Normal People – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

Are you Longing for some Longing?

Normal People by Sally Rooney

September 1, 2020 by Wanderlustful 1 Comment

This was one of Faintingviolet’s top reads of 2019, and I also desperately wanted to watch the Hulu show, especially after Dustin’s review. They were both right- this book was great. If you haven’t seen the Hulu trailer, this is a teenage/college age lovestory, set first in Sligo, northwest Ireland, and later in Dublin. The two main characters are flawed but compelling- Marianne is smart, witty, not particularly pretty and uninterested in what other people think about her. She also has the fortune/misfortune of being […]

He stares out the windshield and pretends not to see.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

September 6, 2019 by vel veeter 1 Comment

In this novel, we begin with Connell and Marianne, two teenagers from Sligo on the western coast of Ireland, beginning to know each other in high school. In school, Connell is among the more popular group of kids, who don’t know that in his private life he’s a consummate reader and in spite of his reticence, a smart and thoughtful boy. Marianne on the other, while also being thoughtful and smart and a similar reader, is not popular and in fact is considered uncool and […]

“Life is the thing you bring with you inside your own head.”

Normal People by Sally Rooney

June 24, 2019 by tillie 2 Comments

This book damn near killed me. And I’m still not quite sure what to say about it. On the surface the plot is simple; two people from different walks of life come together, don’t always communicate great and life ensues. The book is told in alternating chapters from Connell and Marianne’s perspective, jumping in time with each chapter. They meet as teenagers and start having sex and (maybe) falling in love. Connell feels like he is truly himself when Marianne is around. Marianne falls under […]

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.”

Normal Peopl by Sally Rooney

June 7, 2019 by scootsa1000 2 Comments

After the longest wait I can remember on the library hold list, I finally brought Normal People home last weekend. Intrigued by the amazing review from my trusted cannonball family, but still unsure of what to expect from Sally Rooney’s award-winning novel, I dove in headfirst and barely came up for air until I was finished. We have a friend’s 12 year old son staying with us this week while his parents prep for a move across the country this summer, and he saw the […]

“Life offers up these moments of joy despite everything,”

Normal People by Sally Rooney

May 12, 2019 by faintingviolet 1 Comment

It has been a long time since I absolutely demolished a novel in less than 24 hours. I had waited months for my turn to come up on the library hold list for Normal People so a soon as I officially finished Good Omens I ignored the other books sitting on my kitchen table and settled in to see what jeverett15 and dAvid experienced that led them both to rating it so highly. I very quickly understood and am myself rating it five stars, rounding […]

A long sigh

Normal People by Sally Rooney

May 12, 2019 by Manimama 2 Comments

Normal People is a quiet, thoughtful meditation on the ways we influence each other- for both better and worse. Connell and Marianne attend school together as teenagers but pretend not to notice each other during school hours. After school, they gradually develop a relationship that affects the next four years of their lives (and likely much longer). Whether together or apart, as friend or foe or lover, the existence of the one marks the actions of the other. This is less a love story and […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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