Since Normal People had been published a few years ago, I had seen it reviewed extensively in the most praising and positive light. After finally giving it a read because of the overwhelming reception the Hulu series adaptation received, I have been swayed by it’s intensity. I am gearing up to watch the show very soon, and I can only imagine what it’s going to be like. With twelve episodes, though, I believe it will capture many nuances and details that were woven throughout Sally Rooney’s pages.
The story is a love story, but also one of feeling alienated and loneliness. It also really screamed out to me how important communication is, or figuring out how to communicate yourself to others. From early education days to late 20s, the story follows Connell and Marianne as they navigate their own strange relationship through time and circumstance.
Connell at the outset, is an unconventional popular student, whose mother is young and they are considered “poor,” while Marianne was born into the upper-crust of life, but suffers with relating to anyone she’s grown up with. She cannot relate to them, but her and Connell’s intellect seem one in the same and they eventually consummate a secret relationship. They influence each other, although neither one ever really comments on how. They continue their relationship into their first year of college, but then miscommunication derails them.
There are countless other reconciliations and break-ups, but they always maintain a friendship that flirts with the boarder of something more. They’re both rather bad a making friends and keeping them, along with picking other suitable partners. I knew that they ultimately failed at these things because they are the endgame for each other. When they both express how completely themselves they feel in the presence of each other, I get really happy for them! But they only reveal that to themselves, so the other really has no clue what’s going on.
For as well as they claim to know each other, which I feel like they do, they also can’t ever seem to recognize the distress going on in each other’s lives. They sense it maybe, but never act on it. Physicality can only get you so far, but if they never learn to voice everything about themselves to one another, they are doomed to fail. I have no clue if Rooney intends to write a second novel with these two, because their ending was ultimately one of more doom and sadness. Either way, I suppose it’s good the series got renewed for a second one, so hopefully those writers can expand on their emotional intelligence. I know not every story gets a happy ending, but when you learn about two people so totally made for each other, you can’t help but to want them to succeed.