NORMAL PEOPLE
The story of Connell and Marianne is a portrayal of many 21st century friendships turned complex love stories. Connell and Marianne go to the same school, they are ‘friends’, but in secrecy only. Connell is the popular kid & also the star of the school’s soccer team. Marianne is the lonely kid that knows all too well that she needs to keep a safe distance from her classmates, for her own sake.
Marianna lives in a white mansion with her mother and Connell’s mother is the mansions cleaner. One random kitchen table conversation between the two teenagers results in love, infatuation and thee most incredible friendship; though they focus on hiding their intimate bond while still in school. Their infatuation ended when Connell fears the possibility of his friends finding out about them and Marianne is crushed by this, though she conceals it well.
The teenagers both find themselves studying at Trinity College in Dublin, with a slight reversal of roles from their school days. Connell is now the shy one struggling to make or maintain friendships while Marianne is the star of the show and is glistening in her social circle. Marianne and Connell both lead different lives at college than they did in school, but no matter what (or who matter what) they always find their way back to one another; leaning on each other through their ups and downs.
I found this book to be so magnetic in its force because it discusses societal expectations. Connell and Marianne know of their mutual love for each other but their fear of others opinions gets in the way of their happily ever after. The book is a beautiful reflection of the sad reality that something as simple as social status can maneuver its way through love and put a strain on it. If this book has taught me anything, that is to love who I want to love & not give a damn what society thinks.
“She closes her eyes. He probably won’t come back, she thinks. Or he will, differently. What they have now they can never have back again. But for her the pain of loneliness will be nothing to the pain that she used to feel, of being unworthy. He brought her goodness like a gift and now it belongs to her. Meanwhile his life opens out before him in all directions at once. They’ve done a lot of good for each other. Really, she thinks, really. People can really change one another. You should go, she says. I’ll always be here. You know that.”
CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS
Conversations with Friends tells the story of two young women; Frances and Bobbi. Frances is a 21-year old college student and an aspiring writer. Her bestfriend Bobbi and also ex-girlfriend Bobbi, has a rather different perspective on life than Frances. The story is based in Dublin, where the two perform spoken word poetry together, and a chance encounter that leads to them meeting Melissa, a journalist.
A lot can be said about this book. The friendship between Frances and Bobbi is toxic but either one of the ladies realizes this and this clarified that we should not turn a blind eye on any relationship that we know is toxic for the soul, despite the level of attachment or dependency.
Sometimes certain relationships in our lives can be so utterly consuming in the most negative sense and rarely do we let go of that relationship until we reach a breaking point. Why wait that long though? Either party will not benefit from this, thus self-evaluation of our surroundings is crucial for our own sanity and happiness.
“Gradually the waiting began to feel less like waiting and more like this was simply what life was: the distracting tasks undertaken while the thing you are waiting for continues not to happen.”
“You live through certain things before you understand them. You can’t always take the analytical position.”
“Everyone’s always going through something, aren’t they? That’s life, basically. It’s just more and more things to go through.”
“At times I thought this was the worst misery I had experienced in my life, but it was also a very shallow misery, which at any time could have been relieved completely by a word from him and transformed into idiotic happiness.”
- REEM INK
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