I know it‘s “TikTok” book and it’s honestly my fault for even giving it a go.
There’s so many things on the book that annoyed me, I could write a whole list but I’ll the main thing was her writing style.
First of all, no speech marks, what even is that? don’t play with me.
Second of all I wish in a lot of scene she would show and not tell, her style is so bland, this constant narration of event wants to make me sleep, details, details, details are so important. There were so many important events where I found myself waiting for her to expand, except she doesn’t and just states something and moves on.
For example when Connel mentions Marianne bing interested in Politics it feels like such lazy way of showing ‘Depth‘ of a character. Rather than just mentioning it she could’ve actually written the scene where they discussed it.There a lot instances where she mentions a charchters interest in order build a character, it’s been some time since i read the book so I can’t remember a lot. I really wish I wrote this right after I read the book, I had so many points.
As much as Connel and Marianne loved each other, they had no real chemistry, no build up and I think a large part of this is due to the narration and lack of details. It’s one thing for them to get into a relationship so early on in the book, however without any details on why you like someone or how you feel around them is stupid. Which is why most readers weren’t invested in their relationship, you need to really feel like you know someone to be invested in their life, cause I for one did not care what happened to their relationship.
I wouldn’t say all of it sucked, the story line was actually pretty interesting and somewhat unique, not some unbelievable love story where characters are compatible in every possible manner, this one really talked about how normal relationships worked. There were some points where her writing and ideas were really interesting only she would talk halfway about it and let go, I get that it‘s because of Connell’s personality, but even when your a ”plain” person on the outside it shouldn’t mean that you’re internally like that as well. I don’t believe anyone is that one-dimensional, even the most dull person has, compelling thoughts, as humans we are bound to be complex. Somehow tho I found out that for the first time in life I liked the show over the book.
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by Silver-ringg
13 Comments
“No speech marks” always strikes me as such a weird complaint. McCarthy didn’t have those either, tons of modern literary fiction (especially short stories) doesn’t have it, Joyce used the objectively worse option of — instead. Surely we can deal with it by now?
Second, “show don’t tell” is not, as per popular understanding, about not narrating things, lol. It means not explaining everything that doesn’t need explaining, and Rooney does leave a ton of stuff for readers to puzzle over. Most notably, she has a lot of interactions that could be read multiple ways, she writes pivotal moments that are like “she nodded” and you’re supposed to figure out what it meant.
Ultimately, I think you can dock points from Rooney’s books for a lot of things, but bad writing isn’t one of them. She’s a very good writer.
Normal People was insanely popular and award winning before TikTok.
I enjoyed the book, but I had it recommended by a friend, so I didn’t go in with big expectations or hype. I liked the tone of the novel. It captured the melancholy of choosing one path and leaving many other paths unchosen.
One of the few times I think the tv series is better than the book.
Normal people is not a “TikTok book”…
For future reference, if you pick up a book and hate the way the author writes, maybe stop reading. You’re entitled to your opinion, but going online and complaining about how little you enjoyed reading a three hundred page novel that you disliked from the beginning says a lot more about you than it does about the book.
I also did not like it but I know it’s loved by many. But it wasn’t for me. I read a similar book years ago. Some books I find the writing style easy enough that even though I don’t like the story, I end up finishing the book anyway. Whereas with some if writing style is really not for me at all, I can’t get myself to finish it.
I understand why people like this book and Sally Rooney’s writing style. That said, it’s not for me. I prefer more imagery, more “poetic” prose myself. I found the book dull, although I think the story itself was good, just not in my preferred writing style.
I am planning on giving another of her books a try but I don’t expect to love it.
I love and respect you as a human being, but I’ve never seen a post that has made me so angry hahah
I actually watched the show first and was so obsessed that I read the book afterwards. The two leads had such insane chemistry that I became committed to the show and binged it. I ended up loving the book afterwards. I was able to visualize the actors who played Connell and Marianne and it worked really well for me. Sally Rooney definitely has a style that either clicks with you or doesn’t. I went on to reading her other novel CWF and loved that as well. But I do agree with others saying it’s definitely not a tik tok book. There’s a lot of depth to the story and characters, but done so in Rooney’s style of writing which is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Normal people is not a tiktok book. I had to sadly read it for class years before tiktok was a thing. The book still sucked, though.
I hate when people say “TikTok” book. It just means popular. I see the same recommendations on IG and Reddit.
I love Sally Rooney, but she’s not for everyone.
I do find the lack of quotation marks annoying as a reader, but it usually just takes me a few pages to get into it.
As far as your accusation of her “telling” too much – do you normally enjoy literary fiction? I ask because what I love about Sally Rooney is how we get so much about a character’s inner dialogue and feelings and honestly I don’t really care much about plots. It seems your issue might be more with the genre than the book itself.