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Lizzy Burton
It reminded me a bit of One Day by David Nicholls 😊
Alissa Fajek
Reminded me of a more grown up, much deeper and emotional and grown up version of Eleanor and Park.
Jacqui Williams
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Both are about relationships from two perspectives over many years.
Jackie L
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It delves more deeply into trauma and damage. The main character suffers greatly, and tries to overcome his past. Beautiful and heartbreaking.
Maëlle
Reminded me a bit of Norwegian Wood by Murakami, the difficulties of relationships.
Leah
Try White Fur by Jardine Libaire for an American twist on this story, that's similarly frank about sex and class.
See some comparison to Fates and Furies and One Day. While I see some broad contours that are similar (following a couple over several years, with a particular emphasis on their college years), hard disagree--think Normal People is vastly more emotionally true and more tender to its characters.
Something that really bothered me about One Day is that the female character goes through a lot of painful experiences while the male character is such a wanker...and without spoiling, the arc of her experiences in the end seems only to serve to help him have personal growth. Maybe, in other words, you can tell it's a book written by a man and there's a failure of imagination towards his female protagonist. In short, I loved Normal People so much and felt so tenderly towards the characters and intensely disliked the characters in One Day and practically threw it across the room when I finished it.
Whereas in Fates and Furies, I honestly kept asking myself, "are these characters acting in any way like an actual human I have ever observed or interacted with?" and the the answer: a resounding no. Rarely have so looked forward to a book and then been so completely unimpressed.
See some comparison to Fates and Furies and One Day. While I see some broad contours that are similar (following a couple over several years, with a particular emphasis on their college years), hard disagree--think Normal People is vastly more emotionally true and more tender to its characters.
Something that really bothered me about One Day is that the female character goes through a lot of painful experiences while the male character is such a wanker...and without spoiling, the arc of her experiences in the end seems only to serve to help him have personal growth. Maybe, in other words, you can tell it's a book written by a man and there's a failure of imagination towards his female protagonist. In short, I loved Normal People so much and felt so tenderly towards the characters and intensely disliked the characters in One Day and practically threw it across the room when I finished it.
Whereas in Fates and Furies, I honestly kept asking myself, "are these characters acting in any way like an actual human I have ever observed or interacted with?" and the the answer: a resounding no. Rarely have so looked forward to a book and then been so completely unimpressed.
Emily Rose
I really enjoyed The Idiot by Elif Batuman which is similar in some ways to this book!
Saskia
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Amanda
It reminds me a bit of Call Me By Your Name... Lots of emotional and sexual desire.
Scott
The Secret History - Donna Tartt. I think the framework is similar enough that you will feel them be related.
McKenzie Bourque
I have yet to read Normal People, but I LOVED "Conversations with Friends" by Sally Rooney
James H
Frankly, there can never be another Normal People. That said, here's one that is similar in that it has an unreliable narrator, concerns a group of young people, sneaks under your skin and will make you wistful: "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. Marianne was reading it in the TV series.
Tobias
Yes - a phone book.
Or a large, empty notebook.
Or a Dulux paint guide in written form.
Basically anything really, really dull.
Or a large, empty notebook.
Or a Dulux paint guide in written form.
Basically anything really, really dull.
A
I would suggest 'Prep' by Curtis Sittenfeld and for a classic, 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen.
Maggie Riordan
Fates & Furies
One Day
Tell Me Lies
The Light We Lost
One Day
Tell Me Lies
The Light We Lost
Lisa
Never Let Me Go
Jana Meyer
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Jana
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
june3
I didn't like this book at all.
But the late, great Maeve Binchy wrote a wonderful book that covered much the same narrative territory called "Circle of Friends." Set in the 1950s, three childhood friends from the countryside attend University in the city (Dublin) with life changing consequences. The movie isn't bad, but the ending of the book is far superior.
But the late, great Maeve Binchy wrote a wonderful book that covered much the same narrative territory called "Circle of Friends." Set in the 1950s, three childhood friends from the countryside attend University in the city (Dublin) with life changing consequences. The movie isn't bad, but the ending of the book is far superior.
Eva Cham
Maybe you can have a look at "The last letter from your lover" by Jojo moyes
Hux
Staring at a wall?
☆Dani☆
I once smashed my head off a concrete wall and almost cracked my skull, and found that gave me a similar level of enjoyment to what I got reading this book.
annika burman
Lie With Me by Phillipe Besson
Cynthia
Sarah Winman's Tin Man has a similar quiet exploration of the complex friendship of several young people.
Sarah
'The Lesser Bohemians' by Eimear McBride.
Daniela Roelofsen
It gave me "The Perks of Being a Wall Flower" vibes.
Monique
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Filipa Campilho
The Trio by Johanna Hedman
Katie 📚
Exciting times
Carol
Take a look at My Year of Rest and Relaxation. Also, a few additional suggestions in this discussion guide: https://libromaniacs.com/normal-peopl...
Gerda
"Exciting Times" by Naoise Dolan.
Mariví Cervi
People we meet on vacation.
Tasos Droulias
Andrian's Tomine "summer blonde" have some similar motifs.
But "normal people" is so conventional.
But "normal people" is so conventional.
GB
For the first third of this book I was thinking about Stoner by John Williams, so you might want to try Stoner.
Saumya
Looking for Alaska by John Green. This book was also quite deep and had some really intertwined and contradicting psychologies of the main characters.
Morgan
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Richard
R N F Skinner’s “Still Crazy....” ?
Bari
Some of the situations in "Normal" seem to have been lifted from the pages Richard Russo's "Empire Falls"
CG
Not trying to be "that person" promoting their blog, but I wrote a post about this :) It's a list of novels set in Ireland with similar themes: https://litandbits.wordpress.com/2020...
Diane
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman, the obsession the characters have for one another reminded me of the Hoffman book
Lindsay
It reminds me, in a lot of ways, of Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend--a psychologically-driven novel tracing an emotionally intense/fraught relationship.
Diane B
Queen Solomon by Tamara Faith Berger
Sophie
Similar feel in a lot of ways but also different to 'Us' by David Nicholls. I enjoyed them both.
Laura
Solitude of prime numbers by Paolo Giordano
Kees
The only Story by Julian Barnes
On Chesil beach by Ian McEwan
On Chesil beach by Ian McEwan
Steph
Sweetbitter has a similar damaged, disaffected young female protagonist.
Sarah
You guys are probably going to think I'm crazy, but this book reminded me of Forrest Gump. Admittedly, I'm thinking of the movie, although I did read the book years ago. I just couldn't get Jenny out of my head when I read about Marianne.
P. Sundby
Bret Easton Ellis' Rules of Attraction
Leslie
The spare writing style of this book reminds me of My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout.
Gab
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine!!!!!
Irena
I think mot suggestions were great, if you like this story and movies, french "Love Me If You Dare" French: Jeux d'enfants, lit. 'Children's games' has similar plot thru time with twists and turns
Jean
Thé Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh was great
Iulia
Tender by Belinda McKeon
Fiona Bering Mosbæk
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco mellors
abril
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano
Mark Cofta
Ummm . . . A lobotomy?
Makz
The Twilight saga comes to mind.
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