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jessica's Reviews > Normal People
Normal People
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wow. one of the most frustrating, but humanising, books i have read in a long time. for sure. i feel so exhausted after reading this, but i think that may have been the authors intent. its shows that normal people living normal lives can be quite tiresome. for example:
- the writing lacks quotation marks, which makes the dialogue difficult to decipher. which could be seen as support for the idea that life is just as messy as the books formatting and communication sometimes takes effort to understand.
- there are massive jumps in the timeline with a lot of backtracking, so much so that the drastic shifts are jarring. which could be seen as exemplifying the notion that people change over time and friendships are bound to alter.
things like this will polarise readers. either its too much and unenjoyable, or its a work of genius and adds depth to the storytelling. i think it really depends on the readers interpretation and mood. and like the indecisive creature that i am, im quite torn down the middle.
� 3.5 stars
- the writing lacks quotation marks, which makes the dialogue difficult to decipher. which could be seen as support for the idea that life is just as messy as the books formatting and communication sometimes takes effort to understand.
- there are massive jumps in the timeline with a lot of backtracking, so much so that the drastic shifts are jarring. which could be seen as exemplifying the notion that people change over time and friendships are bound to alter.
things like this will polarise readers. either its too much and unenjoyable, or its a work of genius and adds depth to the storytelling. i think it really depends on the readers interpretation and mood. and like the indecisive creature that i am, im quite torn down the middle.
� 3.5 stars
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Reading Progress
April 26, 2019
– Shelved
April 26, 2019
– Shelved as:
to-read
Started Reading
April 29, 2019
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 55 (55 new)
message 1:
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megs_bookrack
(new)
May 01, 2019 08:44AM
Ew. This definitely sounds like it would not work for me. Great review, Jessica. Thank you for your honesty!
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yeah, this is definitely one of those books where you either love it or hate it.
This sounds kinda like One Day but without the exquisite writing of David Nicholls. Still want to read a little to see on what side will I end.
I picked this one in my April BOTM box. I hope I like it because I don't like to waste my money!
i have my fingers crossed for you!! i think if you can get past the disjointed formatting and writing style, you will really enjoy it! happy reading!
I gave it three stars! Great review and I agree with what you have said 😊
really glad to know someone else felt similarly!
@Ajms98: It's nothing like One Day! I, for one, love it, both of Rooney's novels, actually. They're so raw and different from everything that's being published right now. I'm looking forward to her next releases!
anna - i agree that there is nothing quite like this book out in the publishing world right now. i also picked up 'conversations with friends,' so im hoping rooney will grow on me! really happy to hear you loved this!ivy - oh! im not much of an audiobook person, but i cant totally see how that would negate the formatting issues. i might look into it and see if it changes my opinion. really glad you enjoyed it!
This certainly sounds like an interesting book! I hadn't heard of it until now, but I might have to give it a try! I do see how the lack of quotations and jumps in timeline can be confusing though!
I'm surprised by how much I loved this book. Usually these kind of characters and writing style can frustrate me too, but it really was so humanising and a novel I read at the best time in my life which is why I enjoyed it as much as I did.
kelly - yes! so excited! i know it has been getting a lot of praise, so im glad you are gonna give it a go. i hope you love it! :)meg - aww. isnt that the best!? reading the right book at the right time is such an wonderful experience and im glad you had that with this book! <3
Perfect perfect description of the book.
I also hated the no quotation marks. I had to go back and re read many a passage to figure out what was said aloud and what was in their heads and who was saying it.
I completely agree with the comments regarding the lack of quotation marks.
This makes me happy that I listened to it...
OMG, how did i not notice the lack of quotation marks. I had to reread several times passages to make sure that i understood what was said out loud and what was only in the characters head. I did not make the connection with the punctuation.
Loved your review, and basically felt exactly the same 😅
Took the words right out of my head on this review.
You are so right: I just finished it and it really made me feel exhausted
So tiresome, I gave up.
I'm unsure how you can comment on the lack of quotation marks when your own review lacks punctuation!
oh, i dont know. probably because my reviews arent being published and are just for my own personal use/thoughts.
Wow my feelings have pretty much been summed up in your review! You have a great insight
I felt emotionally exhausted after watching it all on TV. It felt overwhelmingly intense and compelling at times.
I've started reading it. Now I'm like...am I going to drag myself through a whole book without quotation marks. Ugh. Maybe not in my current frame of mind.
It’s good to know I wasn’t the only one that had to re-read dialogue. I liked it at times but then was annoyed at other times. Maybe I was too old to like it?
Laura wrote: "It’s good to know I wasn’t the only one that had to re-read dialogue. I liked it at times but then was annoyed at other times. Maybe I was too old to like it?"I did Joyce Carol Oates' Short Story Masterclass a few months ago before reading this book. It is an old technique which she discusses in depth - dialogue without quotation marks. It is very powerful when done right. I couldn't help thinking that Rooney went a bit too far with it, but hey, towards the end I didn't notice, lol.
This review seems spot on to me. I feel exactly the same way about this book!
I'm only about 1/2 through the book but came here to review a few of the comments to see if I was totally missing the mark. Turns out I'm not and other people had just as hard a time with this book as I'm having but...YES!...the quotation marks (or lack thereof) really bother me!
I couldn’t put into words how I was feeling about this book but I loved your review of it, totally what I was thinking! 😊
jessica I’m with you on feeling torn. My eyes got watery at the last pages (probably bc the TV adaptation was so compelling). However, the book itself wasn’t exactly a fun read. It was accurately tiresome, as early relationships can be. I’m definitely torn between feeling moved and feeling like the book is somewhat forgettable.
Completely agree with your review and felt exactly the same, I finished the book a few days ago and until the end I was still having a hard time with the missing quotation marks and was thinking that it was quite a disappointing reading experience. Also shouldn’t I spend more time thinking of the story than the lack of quotation marks? 😂
I feel that maybe it was the authors intention. The show was very dull and realistic. To me that’s what life is like so perhaps the author tried her best to replicate that mundane feeling onto paper.
I agree with your review 100%
a perfect dissection of my thoughts on this book!
I'm only halfway through but feel exactly the same. Hated the lack of quotation marks at the beginning and the jumping across time frames, but now I am loving the book and can't put it down. Until I started reading, I didn't know the hype around it and am glad I started reading with no expectations as I now don't want it to end. Agree with it being a "Marmite" book though. I hate marmite but I love this.
But like... I don't think the point was that the protagonists were normal people? Both of them identify as outsiders, Marianna seems to be a bit on the spectrum - both are outstanding academics... Their relationship isn't normal... Does the fact that neither of them seem to have dreams/passions/ambitions make them normal? Or just underdeveloped?
I think they were looking out at the 'normal people', when they were just 'boring people with severe communication issues'
Your review is everything I have to say about this book
I’ve tried to out my thoughts into words about it and you took them and made them 100000% better!! Exactly what I was thinking too.
ok i’m gonna forget my review because this is exactly how i feel about this book and what i would say
completely agree with u in this
I agree with you.. I was definitely torn in the middle. The book was exhausting and leads me to believe there are different type of book hangovers. I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad it's over- yet simultaneously cant stop thinking about it and why I'm so frusterated about it.
