Normal People

HUGE crush here. If you're wondering what kind of book I like, you have your answer: it's Normal People. I finished the book yesterday, and 5 minutes later I was binge watching the series on CBC Gem. I want to bathe in Normal People. That's how far it goes.

Summary

The book follows the complicated love affair between Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron. Connell is a popular young man, a player on the school soccer team, while Marianne is lonely, studious, and rather haughty. They started talking to each other since Connell's mother cleans for Marianne's mother, and soon they started having sex every night, but Connell doesn't want his friends to find out. Even though he really loves Marianne, like any stupid young boy, his fear of rejection makes him reject her. Nevertheless, they will remain friends/lovers, alternately, for years.

Impressions

I love romances, but as we all know, they are rarely realistic. The characters are always perfect, or rather just imperfect enough to be endearing, the circumstances of their meeting are often implausible, and their love is just impossible, too idyllic to be true.

In Normal Peopleat last, we see a credible love story. Even if there is a difference in social class (Marianne's mother is very rich, Connell's is a cleaning lady), we are not in the 19th century anymore, and this is not a real obstacle. It is simply an excuse for Connell not to show himself too vulnerable and to act like an asshole, as his mother, whom we love very much, points out to him.

I felt from the first pages that this is not a usual novel. Everything is too honest, too realistic. The dialogue is excellent, not because it's particularly brilliant, but because it feels so real. Marianne and Connell talk to each other like two awkward teenagers talk to each other, but you can still feel the connection quietly forming between them. It's beautiful.

It's also a little unsettling. I don't know about you, but teenage romance always confronts me a bit. Even though it was probably the thing I was looking for the most in high school, I was so young and awkward and emotional that nothing good could come of it. So every time I hear about a great teen story, I wonder where these people came from, and where they learned to be in a relationship. In this book, we see it all: the awkwardness of first times or so, the desire to look good, the desire not to be too emotional, the hurt and raw emotions. Marianne and Connell are definitely in love, but it's far from wonderful.

I warn you, there is a lot of sex in this book, and even more in the series. I read somewhere that there was a total of 46 minutes of sex in the season, which equates to about an episode and a half, out of a dozen. That's a lot of sex. But sex rarely bothers me, and this one is just beautiful. Personally, I would have taken more.

So I loved the book, and especially the effect it had on me: it put me in a state of intense relaxation, almost meditative. Maybe because it was so similar to real life. It made me think a lot, and moved me very often.

I repeat: a huge favorite for me. I recommend it very, very strongly.