Normal People: Why it Works Better as a TV Series

*Contains Spoilers!*

Normal People BBC/Hulu

Book lovers everywhere haven’t stopped talking about Sally Rooney’s Normal People since it hit the shelves in 2018. The novel tells the story of Connell and Marianne, two young people from two completely contrasting backgrounds, who share a “profound, inescapable understanding”. The story is told over a number of years as Connell and Marianne leave school and move on to college. Despite various miscommunications and mistakes along the way, their lives seem to unavoidably intertwine in a complicated and intimate way. The novel is a uniquely authentic contemporary story that speaks to so many readers for a number of reasons, which is obvious by its success. As winner of the Costa Novel Award in 2018 and being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize (2018), the Dylan Thomas Prize (2019) and the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019), it’s unsurprising that the book was adapted for the screen and aired globally in May of this year.

As a novel, this story is already addictive. Seeing the world from both main characters' perspectives whilst dropping in and out of their lives after weeks, sometimes months, intervals, compels you to devour this book. Each chapter ends leaving you wanting more and when the next one starts 6-or-so months later, you’re desperate to know how things have changed for the characters and how things from the last chapter have been resolved. Although the structure of the book is intriguing, the strongest aspect of this story is its characters. Both Connell and Marianne are such incredibly complex characters who you can’t help but be wholeheartedly invested in. They’re lovable, yet frustrating; sweet, yet selfish. They’re both incredibly flawed but are just trying their best to navigate their independence. In essence, they are ‘normal’. In a sense, their journeys, struggles and misadventures, normalise being an imperfect human being. Through them, Rooney gives the reader permission to be imperfect. She highlights that making mistakes, suffering from trauma, making bad choices, changing your opinions and realising you’re wrong is a universal experience. It’s no wonder people loved this book so much; they felt seen.

So, yes, the book is excellent, but it works better as a TV series, and here’s why…

The Visuals

The obvious place to start is with the visuals. The story is set in rural Ireland and if that’s a place you’ve never been to or even visited somewhere similar, then perhaps visualising the environment of the characters isn’t going to be so easy. Obviously, whilst reading, our brain fills in the information we are unclear on, this doesn’t mean we enjoy the book any less, but seeing the characters in the world they’re supposed to be visualised in, on screen, really allows you to focus on the characters and how they interact with their environment, rather than trying to figure out where they are in your head.

The series is also really beautifully shot. The broad establishing shots allow the viewer to see and compare Connell and Marianne’s lives. With Connell being quite poor, living in dingy shared housing and having to work multiple jobs to pay rent, the grandeur of Marianne’s glamourous home and flat really help to convey their class differences. In addition, the close, intimate shots of the characters really help you get inside their heads. The shallow depth of field mirrors the characters’ internal conflicts, offering a better understanding of their feelings.

The Structure

As mentioned earlier, in the book the story is told over a period of a few years. This works so well in a TV format because the length of the series (roughly 6 hours) allows us to explore the story in length rather than limiting us to just 2 hours, like many book to film adaptations. Like the book, viewers see every event that has shaped the characters and there is more time for growth and development. As well as this, an episodic structure has natural breaks, like chapters, and so this addictive, fragmented structure of dropping in and out of Marianne and Connell’s lives is carried over from the book, making the adaptation true to the novel, and tells the story how it was initially supposed to be told.

The Performances

Above all else, it is the outstandingly compelling performances of Daisy Edgar-Jones (Marianne) and Paul Mescal (Connell) that really bring Sally Rooney’s story to life and lifts the narrative in an intimate, emotional way that is hard to replicate through words only. In the book, it’s sometimes hard to know what Marianne and Connell are feeling. We drop in and out of their lives, glimpse certain situations they have found themselves in, and see what choices are made, but we don’t always know why. In the series, interestingly, most of the scenes play out almost word for word and beat for beat how they did in the book, but the storytelling is elevated through the acting. The characters' feelings are written across the actors’ faces, whether it be as simple as their eyes welling up in a moment of tension or their body language conveying they are afraid, uncomfortable or relaxed.

A specific example of where this is evident is the end scene of the series where Marianne and Connell break up so that Connell can pursue his writing career in New York. In the book this scene is very similar, however, the emotional performances of the actors make all the difference. Throughout the novel, Marianne and Connell are perpetually uncommunicative with each other (about certain things) which leads to misunderstandings and uncomfortable situations. Therefore, when reading the last scene, it’s easy to assume that they are breaking up because they think that is what the other wants, similarly to another of their breakups earlier in the story, rather than breaking up for legitimate reasons. Misreading this scene completely changes the tone of the ending of the book. The ending becomes dissatisfying and the story falls flat (if it is misread). Whereas, in the series, the chemistry between the actors and their extremely convincing performances perfectly conveys the bittersweet ending Rooney clearly intended. This scene highlights the growth of both characters and a level of maturity not really seen before, offering the perfect wrap up to a complicated relationship.

That said, the TV series did have its limitations. The violence and abuse Marianne endures from her brother in the novel paints a much clearer picture of the trauma and stresses Marianne had to deal with at home when growing up. The more subtle display of this in the series doesn’t offer as intense a build up to the fight with her brother near the end of the series. In addition, it is completely clear in the book that when Marianne goes to Sweden, she stops eating. Through Rooney’s descriptive writing we fully understand the extent and significance of this for Marianne. However, in the series, it isn’t very obvious at all and could be easily missed. Although these aren't crucial parts of the story, they work really well in allowing a better understanding of Marianne's character which is lacking slightly in the TV adaptation. Although, perhaps this is made up for in Daisy Edgar-Jones' beautiful performance.

In conclusion, both the book and the series are excellent, but it's the TV adaptation that really solidifies the characters as 'normal people'. Normal People is written in a way that lends itself perfectly for television and the themes within the narrative are extremely relevant. It suggests that everyone is going through something. And it enforces the idea that it’s okay to not always know who you are or what you should be doing with your life, which is something we all need to be reassured of every once in a while.

Normal People is available now on BBC iPlayer and Hulu. If you watched and enjoyed the series, why not give the book a go?

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