Normal People- a Modern Classic?

When I picked up a copy of ‘Normal People’ from my local Waterstones, I was immediately intrigued by the front. I know they say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ but this was different. The striking coral cover adorned with an image of a semi-opened sardine tin containing two people in an embrace gave me a good idea of the idiosyncratic way in which Sally Rooney would draw out her novel and why it has resonated with so many.

The book is set in 21st century Ireland and focuses on the lives of two young adults, Connell (who’s working class, smart and popular at school) and Marianne (middle class, similarly intelligent but a social outsider at school). Over the course of the novel, the two friends come in and out of each other’s lives as they both change and evolve, the tables turning as they go to university in Dublin. The book has been hailed by Waterstones as ‘Book of the Year’, long listed for the Man Booker Prize and it has sold over a million copies. Is this praise justified, or is the Rooney work simply overrated?

One of my favourite parts of the novel is the dynamic of the relationship Rooney creates between Marianne and Connell. Despite the constant social, economic and personal differences between the pair they have a special bond which keeps them in each other’s lives. Their friendship is so strong that it breaks down all socio-economic and class barriers and keeps them together despite being split up numerous times. Also, the way in which they affect each others’ lives, decisions and personalities in spite of their problems is heartwarming and incredibly wholesome to read. In fact, their bond makes you think just how vain and ineffectual our social systems and hierarchies are and that human love and care can always bypass these artificial restrictions.

This leads on to my next point about the theme of social class in Normal People. In short, Marianne comes from a middle-class background but has a poor relationship with her family, and Connell is more working class but has a good relationship with his mother. Connell gets to know Marianne because his mother cleans Marianne’s house, so their differing classes actually bring them together initially. However, when they go to university, their class difference appears again as Connell struggles with his background and identity (he studies English Literature at Trinity College Dublin) because most students come from private schools and find it easy to talk about texts, despite in many cases not actually reading them. Connell finds lots of students just make up comments about the literature they haven’t read in seminars whereas he has to do lots more work and reading to catch up. Also, Marianne recommends that Connell reads ‘The Communist Manifesto’ despite not having read this herself- her class allows her to get away with this because of her assumed background and knowledge. Furthermore, both main characters apply for scholarships at the University and both are successful, despite Connell really needing the funding and Marianne simply applying for the prestige of the grant. Overall, the way in which the characters’ respective social classes affect them and the storyline is an incredibly interesting part of the story, which Sally Rooney draws out in detail.

Furthermore, Rooney uses social status as a tool to affect the lives of both Marianne and Connell. It is a dynamic that constantly changes as the characters age. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked whilst Marianne is a complete outsider. However at university, statuses shift and Connell becomes isolated, whilst Marianne finds her feet. The way the pair work through these hierarchies is inspiring, though does make them feel self-conscious at times. For example, despite seeing Marianne often outside of school, Connell doesn’t even look at her when he’s with his friends. The limited effect social status has on them again shows the strength of their relationship.

Another key aspect of Normal People is the literary references Rooney uses. In the novel, several books and poems are mentioned as having been read by either Marianne or Connell including The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing), Emma (Jane Austen), Ulysses (James Joyce) and poems by Frank O’Hara. These books each have symbolic importance in the work and there are many links between the mentioned texts and the storyline of Normal People. To explore this further, Jack Edwards (a YouTuber) read all of the books they mention and talks about the symbolism in detail. I highly recommend watching if you’re interested (video linked below).

Sally Rooney was also inspired by Marxism when writing Normal People. The class references I talked about previously have basis in Marxist doctrine and although by no means a political text, Rooney entwines Marxist socio-economic ideas and philosophies into the lives of the characters she creates. Quoted from an interview, linked below, Rooney said ‘What’s really important is to try and observe how class, as a very broad social structure, impacts our personal and intimate lives.’

Despite these excellent parts of the novel, in my opinion there are some shortcomings with Sally Rooney’s work. First is the writing style- Rooney doesn’t use speech marks which at times can get confusing and slightly limited my enjoyment of the book. Also, there is a lot of sex mentioned in the book which seems unnecessary and irrelevant to the story and what its trying to achieve. These two minor flaws is why Normal People drops a star rating for me.

Normal People is still an amazing work though and is deserved of the appraisal it has received. I have read no other novel that shows the power of love and the effects people can have on each other quite like this one has. The themes Sally Rooney expertly intertwines- class, social status, hierarchy, forces of separation- work perfectly with the relationship between Marianne and Connell. The inextricable symbols and motifs of Normal People only add to the quality of Rooney’s masterpiece. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already done so. 4*