Normal People by Sally Rooney

The Washington Post review said it begged to be read in one sitting.  The WSJ said it was "arguably the buzziest novel of the season".  Publicists say its coming to Hulu in spring 2020.  What do I say?  Eh.  It was not bad, just wasn't that good.  A pretty run of the mill coming of age love story when all the dust settled. Connell and Marianne, who run in very different social circles, find each other in high school and then again in college.  Their on-again-off-again relationship is similar to half a dozen that I myself witnessed over the course of high school and college.  I can't argue that it was unrealistic, or that Rooney did not have a handle on her subject matter, but it I found it mundane and the lack of quotation marks when the characters were speaking...an irritation I could not shake.

Quotable Quotes:

On the experience some have of leaving high school, going away for the first time, and trying to figure oneself out:
If anything, his personality seemed like something external to himself, managed by the opinions of others, rather than anything he individually did or produced.  Now he has a sense of invisibility, nothingness, with no reputation to recommend him to anyone.

In the time of covid-19, a relateable phrase if ever there was one:
Life offers up these moments of joy despite everything.

On how cruelty impacts the perpetrator and the victim:
You learn nothing very profound about yourself simply by being bullied; but by bullying someone else you learn something you can never forget.

Yeah, I'll probably check it out on Hulu because coronavirus so why not...but not on my "must see" list.

Rating:  Good Enough #5