When I heard that Sally Rooney’s incredible novel Normal People was going to be made into a TV series I was ready to grab my pitchfork. I had war paint smeared across my cheeks and was set to go riot with other fans of the book. 

Unfortunately, my plan to be livid about how the series ruined the novel was a waste of time. However let me explain why the novel was so great and how the TV adaptation couldn’t have possibly lived up to it, despite its admirable attempt to do so.  

Even within the first few pages of the novel, it is clear what a talented writer Rooney is. She creates characters with a staggeringly intuitive depiction of the human mind and the complexity of thoughts and feelings. 

For example, Connell’s reflection on how he feels about his flirtatious teacher: “He doesn’t even really know what desire is supposed to feel like. Any time he has had sex in real life, he has found it so stressful as to be largely unpleasant. […] Is the nausea he feels when Miss Neary leans over his desk actually his way of experiencing a sexual thrill?.”

Such an intimate and detailed description of how a growing young man perceives the world was so believable it almost made for uncomfortable reading. It felt as if I had actually come across someone’s diary or been granted a special privilege to read the internal monologue of Connell, a man who I don’t know…and who isn’t even real.

It is impactful because Rooney continuously strips back the façade which we all use as a template to be ‘normal’ in real life. In a world where social media platforms dominate the internet, you can constantly find images of your friends, family and even strangers living seemingly happy and ‘normal’ lives. 

What we deem about ourselves to be ugly, embarrassing or not following societal rules of ‘normal’, we eradicate. It is unspeakable. Rooney’s characters are all of us; her novel is powerful because she gives voice to all kinds of taboo.

How then, could the TV adaptation compete with such an incredible book? The synopsis of the first episode is described on BBC iPlayer as: “In rural Ireland, popular Connell and aloof Marianne begin an intense, secret affair.”

The book focuses on the thoughts of the characters and silences between the lovers which can’t translate to the visual medium of a TV screen in the same way. There seemed to be a lot of ‘filler’ shots in the programme in an attempt to emulate these silences.

There are only so many scenes of birds or bugs in the grass that we can watch before it becomes boring. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of ‘filler’ sentences in the novel which don’t progress the plot. Yet sentences describing settings are effective in a book because they create a more detailed and immersive world. On screen, it’s tiresome to watch. 

However, the acting was fantastic. The chemistry between Connell (Paul Mescal) and Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) was perfect; you could really imagine this being their real relationship. 

If I hadn’t read the book, perhaps I would have thought the TV series was great by itself, but because I had such high expectations the whole thing seemed a bit flat overall. It’s like in a restaurant when you order something and you won’t ask the waiter to take it back because it’s a nice dish but equally it wasn’t so great that you’d come back for more.  

Written by Jeannie Brown

@missjeanniebrown