DOBS!
Added 2024-05-31 22:45:14 +0000 UTCJust a lil Drink / Outfit / Books / Supporting update π
Comments
Ahh this is really interesting! It absolutely reads as very Irish to me but obviously a lot of the nuances of that are gonna be beyond my grasp. This is really cool insight.
Mel Thomas
2024-06-01 02:11:43 +0000 UTCI understand what you mean about the conversations being stressful. This really mirrored for me the unique stresses of communicating in Ireland. People are taught to never have "notions" of granduer, never think too highly of themselves and never cause a scene or fuss. It's very taboo to just express your desires and it can feel dangerous to do so. There's a lot of unspoken social rules and people are very judgemental as a whole. Lots of small town gossiping while people are superficially nice. Marianne and Connell are both unable to say what they really think because of gender/class/Irish social norms. It makes the conversations feel very high stakes and uncomfortable. It's been a while since I've read the book so there's probably a lot more that could be said but those are my two cents off the top of my head.
Muireann McGlynn
2024-06-01 01:42:59 +0000 UTCI grew up in the same part of Ireland Marianne is from, had a very similar secondary school experience and studied in the same university. All of her books feel deeply personal to me for different reasons. I can imagine the exact cafe different conversations are happening in, because I had those exact same conversations with fellow pretentious communist friends at the same table. Seeing the popularity Normal People has gathered kind of feels like people reading your diary. I really like how she captures the way Irish boys interact with girls they find attractive who are unpopular. I'm sure she's writing what she knows there. I've seen a few people who didn't go to places like Trinity say that no one talks that way in real life, but Rooney manages to capture people I know way better than 99% of novels. I do think the exploration of mental health can feel a bit heavy handed in the book. I especially have noticed how all of her female protagonists are very thin and she mentions it constantly. She's writing what she knows but a bit of variety in that area would be welcome. Would love to hear more of your thoughts on it. Rooney is very supportive of Palestine which is great (she refused to have her novels published in Israel).
Muireann McGlynn
2024-06-01 01:38:46 +0000 UTC
