I’ve been doing my reading, but my mind has really be thinking about the work I need to finish before my wife delivers. As I am writing this, she is already dilated by 1cm (noted by the doctors two days ago). The baby comes out at 10cm dilation, which is a ways to go. This could take anywhere from hours to days to weeks. Other conditions like contractions, water bag breaking, are all other signs of labour, and then the baby will finally come.
With all that in mind, I’ve been reading: Jack Reacher, Sally Rooney, a Montessori baby book. Nothing self help specific I feel I could share opinions about, but I do have some thoughts about teenagers and life from Sally Rooney’s Normal People.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
I’ve seen Sally Rooney’s name plastered everywhere around the reading forums, and books to read. Obama listed Intermezzo as one of his books of 2024, and I have it on my “to buy” list of books. I watch Haley Pham now, and she had mentioned some other Sally Rooney books too.
All that hype aside, Normal People was an easy read. Might be a little trashy, but immediately I could imagine a TV show or a movie taking place. I looked at the cover of my book, and yup, made into a TV series already.
It covers that in between bit of life, after secondary school, when you’re a dumb teenager, and the next bit, where you’ve got a partner, a job, and starting to settle down. Even the term Settle Down indicates a different phase of life, and the book explores what Normality looks like.
I’ve met variations of the characters Normal People talks about. There are people from very well to do families, but their family life is not one to write anywhere about. There are others who have had to go through difficult circumstances, to land on their feet one way or another. There’s also the idea of being born rich, born good looking, born smart. These components play heavy into how we become adults and our view of the world around us.
But as much as we play the main characters in our own TV shows, Normal People talk quite a bit about the people around. The social life of a teenager, and a young adult. How one views us, and the costs of being seen with different crowds. Successful in one, and mediocre in another. The aspects of how others make us feel, think, and say things we might not agree with. Maybe things we regret even.
Because of these very human elements of Normal People, I was reminded of my own teenage life, and how I treated and saw the world around me in different ways. There were times I wished I could have been nicer to my peers, or to the girls I had met. There were other times when I wish I stood up stronger for what I believe in, even if it would cost me more.
How am I living my life now though? Is it any different from the times before? I would like to think I make a lot of effort to be kinder than how I used to be. Kinder, more intentional to keep up with specific people, although there are a ton of people I am in contact with, and I wish I had more time with each of them. Maybe I should have a silly aim like that one day, but I know for sure, I care for people a lot more than I let on. Sometimes I wish I didn’t but I genuinely do. It just hurts sometimes when it doesn’t feel well reciprocated. But that’s life sometimes too I guess.
I’m in the midst of reading The Little Friend by Donna Tartt, and I will probably be about 2-3 books down by the time my baby does come out and we’re in the throes of early parenthood. But for now, maybe Jack Reacher is a good mindless read.
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