From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Normal People

Sally Rooney

Start date: September 15, 2020

Finish date: October 1, 2020

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

May 20, 2019 Renata rated it liked it · review of another edition

I was hoping to be blown away by this book, and I just wasn’t. There are several important themes (won’t mention for fear of spoilers) that could have been developed further, but were pretty much glossed over. Overall, a bit disappointing, considering I joined Book of the Month Club to get this book.

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Sep 10, 2019 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: irish-literature, ireland, read-2019, e-books, mtbr-challenge-2019, contemporary-fiction

This is the story of the friendship between Connell and Marianne during the period of January 2011-February 2015.

The plot does not describe a spectacular story in order to give more than 3 stars to this book, in my humble opinion of course.

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Apr 06, 2020 Shakirah rated it liked it · review of another edition

This story was initially set in Sligo, I am assuming, a provincial village in the Republic of Ireland.
Marianne, is a teenager, not ugly but not too pretty. There was also a lot of emphasis about her being flatchested, I don’t know why. She is somewhat an oddball. She is very clever but does not have any friends in school, and keeps to herself. She has a wealthy lawyer mom who is single and a brother a few years older than her.
Cornell goes to the same school as Marianne. He is handsome, a footbal This story was initially set in Sligo, I am assuming, a provincial village in the Republic of Ireland.
Marianne, is a teenager, not ugly but not too pretty. There was also a lot of emphasis about her being flatchested, I don’t know why. She is somewhat an oddball. She is very clever but does not have any friends in school, and keeps to herself. She has a wealthy lawyer mom who is single and a brother a few years older than her.
Cornell goes to the same school as Marianne. He is handsome, a footballer and very clever too. In fact he is cleverer than Marianne and always trumps Marianne in exams. He is also very popular. His mom works as a cleaner and cleans Marianne’s house on a weekly basis. Cornell started befriending Marianne when he picked up his mom. They struck a conversation and found that they clicked really well. Cornell however, is very concerned about his reputation and agreed with Marianne that they will not make this public in school. So while in high school they pretended they didn’t know each other.

This story follows these two protagonists into their graduate and postgraduate journey. They would be separated through some incident or another, only to find themselves put together in one place at different times in their lives. And when they were together they always found themselves supportive towards each other and felt very comfortable and safe. And so the book goes on in this pattern.
Not wanting to oversimplify nor steer in the wrong direction to provide you with a spoilers, I must say this is quite a pleasant book to read. It flows easily and evoke enough interest for you to turn the pages. You will probably not find any mind-blowing beautiful prose but it is a good story about human nature. It points to the fact that no matter how individualistic we are, at some stage of the other the inherent herd instinct will override our decisions and actions. As humans we are wired to want to be perceived a certain way and that leads us to act a certain way, not necessarily to our own benefit. There was a lot of sharp honesty in this book, that made me examine my perception of myself and others.
I would actually rename this book Stupid People..but then again Normal People do stupid things, so I conclude that the title is most apt. ...more

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Aug 28, 2020 Leslie rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I think the book went about what it was supposed to do and as far diving into characters’ lives and minds and together their experiences. I thought it was an interesting reading jaunt and would have been more so if I could ever grasped on to either character - couldn’t do it - in the beginning or over time until the end. Speaking of the end... what an ending! What do readers think of those types of endings? The reader really must make the conclusion for him or herself? Would you rather have the ...more

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Nov 16, 2019 Cdrueallen rated it liked it

Ms. Rooney is an excellent stylist but the question this book brings up for me is why modern literary fiction, with Margaret Atwood's recent works being notable and wonderful exceptions, is so regressive when it comes to its depiction of the power politics between men and women. Mary McCarthy would be turning over in her grave. ...more

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Jul 29, 2020 Carra rated it really liked it

I had this review written in my head before I even finished the book. I was hooked - staying up late to devour the book in chunks and carving out time to sneak in a few pages. Until I got 15 pages from the end and then it all fell apart. I am still confused - why...what...that’s how it ends? I don’t understand.

Regardless, the first 250 pages are honest, raw insightful and sexy as all hell. Still worth a read dispute the weird ending - maybe more so so we can discuss your thoughts.

#books #bookrev ...more

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