Rooney shows how any ordinary relationship truly transcends ordinary boundaries with the two star characters of “Normal People,” Marianne and Connell.
Taking place in the early 2010’s Ireland, “Normal People” (put simply) tells the story of nail biting, all-encompassing teenage love at its finest — and it’s absolute worst. Marianne and Connell are unlikely lovers who fall into a heavy relationship before going off to college, while in college, while out of college, and so on.
The pair fatefully meet in Marianne’s home, which seems strange for two teens who only are passerbys in the school hallway. But, Connell’s mother is Marianne’s house cleaner, keeping up with Marianne’s extensive family mansion in Carricklea, Ireland. Marianne, though, detests her family and their privileged lifestyle, and thanks to her distaste, her mother and brother grow to ignore Marianne even exists. So detached from her family’s lifestyle, Marianne is determined to get out and make her own way. It never is about money or material wealth for Marianne. All she is truly yearning for is connection.
“Marianne had the sense that her real life was happening somewhere very far away, happening without her, and she didn't know if she would ever find out where it was or become part of it.”
When Connell enters the picture, the two become intertwined in all ways. They feel they are the only two people who truly understand each other, which proves to be incredibly rewarding — and tragic. The strength of their bonds pulls the two together in moments of lust and rips them away with just as much force. The two go about their college lives floating among one another, and each time they fall back in each other’s arms, readers can’t help but give a small sigh of relief.
Rooney chooses to forgo the use of quotations throughout the entire novel, rather presenting all the dialogue within the text without markers. The conversation and relationship between the characters, therefore, is the story, and blends together seamlessly with the descriptors of setting and the change in timelines. The technique really plunges the story deeply into Marianne and Connell’s relationship, without a single quotation mark breaking the flow of the text and taking the reader out of the scene.
“It's funny the decisions you make because you like someone, he says, and then your whole life is different. I think we're at that weird age where life can change a lot from small decisions.”
“Normal People” is a humanising read, one that modernizes the teenage relationship beyond slow dancing at a prom to the true all-encompassing obsession that comes with new love, sex, and loss of innocence. The flaws in the characters and the relationship, though at times frustrating for the reader, are absolutely reflective of reality and the real boundaries couples experience when making a teenage relationship move into adulthood. The ending falls short of what the reader wants, and I quite love that type of ending. It feels real. It feels as though it could still be continuing in real-time, and that is a special quality Rooney achieved.
This is one of my favorite reads, ever. I think it is beautifully frustrating and beautifully written, and for that, it gets a strong 5/5 from me.
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