Normal People by Sally Rooney — Book Review
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.
Normal People by Sally Rooney is a book about normal people living normal lives yet it is equally compelling and thought provoking. The book explores two characters Connell and Marianne and their relationship from them being teenagers to young adults.
The story explores the so called millennial lifestyle and how society and peer pressure tricks us into making decisions based on what people think of it rather than what we want to do.
The characters are well-written and one of my favorite things about the book is their well-detailed growth throughout the book.
Marianne and Connell are from the same town and the story starts with them being in high school. Marianne is smart and comes from a rich household, but is socially awkward and is abused by her brother at home. Marianne, unlike most people in her high school doesn’t care about popularity and is bullied and teased for it in school. Connell on the other hand is from a working class family, in fact Connell’s mother Lorraine works for Marianne’s family. Connell and Marriane eventually end up in a sexual relationship but Connel breaks it off because he is scared his friends will find out.
When they meet again in college, Marianne has grown up to be popular whereas Connell feels alone and out of his comfort zone. Marianne works her way through multiple toxic relationships whereas Connell has his own anxiety to fight. I like how Sally has shown women ignoring all the red flags in relationships, how women think that’s how men are. Since Marianne grew up in an environment with abuse, she believes she deserves to be treated that way. Despite everything, Connell and Marianne always find each other to lean on. They get together for a brief period of time in college. The couple’s lack of ability to communicate is frustrating and sad but at the same time it also seems real. That’s how relationships are, that’s how people are — flawed.
The novel constantly addresses the fact that most of Connell’s and Marianne’s misery is caused by peer pressure and social expectations. The novel isn’t a teach or preach kind of book but in its simplicity just deals with the fact that “if you’re meant to be with someone, you’ll just know”. A lot of things are unsaid in the book. It’s a weird, awkward, depressing novel about a connection formed between two extremely different people who find exactly what they need — and perhaps a lot that they don’t — in each other. Normal People explains the fact most of the times relationships are mostly about simply being there for the other person. The novel doesn’t have any great triumphant moments or a plot twist, it’s more of a character study of Marianne and Connell’s relationship.
Personally, I feel Normal People is a hit or miss kind of book for most people. Either you relate or connect to it or you will find it extremely boring and plain. I enjoyed this book though because of it’s simplicity and the fact that we’re all indeed just humans looking for a connection with someone, we’re all only — Normal People.
“Most people go through their whole lives, without ever really feeling that close with anyone.”
