Normal People

I'm usually very behind on the latest novels because I'm too suspicious of whatever is currently trending. In this case, I'm 8 years behind and horrified that 2018 was EIGHT years ago. I didn't exactly prioritise reading Normal People, but I'm watching a TV show with an excruciating will-they-won't they, it's killing me, so I had to read something to scratch that itch, I needed to see some loooooove. I recently heard a dismissive comment that “Rooney is for women”. Having read it, I can only say that whoever comes to that conclusion must have never felt a deep connection with someone, whatever the gender. My favourite aspect of this book is exactly that it's simply human. Marianne and Connell, and their relationship (actually a refuge from the stereotypical gender dynamics that surround them), are affected by their social class, upbringing, and motivations, but they are never defined exclusively by them. More than anything, their lives seem to be directed by the seemingly unexplainable bond between them. The dialogues flow naturally, and Rooney manages to capture both their personalities in a few words. Their conversations are often frustrating, full of unspoken love and insecurities. It's written in direct, simple sentences, and that works really well, often to the point you feel like you're in the room with them. And despite all this, I'm wondering: if this is supposed to be such a deep, emotional experience, why have I been able to read it in 1.5 days, without needing a single moment to emotionally process it? Perhaps because it also suffers from some terrible cliches. Marianne is rich and the smartest girl in school. Nobody likes her. They even call her the ugliest girl in school. She's different. She’s a weirdo. Secretly everyone thinks she's hot. Connell is poor and the smartest guy in school. Everybody likes him. He’s quiet and hot. A year later, they’re the smartest people at the same university. And the hottest ones, too. Naturally. These are almost quotes. "She knew these were the kind of thoughts that made her different from other people in school, and weirder." This is an actual quote. About pretty normal thoughts. I wouldn't dismiss this, or any book, as "unserious" literature just because it's coming-of-age, but some of the writing just wasn't very good, and that shouldn't have anything to do with genre. It improves in the second half, though. Also, it might be the most millennial thing I’ve ever read. I know that's the point, I know it's realistic, I was there. But at times I felt like it's written by someone much older who's very nostalgic about the early days of Facebook and believes that who they were in high school has a huge impact on life. While, in fact, most of the plot happens literally within two years after leaving high school, and four years overall. Altogether, for me it was a nice experience, but there are plenty of similar books from the same period, many also with movie adaptations, which made me wonder what the mass and critical appeal of this one is (I mean, The Guardian listed it as one of the 100 best books of the 21st century). I can't help but believe that it's simply because it sold really, really well. And I believe it sold really, really well because it's palatable, non-polemic, and bingeable, and because of the simplicity that does have something beautiful in it, but also caters to the current state of our global attention spans, or the lack of.