Normal People: One million copies sold

einzigartiger Roman

„He has sincerely wanted to die, but he has never sincerely wanted Marianne to forget about him. That’s the only part of himself he wants to protect, the part that exists inside her.“ „Normal People“ von Sally Rooney ist ein Roman, der mich sehr mitgenommen hat. Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist speziell, man gewöhnt sich aber recht schnell daran. An sich passiert in dem Buch nicht viel, im Fokus liegt eher die zwischenmenschliche Dynamik der zwei Protagonisten Connell und Marianne, und wie sie sich im Laufe der Jahre zwischen Highschool und College verändert. Was mir besonders im Gedächtnis geblieben ist, wie authentisch und real die psychischen Erkrankungen mit ihren Symptomen beschrieben wurden. Ich habe da sehr mitfühlen können. Alles in einem ein Buch, was mich frustriert und unzufrieden zurückgelassen hat, aber mich trotzdem überzeugen konnte. Das ist kein 0815 Liebesroman, sondern die Lebensrealität von vielen jungen Menschen. Super authentisch und emotional!

"Normal People" by Sally Rooney is a remarkable literary work that deeply explores the complex facets of interpersonal relationships. Rooney's narrative style is simple, yet at the same time incredibly empathetic and penetrating, allowing the reader to empathise with the characters' minds. The book is particularly notable for the authenticity of its characters. Connell and Marianne are finely drawn characters whose insecurities, fears and hopes evoke a universal resonance in the reader. Their relationship develops in a subtle and realistic way, which makes the reader sympathise and pity them. Rooney takes a shrewd look at themes of social status, personal growth and the search for identity. She manages to capture the complexity of human emotions in simple terms, making the book a compelling reading experience. The narrative explores not only romantic relationships, but also friendship, family and self-discovery in a way that is deeply moving. "Normal People" is a haunting portrait of love, loss and the travails of growing up. Sally Rooney is a master at portraying the interpersonal in all its brokenness, while at the same time conveying hope and comfort. An absolute must for anyone interested in literary works that explore the human heart and its abysses. Deutsch: "Normal People" von Sally Rooney ist ein bemerkenswertes literarisches Werk, das sich tiefgründig mit den komplexen Facetten zwischenmenschlicher Beziehungen auseinandersetzt. Rooneys Erzählstil ist schlicht, doch gleichzeitig unglaublich einfühlsam und durchdringend, was es dem Leser ermöglicht, sich in die Gedankenwelt der Charaktere einzufühlen. Das Buch zeichnet sich besonders durch die Authentizität seiner Charaktere aus. Connell und Marianne sind fein gezeichnete Figuren, die mit ihren Unsicherheiten, Ängsten und Hoffnungen eine universelle Resonanz beim Leser hervorrufen. Ihre Beziehung entwickelt sich auf eine subtile und realistische Art und Weise, was dazu führt, dass man als Leser mit ihnen mitfiebert und mitleidet. Rooney wirft einen klugen Blick auf Themen wie sozialer Status, persönliches Wachstum und die Suche nach Identität. Sie schafft es, die Komplexität menschlicher Emotionen in einfachen Worten einzufangen, was das Buch zu einem fesselnden Leseerlebnis macht. Die Erzählung erforscht nicht nur romantische Beziehungen, sondern auch Freundschaft, Familie und Selbstfindung auf eine Art und Weise, die tief berührt. "Normal People" ist ein eindringliches Porträt über Liebe, Verlust und die Mühen des Erwachsenwerdens. Sally Rooney gelingt es meisterhaft, das Zwischenmenschliche in seiner ganzen Zerrissenheit darzustellen und dabei gleichzeitig Hoffnung und Trost zu vermitteln. Ein absolutes Muss für jeden, der sich für literarische Werke interessiert, die das menschliche Herz und seine Abgründe erkunden.

Ganz anders.

Das Buch war ganz anders als alles was ich gelesen habe. Es war keine Geschichte im Vordergrund sondern mehr die Beziehung zweier Menschen, welche einander nicht loslassen können. Zuerst musste ich mich mit dem Schreibstyl von Sally Rooney noch etwas anfreunden. Jedoch konnte ich das Buche nicht mehr aus der Hand legen! Es war spannend zu sehen wie die Dynamik von Marianne und Connell sich über die Zeit hin ändert. Das Ende war mich nicht wirklich befridigend. Jedoch ist es eine Beziehung wie sie auch im normalen Leben stattfinden kann. Von daher passte das Ende zum Buch.

