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whendevreads's review against another edition
4.0
There are very mixed reviews on here about Normal People and honestly… I get it. This is not the kind of book that everyone is going to enjoy and I think Sally Rooney truly understood that.
Reading the first chapter of this book, as the first book I had ever read without quotation marks, really threw me for a loop. I had to read the first chapter two times just to make sure I got it. Then, by the end of the second chapter, I was acclimated and it didn’t bother me anymore. In fact, I almost kind of like it. I have aphantasia, which means I can’t picture things in my mind — I can’t close my eyes and conjure up a picture of an apple. And honestly, that kind of fits with narrative voice, too. I am unable to really separate the characters in terms of their “voice” in dialogue — not sure if that’s normal or not — so the entire book is just my monotone inner voice reading the entire thing. That’s what the lack of quotation marks felt like — it felt normal to me.
In terms of plot, I genuinely think that this is the type of novel where you only truly understand it if you’ve been there. And that feels pretentious to say, but it’s true. A normal person, who hasn’t experienced anything highlighted in the book, would say that there is no plot, or say that the novel is boring. And I fully understand where that is coming from. However, as someone who relates deeply to one if not both of the MCs, it felt more like a character study instead of having a set plot line. The book was incredibly sad, for sure, especially seeing things from Marianne’s POV. Her childhood and home life leading her to search for abusive behavior from her male partners, starving herself to fit the male gaze, etc was truly so heartbreaking to read. I didn’t even need to read until the end because I knew from the very beginning what would happen — the cycle would never end. I just felt that deep pit in my stomach reading further and further into the book knowing, from my own experiences, at the end of the day, nothing is going to change.
But for me, the sadness was a sort of emptiness. The contents of the book were never overtly sad enough to make me cry. I have had, in my life, many of the thoughts she had felt in the novel, in some form or another. And I know how I felt in my own moments, so sad, so depressed, I just felt empty. So, I think in reading this, I was just calling back that feeling.
Which, to be honest, I feel like emptiness is the emotion I think Sally Rooney was going for. The lack of quotation marks helps the cause, definitely. But, the story doesn’t really have any emotion. Both of the characters are extremely depressed people, stemming from their childhoods. There aren’t very many exciting things in the book, and all of the plot points that would devastate a normal person are dealt with through nonchalance. A character literally gets sexually assaulted and the characters don’t really talk about it for longer than a few sentences. We are seeing events that have occurred through their depressed, greyed-out worldview, which makes everything seem monotonous. I definitely believe it was a stylistic choice to forego the quotation marks.
I think Normal People is so popular for those who can relate to it because it so accurately depicts a life that many of us have lived. Everything that happens is so mundane — there’s quite literally no plot, other than catching these glimpses of the two MCs and their relationship throughout their young adult years. And yet, I saw myself in this book, to an unnerving degree, and even though I knew from the very beginning how it would end, I still couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to watch the Hulu adaptation and see how Paul Mescal does in the role.
Reading the first chapter of this book, as the first book I had ever read without quotation marks, really threw me for a loop. I had to read the first chapter two times just to make sure I got it. Then, by the end of the second chapter, I was acclimated and it didn’t bother me anymore. In fact, I almost kind of like it. I have aphantasia, which means I can’t picture things in my mind — I can’t close my eyes and conjure up a picture of an apple. And honestly, that kind of fits with narrative voice, too. I am unable to really separate the characters in terms of their “voice” in dialogue — not sure if that’s normal or not — so the entire book is just my monotone inner voice reading the entire thing. That’s what the lack of quotation marks felt like — it felt normal to me.
In terms of plot, I genuinely think that this is the type of novel where you only truly understand it if you’ve been there. And that feels pretentious to say, but it’s true. A normal person, who hasn’t experienced anything highlighted in the book, would say that there is no plot, or say that the novel is boring. And I fully understand where that is coming from. However, as someone who relates deeply to one if not both of the MCs, it felt more like a character study instead of having a set plot line. The book was incredibly sad, for sure, especially seeing things from Marianne’s POV. Her childhood and home life leading her to search for abusive behavior from her male partners, starving herself to fit the male gaze, etc was truly so heartbreaking to read. I didn’t even need to read until the end because I knew from the very beginning what would happen — the cycle would never end. I just felt that deep pit in my stomach reading further and further into the book knowing, from my own experiences, at the end of the day, nothing is going to change.
But for me, the sadness was a sort of emptiness. The contents of the book were never overtly sad enough to make me cry. I have had, in my life, many of the thoughts she had felt in the novel, in some form or another. And I know how I felt in my own moments, so sad, so depressed, I just felt empty. So, I think in reading this, I was just calling back that feeling.
Which, to be honest, I feel like emptiness is the emotion I think Sally Rooney was going for. The lack of quotation marks helps the cause, definitely. But, the story doesn’t really have any emotion. Both of the characters are extremely depressed people, stemming from their childhoods. There aren’t very many exciting things in the book, and all of the plot points that would devastate a normal person are dealt with through nonchalance. A character literally gets sexually assaulted and the characters don’t really talk about it for longer than a few sentences. We are seeing events that have occurred through their depressed, greyed-out worldview, which makes everything seem monotonous. I definitely believe it was a stylistic choice to forego the quotation marks.
I think Normal People is so popular for those who can relate to it because it so accurately depicts a life that many of us have lived. Everything that happens is so mundane — there’s quite literally no plot, other than catching these glimpses of the two MCs and their relationship throughout their young adult years. And yet, I saw myself in this book, to an unnerving degree, and even though I knew from the very beginning how it would end, I still couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to watch the Hulu adaptation and see how Paul Mescal does in the role.
maddieoftheorangetree's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Much better the second time around. I found myself sympathizing more with Connell than Marianne, which is similar to my first read of this book back in December. Had fun buddy reading this with my friend, I think it adds a lot to the story and themes and whatnot when you have someone to discuss it with.
laraoliveiraa9's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
loganzee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
brisingr's review against another edition
2.0
2,5
me, getting ready to write this review: well, this is going to hurt like a motherfcker.
i'm so sorry. i lowkey expected to be in the minority with my thoughts on this book, but i just don't get what all the hype is all about. i might just not have the emotional range to comprehend the characters or the events of this book. i might just be too thick-skinned to get the deepness of this narrative. i don't know. but something didn't click properly with me, and i am feeling a bit sad about it.
it's just... normal people, both the book and the general population, is so boring!! i kept waiting for the story to have a point or an impact, and for me it had neither. nice writing style and some memorable lines, but so rare throughout that it didn't really save much of this book for me.
me, getting ready to write this review: well, this is going to hurt like a motherfcker.
i'm so sorry. i lowkey expected to be in the minority with my thoughts on this book, but i just don't get what all the hype is all about. i might just not have the emotional range to comprehend the characters or the events of this book. i might just be too thick-skinned to get the deepness of this narrative. i don't know. but something didn't click properly with me, and i am feeling a bit sad about it.
it's just... normal people, both the book and the general population, is so boring!! i kept waiting for the story to have a point or an impact, and for me it had neither. nice writing style and some memorable lines, but so rare throughout that it didn't really save much of this book for me.
mooncake98's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Interesting, complex, and emotional.
kaynim's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ohokaykay's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0