Synopsis:
The story follows Marianne and Connell from their last year of secondary school in a small town in Ireland, to their college years at Trinity College Dublin. The pair shares a love for books, politics, and an interest in world issues, but that’s where their similarities end. Marianne comes from a wealthy, dysfunctional family while Connell comes from a loving single parent home. The story unfolds as we see them deal with real issues faced by young adults; abusive relationships, mental health issues, a prominent social scene and the experiences that come with it.
My Review:
The synopsis on the back on the book, did not prepare me for what I was about to read. I picked up this book, completely blind to the talent that is Sally Rooney, thinking it would be a story about two high school kids. A light read, I said.
I was very wrong.
At the core of this book, there are two things that drive the story. Marianne’s low self-esteem and Connell’s mental health.
Marianne’s low self-esteem seems to be a product of the verbal and physical abuse she suffers at the hands of her brother. Her mother does nothing to stop her son’s behavior and even goes as far as to side with him. Despite this, Marianne is aware that she’s very intelligent. She carries herself differently, resulting in her alienation from her peers. Marianne is an interesting character in that she is both extremely self-assured yet also doubtful of her ability to be loved.
What I admired most is the way in which Connell’s mental health decline is written. Usually, when a book deals with mental health, the author over dramatizes it. It was an unexpected turn of events since we see that Marianne is the one with the more obvious issues in the beginning. When Rooney started to slowly unravel Connell’s character, I kept going back to the first pages. Connell’s shyness was no longer just shyness. I no longer saw the need to keep his relationship with Marianne a secret as him trying to keep his social standing with his friends, but as a way to survive and keep his innermost feelings from unraveling… although I don’t excuse his actions. The decline happens over a series of many years. You see from the very beginning how much he cares about what other people think of him. Then in college, his and Marianne’s rolls are switched. Suddenly, he’s lonely. He’s the outcast. It’s realistic and subtle.
I won’t spoil the ending, but I can’t remember the last time I felt like this after finishing a book. At first, I simply closed the book, completely underwhelmed. Then, I felt anger. It felt like Sally Rooney had written this book to spite me. To remind me that stories were not only written to calm my mind and soothe my soul. I talked about it for hours that night and the next day at work, I’d mention it to anyone who would listen. That weekend, I went to a bar and stuffed the book in my purse, determined to make my friend read the ending. She had watched the show and I wanted to compare points. A week went by, and I was still thinking about it. Slowly, I realized how amazing it was that I was still on the subject. How Rooney was able to create a story that left such a lasting impact. I went back and reread the pages I had left dog-eared. I started to see the talent in writing characters like Marianne and Connell. Characters so deeply flawed yet so full of life. I immediately went out and bought Conversations with Friends, another Rooney novel.
So, would I recommend it? Yes. Yes, I would.
One final note… I was discussing this book with a friend, and he said something that I thought perfectly summarizes what Sally Rooney wanted her audience to understand, “we’re all a product of our surroundings”.
Leave a Reply