Ich möchte meine lebenszeit die ich hier verschwendet habe zurück.

Ich mochte das Buch sehr gerne und werde es sicherlich wieder lesen. Es gibt mir den Eindruck von Normalität - und passt somit perfekt zum Titel. ‚Normal People’ war mein erstes Buch von Sally Rooney und ich möchte unbedingt ihre anderen Bücher auch lesen. Ich konnte mich bereits nach den ersten Seiten in die Geschichte fallen lassen und mich in die Entwicklung der beiden Hauptcharakter hineinversetzen - das finde ich persönlich, gerade bei nicht so langen Büchern, sehr wichtig.

Wunderbare Geschichte

Marianne und Connell haben mich immer wieder berührt und innerlich zerstört. Es war keine klassische Romanze und deshalb umso perfekter. Neben deren gemeinsame Geschichte wurde auf viele Themen, wie Depressionen, Suizid und Gewalt eingegangen, wodurch ich nicht nur einmal den Tränen nahe war

I don‘t know how to feel

This book slowly made me sick. It poisoned me from inside out and healed me at the same time. It‘s asking me all kinds of uncomfortable questions while gently stroking my back. It makes me want to spill out my truths and lies and reinvent myself while never changing at all.

Auch wenn ich die Geschichte sehr gerne mag und die Hauptcharaktere mir sehr ans Herz gewachsen sind, kam ich durch den Drehbuchartigen Schreibstil nur schleppend rein und das Buch hat sich deutlich dicker angefühlt als es war.

In love with it.

Ich liebe dieses Buch sooooooo sehr!!! ✨

The writing style is something different and when you get in there, it reads really well! I found the story very beautifully made and realistic. I could put myself well in the place. An up and down of feelings, but I love the book!

Was ist normal?

Das Buch umfasst wirklich gut den Wandel den man in seinen 20 durchmacht. Was ist normal warum passt man nicht in bestimmte Orte rein und wie macht man sich von anderen abhängig. Ei wirklich unglaublich gut geschriebenes Buch!!!!

Might help if you find yourself being stuck in a neverending situationship growing up, won't help with a reading slump though

Epically underwhelmed.

I honestly don’t know what to think about this book. It wasn’t bad at all but it wasn’t good either. The writing style is actually quite nice and catching, but the plot… I think the relationship between Marianne and Connell is extremely toxic and I don’t like books about toxic relationships. The book is thin, but it took me several weeks to read it because it didn’t grab me. Therefore, I won’t rate this book.

Just boring

The drama between the protagonists drags on like chewing gum. The ending was also unimaginable for me and came far too abruptly, which is why the book couldn't convince me.

I always feel bad when I leave bad reviews for books when I knew after the first page that I wouldn’t like then but here we are. I found this book on a decorative shelf while on vacation and decided to read it on a whim, it wasn’t even on my TBR. I didn’t click with the characters or the story at all. Marianne and (what was his name again?) Connell felt hollow and not very realistic and I didn’t like either of them. The protagonists were flat and the side characters were even worse. None of them left any impression, I can barely remember their names and I finished the book literally four hours ago. I also hated the way the book dealt with the more serious topics like abuse and Marianne’s “self-destructive tendencies”. Literally the only good thing was that Connell went to therapy and got help (why can’t you be more like your boyfriend, Marianne?). Neither of the two really seemed to grow as people though and the ending scene struck me as weirdly… awkward? Unnecessarily jealous? I don’t know, I didn’t like it. The writing style also didn’t really work for me. It felt choppy and clinical and was probably one of the major reasons why the book dragged on for me. Another thing is that the author didn’t use any quotation marks. I am 99.9% sure it was a deliberate choice that’s supposed to achieve some kind of effect on the reader but the only effect it had on me was that I found most of the dialogues confusing and had to reread them because I lost track of what was the narrator and what was actual words being said. I’m positive there are many people who absolutely love this book and you do you! It just wasn’t my taste at all, sorry.

