Normal People
by Sally Rooney
Hogarth, 2018. 273 pages, General Fiction
Some people experience a connection that seems to pull them together no matter the circumstances. This is the connection that Marianne and Connell experience. From the time they were high school classmates, who keep their relationship secret from everyone they know due to their varied social status, to the time they meet again at university when they both attend Trinity College in Dublin, they cannot shake the unique bond they share. Intimate and deep, these two don’t know how lucky they are to experience that connection to one another, but they struggle to find balance between their passionate feelings and how to form a functional relationship, with their individual damage and insecurities in tow.
This is a uniquely moving character and conversation driven coming of age story. It is rare for a book to truly capture real human emotion and insecurity in relationships the way this book did, and I devoured it. It was long listed for the Man Booker prize in 2018 and it definitely has that award-worthy feel with lovely language and a meandering pace that lets you really sink in to what the character’s experience and their emotional ups and downs. I’d recommend this book to those who don’t require a clean read and who enjoy literary fiction with a focus on language and realism.
RC
by Sally Rooney
Hogarth, 2018. 273 pages, General Fiction
Some people experience a connection that seems to pull them together no matter the circumstances. This is the connection that Marianne and Connell experience. From the time they were high school classmates, who keep their relationship secret from everyone they know due to their varied social status, to the time they meet again at university when they both attend Trinity College in Dublin, they cannot shake the unique bond they share. Intimate and deep, these two don’t know how lucky they are to experience that connection to one another, but they struggle to find balance between their passionate feelings and how to form a functional relationship, with their individual damage and insecurities in tow.
This is a uniquely moving character and conversation driven coming of age story. It is rare for a book to truly capture real human emotion and insecurity in relationships the way this book did, and I devoured it. It was long listed for the Man Booker prize in 2018 and it definitely has that award-worthy feel with lovely language and a meandering pace that lets you really sink in to what the character’s experience and their emotional ups and downs. I’d recommend this book to those who don’t require a clean read and who enjoy literary fiction with a focus on language and realism.
RC
