As students, it’s hard to find time for leisurely activities. My personal go-to for filling my time is reading. In this article, I’ll be taking a closer look at one of the most recent books I’ve had a chance to read in my downtime. With any luck, you’ll find some inspiration to pick up or even put down this book.
Note: The “albums ” are what I listened to while reading these books.
Albums: The Record + So Much Wine
I have a confusing relationship with Sally Rooney’s Normal People. To say I liked this book would be misleading. I liked it in the sense that it made me feel frustrated throughout the whole read. I don’t hate it, and despite everything I don’t like about it—the main couple’s incessant miscommunication and self-destructive patterns—I would still consider recommending it to others. Confusing right?
I went into Normal People already having seen the show and knowing the outcome of the book; a decision I regret slightly. I feel that if I hadn’t, I would have had a deeper emotional connection with the book. I cared about the two main characters, but I find that in most other reviews I have read—the ones that weren’t negative—people have talked about being absolutely crushed by their relationship turmoil. I finished the book feeling entertained but also so very defeated.
The story revolves around the relationship of Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron and how it ebbs and flows throughout their adolescence into their young adult lives. In high school, Marianne is a smart and wealthy girl, but is socially ostracized and emotionally abused at home. Connell is a part of the working class, very popular, and has a good relationship with his mom. Connell’s mom works as a cleaner for Marianne’s family, and the two begin a secret sexual relationship that ends when Connell’s fear of his schoolmates finding out plagues his thoughts. Later in college, the two meet again. This time, Marianne is popular, and Connell is feeling isolated and alone.
The story is undeniably heartbreaking but you can’t help but sympathize with them. The story continuously plays with your emotions, but there are times when you can’t deny a burning frustration within both of them. The pair’s issues with communication lead to many misunderstandings, unnecessary separations, and heartbreak. With that being said, I don’t hate either of them; I know I should, maybe just a little. I know a lot of people do—I have read the reviews—but personally, I think my sympathy overtakes my frustration, leaving me very apathetic.
Unlike a lot of the criticism I have read about this book, I don’t think either of them are pretentious or too self-centred. I believe they are just two people dealing with very heavy and real things and don’t know how to handle it well. They lean and feed off each other, sometimes for the better, but most times for the worse.
They also each have their moments of pretentiousness: they read and talk about “the classics” at 17-18, go to college surrounded by pretentious people, and half of them, including Marianne, are from wealthy backgrounds, so of course they will come off that way at times. Something I fear people forget is that at the end of the book, they are only 21 and 22 years old. I am not trying to defend them or say that they can act however they want, but keep in mind, they are still trying to figure out who they are.
I think how you characterize Marianne and Connell is based on your own perspective and experience. You either sympathize with them or think they are too arrogant for their own good. I personally do both. Simultaneously. Maybe you do, too. What I can say for certain is that Rooney’s writing left a lasting impact on me. I instantly fell in love with Rooney’s writing style—a subject of heated debate amongst her readers. Her use of untagged speech had me flipping through the pages like I was a third party sitting in a room, listening to two old friends talk. I breezed through the book.
It’s such a human thing to be so deeply flawed, to be just a “normal” person, and I think that is the book’s message. All the two want is to be normal, or whatever they think normal should be, but what they don’t realize is that they are just plain old normal people. I really enjoyed the story plus I love how real and genuine Marianne and Connell felt as characters, but I think for right now at least, it will be staying on the shelf.