Ich kenne die Connells und Mariannes da draußen; die beliebten aber zutiefst schüchternen deren eigentliche Gedanken- und Gefühlswelt sich im Inneren abspielen und die seltsam kaputten, die oft so brillant sind, weil sie sich in Bücher und Wissen flüchten; die, die in keine Schablone passen und scheinbar voller Widersprüche sind. Es gab sie in meiner Schulzeit, ich habe sie gesehen. Die Art, wie Rooney die Liebesgeschichte zweier solcher Menschen erzählt, hat mich sehr berührt. Dieser gedankliche wie physische Mikrokosmos, der nur zwischen diesen beiden so existiert, ist unglaublich gut beschrieben. Sie macht jede Gefühlsregung sichtbar. Dafür liebe ich dieses Buch. Die Frage, die bleibt: Was sind schon 'normale' Menschen?

Zwischenmenschliches Miteinander - Freundschaft, Liebe und alles dazwischen 😌

Ausführliche Rezi folgt

ich liebe dieses buch. es ist so prägend wow! nicht die typische love story wie man sie kennt . vor allem für menschen mit anxiety und menschen die viel bestätigung brauchen ist es toll, man fühlt sich so verstanden!!! hat ein platz in meinem herz

Liebesgeschichte mit Raffinement im modernen Irland 🇮🇪🫶💕

Dieser Roman aus Irland ist ein weiterer Erfolg von Sally Rooney. Auf Deutsch ist er unter dem Titel „Normale Menschen“ erschienen im Hardcover beim Luchterhand Literaturverlag und im Taschenbuch bei btb und wurde bereits als Serie verfilmt. Bekannt wurde die Autorin mit ihrem Debüt „Gespräche mit Freunden“. Es ist kein Geheimtipp, aber ich hatte viel Vergnügen und manch kluge Erkenntnis, als ich dieses Buch las. Es ist ein Roman, der von einer nicht gelingenden Beziehung erzählt und zwar aus einer interessanten Konstellation heraus: Es beginnt im Alltag des Gymnasiums und Marianne kommt aus einem bürgerlichen Haushalt, Connell hingegen hat eine Mutter, die Putzfrau ist und bei Mariannes Mutter putzt. Und nun entwickelt sich im zarten Alter von sechzehn so eine Art „Sexbeziehung“ zwischen den beiden. Aber interessanterweise und als Raffinement von Sally Rooney, dreht sie das um. Die Klassenherkunft spielt in Wahrheit in der Rangordnung der Schule wiederum gar keine Rolle, sondern da ist es genau umgekehrt. Da gilt Marianne als Außenseiterin, während Connell derjenige ist, der das Sagen hat und der nicht dabei erwischt werden will, dass er was mit Marianne am Laufen hat. Mehr möchte ich nicht verraten. Die Geschichte wird psychologisch sehr spannend entfaltet und man liest sie auf eine süffige Art.

loved it with all my soul

Ziemlich overhyped

strangely, i also totally get why you wouldn't like this book very much. it's like all this dumb stuff people do because of love/attraction/jealousy/insecurity that we've seen in romantic movies, read about in coming of age novels, watched our friends at with a sigh... over and over again, in one single story. and yet, this book!! is just SO EXACTLY what i love!! the way it's structured appeals to me in every aspect. third person present tense? yes! small moments that change the characters' lives? following them over several years? yesyesyes! these characters felt 100% real to me; they were flawed and sometimes unlikeable while kind of relatable at the same time (connell especially), and i wouldn't be surprised at all if i met them somewhere. i also just flew through this book and couldn't put it down, it was unpredictable and felt like a rush. the ending, i'm not too sure about, maybe i wanted a little more ( of connell's writing career !!!! ) but it also fits the story so well and was very well done (like all parts of this book really). only thing that bothers me a tiny little bit...why write a great queer first book and then follow up with such a straight one?? anyways, i have now decided that i want to read everything by sally rooney. she's great.

Buch ist anders als alles was ich irgendwie bisher gelesen habe. Nicht unbedingt mein Genre sonst. Aber es hat was. Es gibt irgendwie so warme Gefühle und Geborgenheit. Ist ne Story über zwei Menschen die immer wieder über Jahre zusammen finden und zusammen erwachsen werden. Es zeigt irgendwie das alles nicht so wichtig ist, aber trotzdem sein muss weil es uns zu der Person macht die wir sind. Alles kommt so wie es kommen muss und es geht darum sich nicht immer so viel Gedanken über alles zu machen. Fand’s toll.

