normal People

Author : Sally Rooney

Published year : 2011

Pages : 266

Genre : Fiction, Contemporary

Age recommendation : 18+ (suicidal, sexual content)

I think those who love Nick Hornby or David Nicholls may like this book. It certainly brings similar vibes to me. Maybe because both Nick Hornby and David Nicholls are English authors, the same as Sally Rooney. They emphasize the deep and meaningful conversations between the protagonists while inserting monumental moments subtly. 

Normal People is a story about two different people, Marianne and Connel. Marianne is a loner, and grow up in a rich mansion together with her single mother and mean brother Alan. Connel is the son of Lorraine, a housekeeper who works at Marianne's family property. They both went to the same senior high school but never seen talk together in public.

Privately, they have many conversations. Marianne is a smart girl, and Connel likes how he can behave as himself in front of Marianne. Marianne never bothers much about what people think about her, contrary to Connel, who wants to be accepted by society. In school, Connel is a popular boy and has a lot of friends meanwhile Marianne is a very private girl that needs no friends in her daily life. Society mock her and even bullied her.

Maybe that is one of the reasons why Connel didn't want to be seen in public together with Marianne. Though he likes Marianne a lot, he chose another girl for the debutant party.

Since they talk a lot, Marianne recommends Connel try to pursue his study at Trinity College. One of the best universities in Ireland. Connel, who never dreamt as high as that, agreed. 

In college, since both of them stopped talking after the Deb incident, Connel finally meets again with Marianne. Yet, she's very different from the private girl from his high school. Marianne has a social circle, attends and held many parties, and has a popular boyfriend.

But Connel is a different person also. He's just a poor boy from a village who comes to the top university where everyone tries to show how much money their parents have. He doesn't have a lot of friends, and can't stand at a party because he knows no one.

But meeting Marianne is like seeing the light at the end of his dark tunnels. Marianne was his best friend, and speaking with her always bring a lot of joy and insight. So there, they get close again but never become a lover. They cannot define their relationship, they sleep together, practically almost live together but Marianne never said that they were a lover.

There is a lot of moments, and event that pull or push them apart. They are both very different people. Marianne is a wounded girl who didn't believe that she has a right to be happy. She always met with the wrong man, or maybe she always chose a bad man because that is what she though she deserved. Meanwhile, Connel is thirsty for affirmation from another person. He loves Marianne so much, but is it enough to protect her from the outside world-that also his biggest fear?

Yes, it seems a simple story, teenagers who fall in love and transform into adulthood, by affecting each other decisions in life. Some people bring positive effects in life, some people attract to a darker world. Are they regret meeting each other in the past? are they regret having a complicated relationship in the past that may ruin their future together? But one thing they sure, they bring the best to each other when they are together.

A simple story but with a complex relationship. The third person-POV also brings us the reader, clear observations without judging one of them. Maybe it is because the English Author brings the conversations alive without boring the readers. I don't know I like the book just the way it is.

There are some quotes that I love:

Life is the thing you bring  with you inside your own head. -p 202

You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied, but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget.