Normal People Paperback – 1 January 2019

Good book. Good quality. Original print.

Connell and Marianne pretend to be strangers at school. She is a brilliant student, but considered cold aloof and weird by mates. He is popular, handsome and star of the school soccer team. Their public dynamic is slightly weird as Connell's mother works as a housekeeper in Marianne's house. On a private level, they have an electric connection at many levels of their existence.The story spans out around their school, college and work. Secrets are revealed, insecurities are faced and relationship lines blurred. I found myself arrested by Ms. Rooney's sparing prose. Something very unique in her style that kept me captivated throughout. There were several lines I felt compelled to highlight and go back to.The characters are intense, complex and flawed just like the title describes them; they are but normal people. Themes touched upon are love, friendship, mental health, dysfunctional families and societal pressures.The relationship graph between the Connell and Marianne is handled with proficiency and precision. The descriptions of their lifestyles enhance the plot further on. What i enjoyed immensely were conversations and chemistry between the protagonists. The supporting characters also added weight as the story progressed.Perhaps the only thing I didn't find palatable very much was the depressing, dissociative element in the characters. Only because maybe I read this not at the right time. I believe that too matters. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Rooney.

So this is what young white people do and this is how they think and this is how they communicate (or fail at communicating) and how their relationships are. This was the takeaway from what is beautifully written angsty-mopey tale of two Howard Roark-ish teenagers (without his clarity of purpose, but with his intelligence) set in Ireland (but it is really a microcosm for any First World White Person country).I'm not trying to be provocatively snarky here - there is a great deal regarding human emotion that is agnostic of culture and society and we do get that here through some beautiful observations and most profound analyses by an extremely talented writer."How strange to feel herself so completely under the control of another person, but also how ordinary. 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 people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not.""This ‘what?’ question seems to him to contain so much: not just the forensic attentiveness to his silences that allows her to ask in the first place, but a desire for total communication, a sense that anything unsaid is an unwelcome interruption between them.""Not for the first time Marianne thinks cruelty does not only hurt the victim, but the perpetrator also, and maybe more deeply and more permanently. You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied; but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget."But a lot of this book was quite educational (if that's the right word) for me about the 'class' struggles, the sublimated impact of Modern Family lite, the unsaid rules, etiquette and expectations of teenage relationships, the pressures & manner of 'fitting-in', in another part of the world which despite the influence of Hollywood & English-language books over three decades still acted as a bit of an eye opener. Also the long rambling descriptions of making yourself a cup of tea and drinking sessions in colleges and wandering the supermarket aisles are probably what lets you peak into life in another world."Marianne goes inside and comes back out again with another bottle of sparkling wine, and one bottle of red. Niall starts unwrapping the wire on the first bottle and Marianne hands Connell a corkscrew. Peggy starts clearing people's plates. Connell unpeels the foil from the top of a bottle as Jamie leans over and says something to Marianne. He sinks the screw into the cork and twists it downwards. Peggy takes his plate away and stacks it with the others""The kettle comes to the boil. Lorraine sweeps the line of hairpins into the palm of her hand, closes her fist around them and pockets them. She gets up then, fills the cup of tea, adds milk, and puts the bottle back in the fridge. He watches her."Unlike a lot of folks who don't seem to have liked the deadpan, present tense-using, no quotation-marks writing style - I quite liked that and thought it wasn't unnecessarily descriptive of the background scenery as many literary novels (of which set this book is a part of with a Booker nomination and everything else) are wont to be. My bigger disconnect was with the inability to connect with the two central characters and understand their IMO pig-headed actions and decisions. Actually even though after all the insight we have, I don't think I understand their emotions of intense longing, complete depression, ability to switch on-and-off in relationships which are based on some magical other-worldly connections. Surely one would expect more rational decision making and clearer communication from intelligent human beings and awareness of a world outside their bubble? This is alluded to once in the book as well:"But that was their world then. Their feelings were suppressed so carefully in everyday life, forced into smaller and smaller spaces, until seemingly minor events took on insane and frightening significance."This line above kind of sums up what this whole book is about. Sure stories are always about people but there has to be something plausible, connectable, interesting, less tedious?So now, trying to summarise more to put my thoughts in order :- Did I enjoy reading it? I guess, yes - it is very readable- Would I recommend it? I think I would even if it's just for the writing style- Would I read another book by the author? Probably not

Book review: Normal People by Sally Rooney"Life is a thing you bring with you inside your own head."Connell comes from a working class family, quite famous at his high school and is much loved by his friends. Whereas, Marianne belonging to an upper class family, is a loner and much hated. They both seem distant at school, but when they meet after school hours, they are completely different people. What seems to be a purely sexual relationship soon turns platonic. Over a period of time, sometimes together, sometimes far apart, we see Connell and Marianne finding solace in each other's company despite of multiple challenges they both face.Read this book for its- 1. Writing: Different timelines for each chapter, yet the way she has written this book, nothing seems amiss. The chapter starts in the present, but comes full circle, keeping us in the loop with the whole story. 2. Characters: Yes, Connell and Marianne are unbelievably frustrating at times, especially when it comes to their relationship with each other, but that makes them even more relatable and real. You can't help but root for them, even though you might've never been in the same shoes. 3. Plot: Rooney has captured the complexities of every relationship beautifully. I know, sometimes their relationship seemed too dramatic, yet time and again, she has given us the whole picture as to why they are-the way they are! 4. Ending: "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 certainly unlikely positions." This might seem like a story of two messed up people, complicating their lives with sex rather than acknowledging what they mean to each other. But I love how their stories come together in the end, how their bond is stronger than ever and how much they've changed each other, along with supporting one another.My only concern was Marianne's dynamics with her family, I wish it was explored more.I am so glad I read this one despite of all the mixed reviews that I came across. I get the hype for this one, positive or negative, this book definitely grabs your attention! 5🌟