Für Menschen anfangs zwanzig nur zu empfehlen

Es ist lange her das ich so ein realistisches Buch gelesen habe. Die Charaktere handeln wie normale junge Menschen, die gerade versuchen sich selbst und ihren Platz in der Welt zu finden. Gut finde ich auch, dass das was passiert nie ins extreme abdriftet um die Message zu übermitteln. Ich verstehe das man sich womöglich ein anderes Ende gewünscht hätte, finde aber das im Verhältnis welche Wendungen das Buch genommen hat, besser geendet hat, als ich erwartet habe. Es hat sich definitiv schnell als eines der besten Bücher die ich je gelesen haben entwickelt und würde es jeden jungen Menschen empfehlen :)

In ‚Normal People‘ geht es um Marianne und Connell. Beide sind zusammen zur Schule gegangen und als Leser begleiten wir sie auf ihren Wegen von der Schulzeit bis ins College. Sie schleichen immer wieder umeinander herum, da sich ihre Wege sehr regelmäßig kreuzen. Beide haben, auch unabhängig von einander, sehr ‚reale Probleme‘, was sie sehr nahbar, nachvollziehbar und die Geschichte sehr realistisch macht. Es ist definitiv keiner der klassischen Liebesromane und als Leser erlebt man viel von den persönlichen Entwicklungsschritten der einzelnen Parteien, auch unabhängig voneinander. Leider hat mich das Buch nicht so richtig gepackt und ich hatte mir ehrlicherweise etwas mehr davon erwartet, da die Bücher von Sally Rooney aktuell überall empfohlen werden. Aber vielleicht bin ich da mit einer unrealistischen Erwartungshaltung rangegangen.

I really hate to say this, but – this is my first DNF for 2021. I feel like I’ve just a read completely different book than the one almost EVERYONE is raving about on the internet. Did I do something wrong, did I read it the wrong way? This book is absolutely nothing like I hoped it would be. I wouldn’t say that this is a bad book in particular, it just wasn’t for me. This is why I decided to leave the rating open. Let’s talk about the things that made me decide to DNF this book. The first point might be a bit high level moaning, but I really did not enjoy the format of this book. The lack of quotation marks made it really hard for me to follow the story, simply because I wasn’t used to it. The story was just…flat out boring for me. I blame this on my preference for exciting and fast-moving stories. For my taste, this story was just too slow. My biggest issue with this book were the characters. I just couldn’t get myself to care about them. I couldn’t identify with their actions and their feelings, sometimes I just sat there wondering: “WHY are you behaving like that? What is the point behind that?”. I know that human beings don’t always act rationally, and I like it when book characters are not perfect and have flaws. But I need to understand the reasons behind irrational behavior in order to enjoy the book. With Marianne and Connell, I just couldn’t get behind the motives of their actions and feelings. Maybe it was because they simply didn’t have reasons at all, or the authors just didn’t explain it properly. Maybe I would enjoy reading this in German more than in English. I believe that in order to enjoy this book, you really have to get the subliminal message, and maybe this wasn’t possible for me in a foreign language. I will probably pick this up again, but this time in German. But for now, a lot of time has to pass to wake my interest in this book one more time.

While I had hoped to adore this book, unfortunately, I couldn't connect with its purpose. It has moments of brilliance, but they are overshadowed by the not-so-good parts. Getting through the book was a struggle, and I found little enjoyment in it. The narrative revolves around toxic relationships and adults who, for some inexplicable reason, cannot express their feelings, leading to repeated harm. By the end, I felt tired and annoyed, unable to relate to the story at all.

