Silly Sally - My Second Read

Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gosh, Sally got me here.

Honestly, my comfort read is a novel spanning years, detailing the lives between two people, their on-and-off dynamics, their respective interactions with themselves and with other people. My first encounter of this great read was David Nicholl's One Day; Paolo Giordano's Solitude of Prime Numbers coming in close second. This book was the third.

I saw this book from a youtube teaser of Hulu's miniseries Normal People and its twitter raves of "thirst traps" between Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, and how the actress looked like Dakota Johnson, only British. With their ASMRs of kissing scenes, that got me intrigued. Sorry not sorry lol.

All the while I thought this novel is how the author encapsulate a young millenial life: sex and cigarettes during high school, facebooking, messenger apps, college applications and scholarships. But then this also gives a glimpse of what the millenials also ignore (view spoiler)[or I guess, not being talked about much (hide spoiler)] in the early days — depression, anxiety, and sado-masochism. Yes, sorry for the spoiler, but it is Marianne who is into this kink. You will learn the hugot as you dwell into her domestic life, her school life, and her love life, Connell or no Connell.

Imagine tackling these difficult topics in a literary form that is not supposed to be preachy! I know that talking about sex or mental health is difficult, and if you want to have an imposing tone, you can go to the self-help section of the bookstore. Sally Rooney did not offer that. She wanted you to come and sit in the corner and read. And listen (or I guess in this novel, have a look). Added in a splash of social class, and how one feels in a world of meritocracy, mediocrity, and how everything seems to be a business, that even the art of writing is not spared. It is not as heavy as the Communist Manifesto, but Sally made a point that some things are tough because of some systemic issues, and its repercussions of one's interaction with the other.

I don't know, just try this book. This is my Sally Rooney's second book and I am entertained. You should try it. (view spoiler)[Personally, Beautiful World, Where are You is better in writing calisthenics, but this is more vibrant and colorful (hide spoiler)].

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Silly Sally - My First Read

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author has made two explicit points about her being Irish:

1. The characters believed in God, even though some of them are not religious Catholics. Agnostic, even.
2. They discuss about social class. Even in their daily conversations!!! Who's literate or not, who hates their current job or what's one doing to get all the high-paying gigs and whatnot and so on and so forth.

Sa Pilipinas kasi, ang mga nag-uusap ng mga ganito ay maka-kaliwa, or ND Movement, or mga petit-burgis hipsters sa Catch22 lol

There are chapters that are not interesting enough:
1. Felix's daily grind in an Amazon-like warehouse outside of Dublin
2. The angsty episodes of Eileen (I think Sally created her for the white angsty drama, where she doesn't mind earning low pay because she has parents who love her and have a family home, but still this babaita thinks that her life is sad and miserable—until the last part of the book!!!)
3. Simon's INFJisas Kristo complexity of wanting to help young pathetic women (hahakdog, very first-world writing style, I know)

But the writing is entertaining, and I also cried for a bit when Felix sang a song and Alice looked at him and went ugly crying. My heart was tugged at that moment too. Maybe somehow I relate to that moment, I don't know. Maybe I was an Alice before who was looking for a man who doesn't like me really, but then found a man who really likes me. UwU

Good thing that I read this during this Pandemic as I can also relate to the bleak outlook of the future but still marching on.

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