Sally Rooney’s Normal People BBC

[HDDD]

This book has been on my to read list for a while. I took a lazy punt and decided to watch the 12 part BBC adaptation instead. Now I’m overjoyed I never read it. It fascinated me and irked me in equal measure. I don’t want to give spoilers but the thing that grated the most was the ‘pretty’ thing. I don’t know how much was made of this in the book but Marianne said of herself that she wasn’t pretty at school and blossomed in college. Others also said it of her. She didn’t change the structure of her face! I think I have an irrational dislike of the word pretty anyway, but I’d be interested in other views on this – the pretty thing, and whether this book is indeed a modern feminist classic or mainly hogwash.

If Sally Rooney is a "lifelong Marxist", could someone tell me where either Marx himself or Marxist theory said that men's sex fantasies were more real (or more important, or more anything) than biological fact?

As she supports transgenderist theory, to the detriment of a genuinely oppressed class ie women, I dispute her claim to be a Marxist.

I haven't heard her on that issue but I did see an interview where she definitely defined herself as a marxist.

I spouted some utter shite in my 20s (and no doubt some people say I still do) but, fortunately for me, none of it went on record.

I think the literary world are taking her far too seriously but, like I've said, I think she's good at conveying youthful insecurity, and I can see why young people like her. I'm kind of curious to see what she does next.

You have to be brilliant to get it.

Having a brilliant intellect doesn't necessarily make one a brilliant writer of fiction.

That's true.

Shalom23
Dido I reckon you should read The Intellectual Life of The Working Classes by Jonathan Rose to answer your question. It is a highly regarded work and will answer

I'm asking you. You are apparently an expert on what a realistic potrayal of a working class character would be. I'm surprised it's apparently too difficult for you to answer.

Why on earth did you read it if it so offended you?

What a daft question- one can't know in advance if a book is over- hyped tripe.

I read this and can’t remember much. I think it’s light mulch possibly, but I can’t recall why.

Dido you have been called out for being rude on many previous threads so I'm not going to engage with you.

For the people talking about the author’s scholarships/debating wins...that’s cool but it doesn’t make her a good writer. I read English at Oxbridge and was surrounded by wannabe writers - all had stellar exam results and extra curriculars coming out of their ears but very few were any good at writing (myself very much included!). Nothing about her personal background makes the book any good.

As she supports transgenderist theory, to the detriment of a genuinely oppressed class ie women, I dispute her claim to be a Marxist

I'm sure there are plenty wokey blokey beared types (including the unlovely Ash Sarkar, although her beard is not literally there) who claim to be Marxists and fully support transgenderist theory.

Being a good writer is a very rare quality. Being clever isn’t enough really. Fair play to people who are popular writers though, which can be a different thing altogether.

Yes I agree. I made the point of her academic ability as others called her an idiot. Of course it's no indication of fiction writing.

I'm also interested to see where she goes next. And how she develops as a writer. I actually find her essays better. Theres some in The Dublin Review which can be read online.

Dido you have been called out for being rude on many previous threads so I'm not going to engage with you

That's a neat way of avoiding the question- what did you mean by "working class"

I wasn't asking for a theoretical definition- I was asking what you meant. Hardly a difficult question.

@Shalom23 I think I remember reading a short story of hers...something about someone coming home for Christmas I think? And I really enjoyed it. Maybe the novel isn’t her form.

Normal People was originally a short story too.

Almost every search on Rooney brings up the "as a life- long Marxist" quote. I wonder what actual practical steps she takes to show her devotion to such a discredited theory.

I agree, there's wrong with popular fiction. What's annoying is the attempt to dress up lazy tropes borrowed from poorly-written chick-lit as something deep 'n' meaningful.

Exactly @Pelleas. My objection to it is really the way it’s been spun and hyped.

I often find the same thing happens when men write what is essentially chick lit. Because it’s written by a man it gets much more attention and credence than if the same thing was written by a woman (David Nicholls and some of Colm Tobin’s work spring to mind).

Colm Tobin as chick lit made me laugh. Didn't he make a contentious comment on Twitter re literary fiction as superior to popular fiction?

Female-written chick lit tends to have an idealised version of the author as its protagonist, whereas male-written chick lit is all about the author's ideal woman.

@Shalom23 some of his work is excellent; some is really lightweight. Brooklyn for example.

O God yes. Brooklyn so slow, most of it descriptions of vomiting. The Master an absolute gem of a book. Writers after all, are like all workers, sometimes brilliant, sometimes coasting it.

I do think Sally Rooney is here to stay. Really interested to see her next book.

Saying you're a lifelong anything sounds pretty funny when you're under 30.

Perhaps she emerged from the womb clutching a copy of Das Kapital.

Yes @Shalom23 I agree - I think the Master is excellent.