Originally I wanted to give this a 3/5 rating (because I actually really really enjoyed the first half) but nah, I changed my mind. Basically this story is about two teenagers - and then young adults - and their toxic AF(!!!!) relationship throughout the end of their high school years and then college years. I got this book because someone on booktok said it was a "right person, wrong time" kinda story-line, which got me very interested but to be honest is total bs. This is a story about two people who are very wrong for each other ALL. THE. TIME. Since the very darn beginning. Although the story is somewhat pretty realistic, the chapters just repeat themselves over and over again. Marianne and Connell being friends, it leading to something casual then serious, then they randomly break up for no actual reason, they both start seeing someone else, either cheat on those people with the other person or just break it off and then the whole circle begins again. To some extent it personally even made me angry as this is such a prime example of people being hung up on the worst people and messing up actual good relationships, for example Helen and Connell. Helen may have kind of slut-shamed Marianne for flirting with so many guys, which honestly, she can do whatever she wants, sleep with as many people etc. But, and if I'm being very very honest here, if I was at a party with my boyfriend and his on-off-loveofhislife-ex/bff was there, I'd judge her a little bit too. And Helen was very civil about their whole friendship (between Connell and Marianne) until the end, which I understand 100% why she was just fed up with the bullsh*t. All those years should've been so eye-opening to them both as to why it just couldn't work. But real people actually have relationships like that, so I guess I'll give the author that. But Connell has realized many times while being with Helen, that he can be a good person, he wants to be a good person, he loves Helen and the way he feels for her. He isn't embarrassed to show his love for her nor is he uncomfortable with her love for him. Yet he still cheated on her with Marianne (who he always felt shitty with). ??????? LIKE. Make it make sense. What made Mariannes family a little ridiculous was: Alan. His aggressions were just so random??? I don't know how to explain it properly. I couldn't take his character serious. To me, the whole book could've ended after the first, like, 133 pages. And the book isn't even that thick. Mostly because the end of the book could've easily been the end of some chapter and everything just going on normally as it would like the rest of the book when they ended up breaking up YET AGAIN. So I can imagine how the book would've continued, it would've been endless. As Jamie said, they're a mental case and should both go to therapy (which Connell later did but not sure if it really did anything...). I really would've wished for them to either finally be grown ups, have a healthy relationship or both of them finding happiness with someone else, actually working on their problems. But no. What I also think was kinda funny is that apparently, Marianne doesn't give a damn about what other people think of her yet multiple times shows she does, almost as if she needs their opinions especially on her. She's turned into this cool, quirky, above-every-one-else typa girl, a "cool girl" as Amy Dunne would say. And that made her very unsympathetic. And Connell just so deeply in love with that shallow personality, well, being shallow himself. Like, why is Marianne constantly described as SO UGLY. When she clearly never was. I just don't get it. It feels like the author tried to portray Marianne as a different edgy cool girl when in the end she needed a reality check. I think, if you've made it this far, you can tell this book made me quite angry. Maybe because the last couple of books have been shitty too. I do love Helen and Lorraine and Joanne. Those were great characters.

Ein sehr interessantes Buch über zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen und Freundschaften. Man kann sich in beide Hauptcharaktere gut reinversetzen, obwohl man oft ihre Entscheidungen nicht komplett nachvollziehen kann. Das Buch endet sehr offen und lässt viel Raum für Fantasie wie es weiter geht; vielleicht sogar zu viel Raum.

Die Erwartungen treffend, aber zugleich sehr Gedanken anregend.

Ich bin mit wenig Kenntnissen in das Buch eingestiegen, wollte es aber unbedingt lesen aufgrund der vielen Rezensionen, die ich bereits auf Booktok gesehen hatte. Letztendlich war es irgendwie ein sehr zum Nachdenken anregendes Buch, welches zwar sensible Themen behandelt, diese aber nicht in unangenehmer Weise behandelt. Für mich selber ein Buch, welches man durchaus lesen sollte und auch die Charaktäre hatten viele Eigenschaften, bei denen ich sofort wusste das es vielversprechend war. Dennoch nicht mein Interessenbereich, von der Idee oder Umsetzung kann es aber bestimmt den ein oder anderen mehr mitnehmen. :) Sterne: 3-3,5✨

I really enjoyed this book! although these huge jumps in the timeline made it difficult to follow the relationship at times Definitely looking forward to the series now

War nicht meins

Ich bin mit Vorfreude an das Buch weil ich so viel gutes darüber gehört hatte. Leider war es nichts für mich. Ich mochte den Schreibstil nicht und war nach knapp 160 Seiten immernoch nicht überzeugt und leicht gelangweilt. Die Story von Connell und Marianne hat mich irgendwann einfach nicht mehr interessiert und ich hab’s nur noch hinter mich gebracht um das Buch zu beenden. Leider nur 2,5 Sterne von mir.

habe nach dem ganzen Hype mehr erwartet

Eine so nahegehende Geschichte!

