Normal People by Sally Rooney- A Review

Normal People caused quite a stir when it was released. The book was widely lauded, it was immediately made into a TV show, and it made it to several top 10 lists. The reason for this crazy popularity was purportedly the book’s insightful portrayal of relationships, the complex, nuanced characters and the realistic depiction of what Gen Z romance looks like.

Apologies that I’m not Gen Z.

I can’t quite say that I hated the book, but I didn’t love it either. While it is an astute study of the human psyche and relationships, it also makes you wonder if this is really is the new “normal” and whether we should just resign ourselves to it. I say this because much of the critical acclaim surrounding the book is based only on this aspect of the book while ignoring everything else that should go into making a novel a good read.

Normal People is an entirely character driven novel, with very little by the way of plot or story- which is quite ok, except that the characters are frustratingly puerile and remain so through the course of the novel. We first meet Marianne and Connell when they are in school and they embark on a passionate albeit clandestine relationship. Their differences are stark- Connell’s mom is a housemaid who works for Marianne’s family; Connell is a popular athlete; Marianne is an awkward outcast. They’re both however deeply flawed and complex, both yearning to leave their pasts behind and escape the confines of the small town they grew up in. Connell wants better, wants to be seen as more than an impoverished straggler; Marianne just wants to fit in somewhere. He unceremoniously dumps Marianne at the end of high school, and they go their separate ways only to reunite in college. The tables have turned in college, Marianne is popular and Connell is invisible and struggles with poor self-esteem. They rekindle their relationship- and this marks the beginning of a pattern that continues for the rest of the novel- they keep making up and breaking up for seemingly no fathomable reason other than their own internal anxieties and a mutual lack of ability to communicate clearly.

Connell is shy, indecisive and conflicted, unable to take control over or responsibility for his life. When he dates another girl, one he genuinely likes and connects with, he ends up ruining it anyway because he can’t get over Marianne, and can’t admit his feelings for her.  Marianne meanwhile enters into unhealthy relationships where her inherent learned helplessness takes over, continuing a pattern of her enduring emotional and physical abuse right from her childhood. They remain stuck in these routines, unable to break out or change their lives or define their relationship in any meaningful way, even as they acknowledge their true feelings for each other at various points. Rooney’s characters stubbornly refuse to grow, they’re happy to remain inert in their dysfunctionality. Minor misunderstandings are blown out of proportion; feelings are kept suppressed and communication remains strained as they stumble their way through college. And this is my problem with book- that while Rooney does an excellent job of crafting two complex, damaged characters and their turbulent relationship, she actually doesn’t allow them to grow or mature. Connell visits a psychiatrist and seeks help for his depression, but ultimately is unable navigate his codependent relationship with Marianne. Marianne remains in her own limbo of perverse self-loathing and abusive relationships without ever seeking to overcome her insecurities or resolve her traumas. Their on-again off-again relationship starts to feel repetitive and jaded, and their psychological conflicts droning on make you want to stop midway and simply send them to seek help. The ending too doesn’t actually seem like closure, and while I’m not against open endings, this just felt incomplete.

The book does have a lot going for it too- the intimate rendering of the characters’ psychological states makes them relatable. You get drawn into their world and get a zoomed in view of the chaos in their minds- and a pretty accurate portrayal of what it means to be Gen Z. Rooney’s writing style is spare and practical, stripped of dialogue and parentheses. She conveys intense emotions and complex psychological machinations with very little drama, sometimes almost being reductionist. The minimalism is an advantage, otherwise the book would become too fraught and strained given the gravity of the subjects it deals with.

Being a psychiatrist, this book left me with mixed feelings. I liked it for the non-judgmental, portrayal of flawed characters, but was disappointed with how superficially Rooney deals with them. Fundamentally, the writing- though decent- lacks any substantial literary merit. The book’s USP is that is deconstructs the Gen Z psyche for us (older generations) and I would recommend it for this reason alone.