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  • Normal People: One million copies sold
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
1,12,450 global ratings
5 star
45%
4 star
30%
3 star
17%
2 star
5%
1 star
3%
Normal People: One million copies sold

Normal People: One million copies sold

bySally Rooney
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Top positive review

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Aradhya
4.0 out of 5 starsIt's not for everyone
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 14 April 2023
I love the book, i got it before the booktok made it famous. Kinda mad at the booktok for that.
The books follows two main characters and their relationship with eachother. It's heartwrenchingly beautiful.
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Top critical review

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Ameya
3.0 out of 5 starsWhat White People Are Really Like - #MillenialEdition
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 16 February 2019
So this is what young white people do and this is how they think and this is how they communicate (or fail at communicating) and how their relationships are. This was the takeaway from what is beautifully written angsty-mopey tale of two Howard Roark-ish teenagers (without his clarity of purpose, but with his intelligence) set in Ireland (but it is really a microcosm for any First World White Person country).

I'm not trying to be provocatively snarky here - there is a great deal regarding human emotion that is agnostic of culture and society and we do get that here through some beautiful observations and most profound analyses by an extremely talented writer.
"How strange to feel herself so completely under the control of another person, but also how ordinary. No one can be independent of other people completely, so why not give up the attempt, she thought, go running in the other direction, depend on people for everything, allow them to depend on you, why not."
"This โ€˜what?โ€™ question seems to him to contain so much: not just the forensic attentiveness to his silences that allows her to ask in the first place, but a desire for total communication, a sense that anything unsaid is an unwelcome interruption between them."
"Not for the first time Marianne thinks cruelty does not only hurt the victim, but the perpetrator also, and maybe more deeply and more permanently. You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied; but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget."

But a lot of this book was quite educational (if that's the right word) for me about the 'class' struggles, the sublimated impact of Modern Family lite, the unsaid rules, etiquette and expectations of teenage relationships, the pressures & manner of 'fitting-in', in another part of the world which despite the influence of Hollywood & English-language books over three decades still acted as a bit of an eye opener. Also the long rambling descriptions of making yourself a cup of tea and drinking sessions in colleges and wandering the supermarket aisles are probably what lets you peak into life in another world.

"Marianne goes inside and comes back out again with another bottle of sparkling wine, and one bottle of red. Niall starts unwrapping the wire on the first bottle and Marianne hands Connell a corkscrew. Peggy starts clearing people's plates. Connell unpeels the foil from the top of a bottle as Jamie leans over and says something to Marianne. He sinks the screw into the cork and twists it downwards. Peggy takes his plate away and stacks it with the others"
"The kettle comes to the boil. Lorraine sweeps the line of hairpins into the palm of her hand, closes her fist around them and pockets them. She gets up then, fills the cup of tea, adds milk, and puts the bottle back in the fridge. He watches her."

Unlike a lot of folks who don't seem to have liked the deadpan, present tense-using, no quotation-marks writing style - I quite liked that and thought it wasn't unnecessarily descriptive of the background scenery as many literary novels (of which set this book is a part of with a Booker nomination and everything else) are wont to be. My bigger disconnect was with the inability to connect with the two central characters and understand their IMO pig-headed actions and decisions. Actually even though after all the insight we have, I don't think I understand their emotions of intense longing, complete depression, ability to switch on-and-off in relationships which are based on some magical other-worldly connections. Surely one would expect more rational decision making and clearer communication from intelligent human beings and awareness of a world outside their bubble? This is alluded to once in the book as well:
"But that was their world then. Their feelings were suppressed so carefully in everyday life, forced into smaller and smaller spaces, until seemingly minor events took on insane and frightening significance."
This line above kind of sums up what this whole book is about. Sure stories are always about people but there has to be something plausible, connectable, interesting, less tedious?

So now, trying to summarise more to put my thoughts in order :
- Did I enjoy reading it? I guess, yes - it is very readable
- Would I recommend it? I think I would even if it's just for the writing style
- Would I read another book by the author? Probably not
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From India

Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars A book that tries too hard to be too deep and ends up being too unbearable
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 27 March 2021
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The Times said - I finished the book determined to look at the world differently. I am not sure what higher compliment you can pay a novel. So naturally, I have unbelievably high expectations. And it was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize? Am I missing something?

I flipped page after page, cursing, and grumbling, hoping to feel it. Feel what the rest of the world is feeling about this book. I was hoping that this book was going to be a new age The Catcher in the Rye or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I had no idea how wrong I was going to be proven.

