Book Club for Introverts discussion

Out of all the books we have read, Normal People has been the hardest to format into discussion threads due to the chapter names and timeline. Just do your best to keep the discussions of the chapters in the right threads. Happy reading!

I find the interaction between Marianne and Connell to be very real. I was very awkward in high school. I never felt like I fit in, I was smart and tall and white and shy and introverted and just not like anyone else. Conversations with boys were very strange and weird. I never felt comfortable. Lorraine seems to be a great mom and she and Connell appear to have a great relationship. Marianne and her family seem to be at odds. I love the soccer match scene. There is something about sports that bring people together! I love that Lorraine was angry with Connell for treating Marianne like he did, though I understand. So much of high school and beyond is worrying about what others think and trying to fit in and being scared that your choices are dumb or will be made fun of.

I listened to this book last Sunday and I think I spent the entire first hour - hour and a half in tears, which I think corresponds to this chapter. I was rather glad I was listening to it rather than trying to read it, even if it meant I couldn't do anything else all day as I was too invested in finding out what happened next to be distracted by anything!

I think this chapter rather uncomfortably reminded me of my own awkward school years where I wasn't quite 'normal' and I didn't get the boy and the 'popular' group in my class enjoyed teasing me for my gallumphing ineptitude.

Marianne seems to be an island in stormy seas, with school causing problems on one side and her family obviously not helping or supporting her on the other. I wonder if Lorraine sees herself a little in Marianne - as a young woman in a small town who had a baby when she was still at school, no matter how well known/popular her family was among the locals, I'm sure she would also have been shunned by many of her peers, especially since she wasn't letting on who the father was.

Marianne and Connell are awkward enough that it’s uncomfortable to read about them, at times. I do understand high school and the feeling of not fitting in. But, their relationship is real, awkward or not, and that’s nice. They need each other. I’m concerned that Marianne will get hurt. She acts like nothing matters, but I don’t believe it.