Book Review of Normal People by Sally Rooney
UPDATED: 2/4/2023
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288 pages, published in 2018
YOU MAY ENJOY THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE:
literary fiction * Irish literary fiction * coming of age fiction
REVIEW OF NORMAL PEOPLE BY SALLY ROONEY:
Ever since coming reading a review back in January, I had been interested in reading Normal People by Irish writer Sally Rooney. Longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and winner of the ‘Best Novel’ at the 2018 Costa Book Awards, clearly 28 year old Rooney is immensely talented. When I found myself book-less before an 8-hour flight back from Scotland, I was happy to come across it in an airport bookstore and tore through it in a single sitting.
Western Ireland
The novel centers around two primary characters, Marianne and Connell, and all other characters are truly secondary to this relationship-driven plot that follows the couple from high school in County Sligo on the western coast of Ireland through college in Dublin and to their post-collegiate lives. For anyone interested in the complex dynamics and interactions between two people - from the frustrations of mixed messages and miscommunications that are part and parcel of the human experience to insecurities and anxieties that drive counter-productive behaviors - you will enjoy the endless raveling and unraveling of Marianne and Connell’s relationship.
Much of the novel portrays a juxtaposition of domination and submission throughout varied facets - economic, sexual, domestic, and social, to name a few. The novel explores the baggage people carry with them and in them that directs future decisions that may not always be in their best interests, a confusing and illogical component of the human condition.
The novel was successful at emotionally engaging me in these characters’ lives, and I found myself feeling both frustrated with and sad for both characters for various reasons at different times. Rooney created two very human, believable characters and was able to show the delicate dance of their relationship as it evolved over time, impacted by those orbiting their worlds.
For those interested in a broader social commentary reading of the novel, Rooney offers a portrayal of economic disparities as well as exploring the depths of what it is for a woman to truly have agency or to appear to have agency in the modern world.
Hulu has made this novel into a series, and the show premiered in 2020 with 12 episodes.
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Check out our other posts about books set in Ireland:
Looking for a book set in the US?
Check out our review of Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver.