Liars and Saints

I think Sally Rooney is not yet thirty, and I'm exasperated that she is already as wise as she is. Some lingering thoughts from "Normal People": *Rooney understands--and many writers don't really get this--that a maker of fiction needs to raise questions. That's all. The storyteller's job isn't to answer questions, just to raise them. So, for example: Rooney's protagonist, a novelist and a Marxist, wonders what the real point of fiction-writing is. Is it really worthwhile to give someone (often a wealthy person) a brief imaginary emotional experience? Are there better things to do with one's energy? This question is raised, and then it haunts you. Period. *Rooney resists explanations and happy endings. We understand that there is substantial trauma in Marianne's family; we know people are unwell, despite all the money in this family. (And isn't that just like life? Money is nice, but it won't always protect you.) But we never really...

Marianne answers the door when Connell rings the bell. She's still wearing her school uniform, but she's taken off the sweater, so it's just the blouse and skirt, and she has no shoes on, only tights. Oh, hey, he says. Come on in. She turns and walks down the hall. He follows her, closing the door behind him. Down a few steps in the kitchen, his mother Lorraine is peeling off a pair of rubber gloves. Marianne hops onto the countertop and picks up an open jar of chocolate spread, in which she has left a teaspoon. Marianne was telling me you got your mock results today, Lorraine says. We got English back, he says. They come back separately. Do you want to head on? Lorraine folds the rubber gloves up neatly and replaces them below the sink. Then she starts unclipping her hair.... What to notice? *The first sentence has metaphorical weight. Marianne will always answer the door when Connell rings the bell. This is a (painful, awkward) love story that will span ...