Normal People

A Novel

By: Sally Rooney

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

NOW AN EMMY-NOMINATED HULU ORIGINAL SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE • “A stunning novel about the transformative power of relationships” (People) from the author of Conversations with Friends, “a master of the literary page-turner” (J. Courtney Sullivan).

“[A] novel that demands to be read compulsively, in one sitting.”—The Washington Post

ONE OF ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S TEN BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE

TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: People, Slate, The New York Public Library, Harvard Crimson

Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town, but the similarities end there. At school, Connell is popular and well liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation—awkward but electrifying—something life changing begins.

A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Normal People is the story of mutual fascination, friendship, and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find that they can’t.

WINNER: The British Book Award, The Costa Book Award, The An Post Irish Novel of the Year, Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award

BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post, Vogue, Esquire, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire, Vox, The Paris Review, Good Housekeeping, Town & Country

A story about normal lives, but that's it

I listened to this book with great anticipation given the rave reviews by reviewers that I value. The writing is excellent. But the story is exactly what the title says, it's about normal people. Normal people have a lot going on in their lives of course and they learn and grow. Most of us are like the characters in this book - normal people with all the heights and lows that happen in a normal life. But to be honest, I found it boring. There was no climax or great moment - just life happening and the characters growing with it. Well done, but for me boring. I did like the end which was realistic and not cliche but also not worth reading the whole book. Read it since everyone is talking about it, but I'm not recommending it to my book lover friends.

Didn’t really enjoy it

Frustrating the way the characters kept making the wrong choices with their lives and relationship

Love among the wounds--startling and superb

Years ago, I asked a patient why she stayed with a boyfriend who made her so unhappy, and she said, matter-of-fact, "James is here to show me where my wounds are." This book is the story of love presented in such a gorgeous way that painfully rings true, it hurts. When I say gorgeous, I mean that this a precise exploration of sorrow and resilience that is known and felt and nearly impossible to write about, but Ms Rooney did it. Normal people are full of contradictions and complexities that pull them North and South at the same time. In this book, the author offers them to us, with love and rigor--I am suddenly thinking of Un Chien Andalou's first scene where the eye is brutally and literally opened. The book deserves all of the praise it has gotten and then some.

A romance with depression

I found the internal emotions of the characters very beautifully and vividly described. Aoife is a wonderful narrator. The plot is a rather classic on again/off again romance but the depth of the characters’ interiority makes it worthwhile.

Annoying

The lead character female is way too self loathing to enjoy this novel. If she weren’t so pathetic the whole way through I might have enjoyed it. The story was interesting enough.