What struck me as I read the first few chapters was how this book was a culmination of age-old cliches stacked on top of each other so meticulously. The girl is rich. The boy is poor. The girl has issues with her father. The boy plays football and also likes reading books. The girl does not wear make-up or care about what anyone thinks. The boy wants to be a writer. It was so uncomfortable to read. Also, the writing style was difficult to get through but that is a personal preference and not a criticism of the book itself.

Every chapter was a mini-story with the same plot with different characters. Marianne and Connell start talking, fight because of reasons that I honestly do not understand, get involved with other people, and part ways. The next chapter brings them together in a different setting with different people. It was so difficult to care for these characters.

It seemed like the author googled a bunch of topics on world's issues and sprinkled them throughout, forced social issues such as depression, suicide, and mental health into the mix almost like a second thought, and tried really hard to push the readers into believing that these characters are intellectuals with important world views. It was all too convenient to be true. And it did not seem like the story went anywhere.

I am picking my brain to come up with one great thing about this book but I am at a loss. Oh wait, the cover design is beautiful. The fact that the only good thing about this book is a judgment on its cover says a lot in my opinion.
6 people found this helpful
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MM
1.0 out of 5 stars A fad
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 19 July 2020
Verified Purchase
This book is unimaginative and badly written. A rich class girl with a vexed relationship with her family hooks up with a hot lower-class stud. The plot never evolves from this one-sentence summary. It's boring with plenty of sex scenes that are not even provocative, deep, or entertaining, to be honest. It's unclear why Marianne's family hates her. It's unclear why Connor is so concerned about his reputation. These are cardboard characters in an ill-conceived novel. Easily the worst book I've read in years.

In stead of reading this bad book, readers might read any book by Anais Nin or Alan Hollinghurst, where the sex is dangerous, erotic, ebullient. Or they might read anything by Anne Enright or Colm Toibin--if they want to read good Irish writers. Or they can read "A Fault in Our Stars" or "Call Me By Your Name" if they want to read about romance that actually has something at stake and will not bore you out of your mind. Far from it, any of these books might expand one's meaning of life. Normal People emphatically doesn't.
5 people found this helpful
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Gray
1.0 out of 5 stars NOP
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 26 March 2022
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Not a great book, trust me but if u like A story of a girl and a boy falling in and out of love, then go ahead read it. As a person with their second read ' A little life ' I did not like this book one bit :)
One person found this helpful
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SP
1.0 out of 5 stars Normal People
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 19 January 2020
Verified Purchase
I found it a tremendous effort to get through this book: it is completely meaningless (and not in that relatable, pleasant way that life can sometimes be, but in the sense of being pointless), with nothing to redeem it in terms either of literary quality; likeable characters; a well-developed story or even a social/political commentary. The prose is especially tiresome: interchangeable tenses within the same setting; unnecessary descriptions of actions such as making tea and wearing a shirt; and an absence of inverted commas while narrating conversation, which I personally find particularly annoying as a language tool. A wholly avoidable read.
12 people found this helpful
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praful narang
1.0 out of 5 stars Whats the hype all about???
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 4 May 2022
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A preety ordinary story of 2 characters getting into difficult and uncompatible relationships. Eventually they end up with each other and then away from each other. The ending is weired as well. Overall a booring read.
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Harsh Bhalodiya
1.0 out of 5 stars Page quality
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 21 December 2021
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Paper quality of the book is not worth the money. I mean you can get other books with much better quality at this price!
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Dr. Viveka Pandey
1.0 out of 5 stars Loved it
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 30 September 2021
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It is the best book ever I cried itโ€™s so good I would give 0 stars but there is no option for it itโ€™s so good I love it 1 stars
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user
1.0 out of 5 stars It should be named Abnormal people
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 15 September 2021
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Wrong title of the book. It should have been Abnormal people. Such a boring, dull book. Utter waste of time and energy.
2 people found this helpful
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Elizabeth Thottan
1.0 out of 5 stars Soooo boring
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 19 June 2020
Verified Purchase
What is the big deal about this book. Come on people. Havbt you read anything better. After the fiftieth page the story is a repeat of the first fifty pages. Oh, agonizingly boring.... Please when you review, please make some sense.
2 people found this helpful
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Sukhi S.
1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time
Reviewed in India ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ on 13 June 2020
Verified Purchase
Didn't like it at all. Some lines are good. But it's boring when the books speaks only for two people. Why so much of hype?
One person found this helpful
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