{"id":124322,"date":"2020-04-30T18:20:54","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T07:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=124322"},"modified":"2020-06-29T13:21:08","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T02:21:08","slug":"review-the-tv-adaptation-of-normal-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/04\/30\/review-the-tv-adaptation-of-normal-people\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: The TV adaptation of Normal People"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Normal<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a horror story in four words: great book, bad<\/em> adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could think of a million ways in which Normal People<\/em>, the new BBC3\/Hulu adaptation of Sally Rooney\u2019s novel<\/a><\/strong>, could have gone wrong. It could have leaned too heavily into melodrama, had terrible lead actors or (worse) had amazing lead actors with zero chemistry. The stakes were high for the Normal<\/em> People<\/em> adaptation, but as one of Rooney\u2019s many ardent fans I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, it\u2019s beautifully done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directors Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie McDonald have done a tremendous job in bringing this love story to life. From the very first scene, it\u2019s immediately obvious that every single person involved in this production has a deep love of the book. It\u2019s not the kind of thing you can fake, and it shines through in every aspect, from the dialogue (rendered almost word for word from the text by writers Alice Birch, Mark O’Rowe and Sally Rooney herself) to the acting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strength of this adaptation undoubtedly lies in its two lead performances from Daisy Edgar-Jones (Marianne) and Paul Mescal (Connell). They had incredible chemistry, and both of them managed to make me see the characters I thought I knew so well in a whole new light. I didn\u2019t cry when I read the novel and I would hesitate to label it a \u2018heartbreaking\u2019 read, as some have (am I heartless???), but seeing Connell and Marianne\u2019s every emotion rendered visually brought it home in a way that felt new and completely raw, and I wasn\u2019t quite prepared for that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Reader, I sobbed. Many times.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal in Normal People<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It helps that the show doesn\u2019t hold back when depicting the intensity of Connell and Marianne\u2019s relationship, both physically and emotionally. Lingering closeup shots of their eyes, fingers and faces adds a level of intimacy that gives the actors the room to tell the story in the small details, much like Rooney does herself in the book. Each scene is also given enough breathing space to resonate properly, due in large part to the choice to split the story into 12 half-hour episodes. It\u2019s absolutely the right approach to adapting a novel such as this, and it\u2019s aided wonderfully by the costume choices and the production design. From the small town to the big city (the series was shot on location in Sligo and Dublin), the production design tells its own story of class difference and urban privilege that is mirrored in Connell and Marianne\u2019s relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As visually gorgeous as it is, if the Normal People<\/em> adaptation has any drawbacks to speak of, it would be that some of the novel\u2019s interiority is lost. A large part of the drama of the book happens inside its characters\u2019 heads, and what Connell or Marianne perceive of a situation is often far more interesting and significant than the situation itself. Connell asking Rachel to the Debs instead of Marianne only seems like a minor incident until you spend some time inside Marianne\u2019s head and see it for the betrayal that it is. So character interiority, rather than plot, is central to the book\u2019s strength, and when we lose that access to their innermost thoughts Connell and Marianne\u2019s \u2018will-they-won\u2019t-they\u2019 love story becomes a little less compelling than it could be. This isn\u2019t to say that the show is boring (although fans of pacy storytelling might find themselves a little restless), just that a lingering closeup is no substitute for a well-placed sentence \u2026 and that the solution to that is to simply read the book again. There\u2019s still plenty to love about this version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Normal<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The most important thing that any book-to-screen adaptation needs to do is to not rob the viewer of the joy that the book gave them. I\u2019ve watched far too many terrible book adaptations in my time (do not SPEAK to me about the Jane Eyre<\/em> movie), but what this one does is give you a visual language to accompany the book\u2019s quiet exploration of love and privilege. Normal People<\/em> the show does not take away any of the exquisite joy of reading Normal People<\/em> the book. Instead, it\u2019s the perfect companion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From its gorgeous acting and luscious visual storytelling, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen an adaptation of a novel that\u2019s been more lovingly done, save for perhaps Greta Gerwig\u2019s recent Little Women<\/em> adaptation. Its faults are few and I think this faithful retelling of Sally Rooney\u2019s stunning novel is the most ideal adaptation we could have asked for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—Normal People<\/em> is showing now on Stan – find out more here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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