Ich hab das Buch geliebt. Ich habe es angefangen nachdem ich die Serie sah und muss sagen, das Buch war noch viel besser. Die Darstellung von Connell und Marianne als Personen gefiel mir unfassbar sehr, dabei konnte ich mich sehr in Connell sehen. Es war ein emotionales Erlebnis und ich muss sagen, ich würde das Buch immer und immer wieder weiterempfehlen!

Ich liebe Sally Rooneys Schreibstil und habe das Buch verschlungen, ich konnte nicht aufhören. Das Ende fand ich allerdings etwas schwächer, sodass es für mich 'nur' 4 Sterne sind.

Das Buch lässt mich etwas ratlos zurück.

Leider bin ich von dem Buch eher enttäuscht, weil es so gehyped wird/wurde und es mich nicht so sehr abgeholt hat. Grundsätzlich finde ich die Anziehungskraft von Marianne und Connell, die mehrere Jahre und Lebensabschnitte überwindet, interessant und intensiv. Die dabei aber beinahe unglaubwürdig schlechte Kommunikation zwischen den beiden hat mich irgendwann genervt.

Große Liebe 💖❤️‍🩹💔❤️‍🩹

Die Geschichte hat mich sofort gefesselt. Toller Schreibstil, und Connell und Marianne habe ich total in mein Herz geschlossen. Ich habe so mitgelitten und habe einfach die Verbindung der beiden geliebt. Fand es so spannend, dass es so stark um mentale Gesundheit ging und die Abgründe, die in Menschen lauern können. Das Ende hat gepasst, hätte mir aber was anderes gewünscht.

„She had to laugh then, and he laughed because she did.“ These two are perfect for each other and the story deserves a happier ending than it did.

(Spoilers!) „Marianne, he said, I’m not a religious person but I do sometimes believe God made you for me.“ I’m really unsure how to give this book a proper rating because I’m actually pretty torn about it. First of all, some of the scenes are in extreme detail, for example when Connell picks at the label of a bottle, which I found really relatable in a subtle way. Second of all, over the last couple of books that I read, I became a person who highlights pretty passages in books, when I feel I need to. I needed to, I definitely read many statements and descriptions (even though Sally uses to many similes for my taste), that were beautifully written. Over all the story was a little slow, which in retrospect seems surprising when you think about the timeline, which is about four years. To the writing: It doesn’t have quotation marks, which I find immensely irritating. BUT, here it made sense. The text ist from both Marianne’s and Connell’s perspective. It reads like a stream of consciousness of two people melted into one, where you can’t exactly know where one person begins and the other ends. Connell and Marianne seem to not be able to live without each other and their lives stay intertwined forever. Even if it might sometimes seem like they shouldn’t. What I didn’t like was the miscommunication trope. I know that there wouldn’t be a story without this trope but it was infuriating and frustrating, I can’t even begin to describe how badly I wanted to punch something or someone. Connell is always afraid of what might happen, even though he knows that it wouldn’t really be a problem to just tell the truth (he tries sometimes, gotta give him that). Although she herself thinks so, Marianne is not a bad person, and even less when it comes to Connell. But she assumes. She assumes the worst as soon as Connell does something that throws her off even a little. Then she gets passive agressive and cold and shuts him out. That’s when he thinks that she doesn’t love or want him which is what she leads him to believe with her behavior to protect her heart (which is obviously his since the beginning). It becomes crystal clear however, why she does this, in the scenes with her abusive brother Alan. At first I really liked both protagonists, but in the progressing story I started to actually dislike them, Marianne mostly. The second half of the book became more captivating, like in that moment it’s really starting, when up until that point it still felt like an introduction. „I didn’t need to play any games with you, she says. It was real.“ Marianne has some really weird kinks (that aren’t really kinks but just really deeply rooted, concerning issues) but oh well. The way she needs Connell and wants to submit to him seems really toxic and unhealthy. You can even see that Connell himself is worried about this especially because of her family background. You’d think, Marianne is afraid of herself, she’s a people pleaser, maybe, but in reality she’s not hindering but prolonging an unnecessary conflict between herself and the love of her life. Marianne does not believe that she is a good person and Connell is depressed and suicidal. Great match, huh. „Sorry for calling you, it’s the only number I knew off the top of my head.“ This is why I was rooting for them anyways. She’s his person. He’s her person. They belong together. They could’ve been happy all along, all the mistakes aside. When she needs help she calls him and he her. They protect each other. They love each other. Most importantly, they can be themselves with each other. Or they could. I hate the ending. It ends in a fight. Well, not a fight, because again, they don’t communicate well. (There’s, I believe, around two examples of real communication.) It has a hopeful tone, yes („I’ll always be here“), but she also states that it won’t ever be like „this“ again, whatever this is. With their track record I don’t see them ever having a happy ending, rather a life exactly like what happens in this excerpt of their story, that sure as hell stays their story, two souls intertwined. Two pages before the actual ending, I’ve decided, is now my ending, because they’re happy.

