Normal People

By: Sally Rooney

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

** Listen to the modern classic behind the Bafta-winning series. **

'The literary phenomenon of the decade.' Guardian
'A Tube stop-missing, escalator-reading tale.' Evening Standard

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In 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.

Normal People is a 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 they can't.

'Tender and devastating.' Guardian
'A book to cancel plans for.' Grazia
'A classic coming-of-age love story. Vogue



Sally Rooney's book 'Normal People' was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 2018-12-24

©2023 Sally Rooney (P)2023 Faber & Faber

Beautiful and Real

This is the third time I’m reading this book but the first time in audio and I really like how the characters came alive for me. This story touches me deeply. Love, beauty, grief, loss and realness would be the words I ascribe it.

Why….

Why is Marianne like that? Why is Connell like that? Just why? Why did it end like that. Just why

It felt real.

The time period aligns very well with that of my own life, and I found out that the author is just one year my junior, so no wonder it all felt so real. I don’t have much to say other than I don’t have any criticisms. It was enjoyable start to end. I was rooting for them. Maybe the one thing I might have changed was a slightly longer ‘courtship’ or easing into their romance at the start. But even that I’m not too sure on. I need to go back and watch the TV show now.

Entertaining story so far, not that bad, not that good

I worthless with the ending, but I now that I recall the were this way since the beginning. It's an entertaining story, not that good, not thad bad. They're griefs about loneliness and weirdness are like the ones normal and young people deal with, but honestly I never like the main characters dinamic.

Genius or Shallow? My First Encounter with Rooney

This was my first Rooney book, and I came to it as someone who genuinely enjoys coming-of-age stories. Normal People follows two somewhat troubled people navigating their way into adulthood, and Rooney has a knack for revealing things about her characters in measured doses that keep you reading.
That said, I found it shallow at times. I never quite identified with either Connell or Marianne, which kept me at arm’s length from the story. The central tension around Marianne — a character who craves love yet is drawn to masochistic relationships — is either a stroke of genius or deeply superficial, and I honestly haven’t decided which. There’s something almost absurd about the way Rooney plays it, and I’m not sure the novel earns the ambiguity.
A quick, engaging read, but one that left me wanting more depth.