Normal People

Book Title: Normal People

Author: Sally Rooney

Date Started: April 25th 2020

Date Completed: May 2nd 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Normal People was sent to me by a friend who I think might have actually run to the postbox the minute she finished reading it. Basically; a pretty strong recommendation. And, although it's different from what I usually read, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's fluidly written, easy to fall into, and just a nice read overall. (Or perhaps I should say comforting since it's definitely a bittersweet sort of book.)

Rooney explores a whole host of things through the on/off undefinable relationship of two people, Connall and Marianne. We begin in secondary school and follow in snapshots all the way until they're graduated adults in the real world. A bit like a coming-of-age drama for adults - but deliberately not - it's honest about a lot of issues that YA novels don't, mostly for fear of being unmarketable. The most notable being sexuality, the difficulties that come with navigating it, and how all other facets of society end up feeding into it. Personally, the exploration of the class system was more interesting for me. But I suppose the normalised representation of sex and mental health difficulties, their bluntness and complexity, is arguably groundbreaking in and of itself.

As I've said, Normal People was very easy to slip into. It's well written; nothing much really happens, but you're compelled anyway. That, of course, is down to the honesty on the page. It feels real. I didn't necessarily relate wholly to either character (though I suspect there are many people who would), but in elements of both. The fact that Marianne and Connall's relationship really isn't easy to pin down is something that I think we sorely needed to see, as well. Half the experience of this book is sitting back and going 'yeah, I know that feeling'. And that's a hard thing to write.

At the end of the day, I think what Rooney is trying to say is less that 'there is no such thing as normal,' and more that being confused and mess up (or 'damaged') is totally normal. That's a comforting thing to hear every now and then.