normal person

Why do we crave relationships, yet get hurt repeatedly?

"A future classic." ── The Guardian
I don't know what the future holds, but this is how we began.

A global bestseller with over a million copies sold, a 'phenomenon-level' novel!
The acclaimed TV adaptation scored an 8.8 on IMDb
Born in 1991, author Sally Rooney created a whole new kind of love story.
    
Connell and Marianne grew up in the same small town in western Ireland, but that's where their similarities end. At school, Connell is popular and well-liked; Marianne is a loner. Yet when they start talking, an awkward but exhilarating conversation, a change that will alter their lives forever begins.

This book is a novel about two people's mutual attraction, friendship, and love, unfolding over several years from their very first conversation. We accompany these young people, watching them try to leave each other but always failing.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Marianne said, "I don't know why I can't be like normal people."
"I don't know why I can't make anyone love me..."

What is normal? Normality?
Longing to be loved, wanting to escape loneliness; fearing being different, yet repeatedly losing oneself...
What are the limits of "normal people" in maintaining intimate relationships?

Facing this turbulent world and realistic society, young people worldwide are filled with ethereal imagination and a sense of powerlessness. They are articulate in criticizing others but always indecisive about themselves. They fear isolation and being outdone, desperately trying to keep up with others; they yearn to be understood, yet dread their true selves; they long to be loved, yet fear exposing themselves. Author Sally Rooney, born in 1991, is acclaimed by the literary world for capturing the fragility, anxiety, and class consciousness of the millennial generation, who are always cautious, but the world makes them feel powerless. They wish to depend on each other in intimate relationships, but a certain power dynamic between them, like a dangerous force, makes it almost impossible for them to hold onto each other. This contradiction between self-protection and avoidance resonates strongly with countless young readers – they fear facing the future and themselves.

"I'm pretty sure all my experiences are extremely ordinary life experiences, if not, they're not worth writing about at all." ── Sally Rooney

A young man and woman who grow closer through everyday conversations, an emotional relationship that moves from the surface of life into the depths of the soul. At first glance, Normal People seems to be just about daily life, yet amidst the various relationships defined by contemporary vocabulary, it portrays a more passionate, intimate "deep" relationship, allowing readers to clearly feel the characters growing and becoming more complex over time. If every generation needs a popular love story, it can be said that since Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood, no other youth romance novel has sparked such a fervent global literary response. Similarly portraying young people new to the world, similarly harboring unspoken psychological confusion and chaos, numerous critics worldwide have compared the two books. The Man Booker Prize website also listed Murakami's classic as one of four extended reading recommendations for Normal People on its shortlisted page.