pure comfort

After I finished the book I just thought for a long time, what did I read there? Like the book was not bad and you see a normal relationship between normal people. You also read about very important topics like physical and emotional abuse, depression and so on. But I just thought all the time that the protagonists could have prevented all the misunderstandings they had, when they would have communicated. I mean they communicated about some of their problems, but not on a very deep level in my opinion. And I also know that this book is about communication and that some people don't really can communicate on a deep level, but it was simply not well implemented, in my opinion. It is not just this thing that set me off, the protagonists weren't also really for me. I found them really annoying and a lot to handle. And the end was so messy that I couldn't even finish with the story, because of that open ending. It is all fair to say that I understand why people like this book so much and think that it is a future classic. It was just not for me😊

well that was definitely something

Made me feel emotions i didnt know i had to feel

A must read. For young people. For people in relationships. For people going through heartbreaks. For people who think they have it all figured out. For people that dont know which way to go. So emotional. Rooney is an incredible author.

A book full of sadness, love and unexpected banter.

I don’t know how else to put this, but this book captured something true. The essence of something, of what exactly I’ll probably never be able to tell. Normal People by Sally Rooney depicts the lives of Connell and Marianne, two Irish teenagers, later young adults. They share a lot of memories, a lot of pain and a big portion of regret about things (left un)said and while this it is not a fairytale, in the end it’s still a story about love. The greatest strength of Normal People is the careful characterisation of its main characters. Where other authors get lazy or simply stop characterising after establishing their protagonist's main personality traits, Rooney never ceases to stops exploring the interior of Connell and Marianne. The most amazing thing to me is how she manages to so without making use of most known clichés. Connell was never just shy. He was shy but also confident in his power over Marianne. He hated himself, but was still able to see that he was better than some of Marianne’s boyfriends. He was a good person overall, but an arsehole at times. The same goes for Marianne, who was described as “different” from the first time she was introduced, but never in the ridiculous “not like other girls” way that has modern female characters in such a chokehold. The events and the “plot” are very realistic. There is no particular climax, no big secret that needs solving. Normal People is simply about two Irish teenagers growing up, growing apart, but never quite losing each other. I understand why some might find it boring, even though I think the superstructure of the book (rather than telling the whole story, there are significant chunks of time missing inbetween, each chapter providing a snapshot of the two main characters' lives at that particular point in time) managed to keep it rather engaging to read. The book is full of big and little truths, including the beauty but also the pain of life and human connection and the burden of existing. Even though Marianne and Connell both clearly aren’t the most healthy personas, and I say that as a psychologist, many of their perspectives and opinions on life deeply resonated with me as a reader. And, while it was definitely painful to dive this deeply into the pain of being alive in a world you feel like a stranger in, it was also beautiful because nothing moves the human soul like genuine pain. Sometimes, the story could’ve profited from some drive. Sometimes, I felt myself wishing for a point. I know that that might’ve been the point exactly, a lack of meaning, but some parts of this feel like Rooney losing herself in (her own) despite for the world, which makes some passages feel self-pitying thus borderline conceited; however, that might’ve just been me. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about pain without an obvious trigger, who likes to dig a bit deeper and who doesn’t need a reason to be interested in a story. I enjoyed it all the way through, except for the ending, maybe, and I’m sure anyone willing to suffer a little bit will too.