Second Helpings Social; We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Another fabulous cheese, wine, and book discussion took place last Thursday when a small collection of city folk met to indulge in the famed smoked applewood along with the opinions of nature and nurture that resonates with Karen Joy Fowler's We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Those who did not know the meaty "twist" when beginning the book all expressed the utter shock when Fowler revealed it in such an off-hand comment,her prose, "I'm sure you've probably guessed by now that...." well no, Ms Fowler, we hadn't guessed, not expected such a thing. Most of the us had build up the twist in our own heads to be somewhat more extreme than what was the case in point. One lady in the group admitted that she'd calculated the sister of the main character Rosemary, to have died of a secret cause and not explained to Rosemary. Many others had equally morbid estimations about what had happened to the sibling.

There was heated debate about animal testing and human relations, and how parents could, unknowingly, also be testing their children in way that is deemed as negative as scientists testing animals.

The group recalled own sibling situations and how they related to Rosemary, but no-one could offered a story of such extremities of how Rosemary must have felt so isolated from two societies, a loss of belonging was certainly sympathised. However, it was the overall consensus that at times the book swerved into a factual memoir and lost the art of story-telling which is what would have made each reader evermore, and rightly so, gripped.

We spoke of the recently released Short List. The group became somewhat split, in questioning WAACBO's position on the list, Was it worthy? Yes there are some momentous and grandiose novels which made the short list so the addition  of the charming, little yellow book merely whets the appetite before devouring the big guns. Small and quaint, the subject matter certainly added a vast array of opinions and view points, another successful evening all round.

Congrats to the rest of the Short List Nominees. I would now recommend, that as the Winner announcement date is approaching, (9th October), let's all power through with the Short list, and then, if we have days spare, to continue with the rest of those which remain on the long list.

The next social event will be a joint discussion evening of The Lives of Others and The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

I'll keep you posted about a date; most likely a Thursday.

Guest Review (4); A Bucket of Ice for O'Rourke

Gracing our screens today is the second review by Chantal Lyons who is steadily making her way through the long list. Her stark and honest reviews, especially in the below, bring light to our epic quest as she interweaves her own humor and opinions of the books relating them to mainstream crazes and media "sensations."

Guest Reviewer; Chantal Lyons

Ultimately, I can only give this book 2.5 stars out of 5... or maybe a 3 – but only because my reading of it has coincided so harmoniously with a recent internet phenomenon.

I really, really struggled to get through the first third. I could not stand its smarminess; the way that it constantly digressesed to obsess over its own cleverness. When I was not wading through those sections, I was scanning quickly over the long baseball ones. It really didn’t help that the blurb didn’t match up, which left me confused and suspicious about how much care was put into the book’s production. But, like pushing something heavy on wheels and finding it gets easier as the momentum builds, I eventually started to slide through the story as a reader should. There were even flashes of brilliance amongst the tacky prose, like “the enduring silence of undiscovered caves”, or the occasional resonating quip about humanity.

Paul, the main character, isn’t likeable in the slightest, and that doesn’t work here. He was so jagged that I didn’t care what happened to him, and his opinion-change on page 204 because he saw a particular name on a dusty pack of old beer in a store seemed to completely disregard all the sharp scepticism he’d displayed before. However. In the week gone by, I did find myself able to finally connect with Paul, thanks to the ice bucket challenge. Paul rants frequently about his alienation from and rejection of the internet and the world in communion with it. This I dully regarded until my Facebook feed began to fill with automatically-playing videos of ice bucket challenges, and nominations for me to participate next. And, with the same determination of Paul, I have ignored them, my hackles rising at being told to “make a donation to ALS if you can’t do the challenge” (I say what charities I donate to, thanks very much). I bet Paul would have a good rant about it.

But back to the book itself. I was fairly relieved to have finished it, and I can’t imagine I’ll think much about it after this full stop.

Christmas Come Early and a Save the Date Card

Miss Jones was certainly smiling last week when several pretty large, brown jiffy envelopes graced my desk.

 I must give a note of thanks to the fabulously generous folk at Chatto & Windus and Johnathon Cape who sent me ( and my web of readers and reviewers) some complimentary copies of the following:

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan 

The Lives of Others, Neel Mukherjee

J,  Howard Jacobson

Gosh, these babies are as meaty and juicy as any burger and I can't wait to start devouring them. Message me if you want to nab one of these tasty morsels to add to your own quest route.

This leads me on the the next Drinks & Discusion evening. The last one was a resounding success and therefore many more will follow. 

Mark in your diaries, or calendars, or on a post-it note or write it on the back of your hand, the date of Thursday 11th September at 6:30pm when we will meet and discuss that little yellow book of We Are All Completley Beside Ourselves and then I will hand out the books above for some of that faithful book swappage we love as it saves our pounds.

RSVP please so i know how many to book a table for. 
We'll be back at Bedford & Strand if that helps you plan your journey.

Guest Review (3): WAACBO

My my, we are building quite a collection of the reviews here on this quest. It gives me utter joy in receiving so many. The below review is really quite glorious. I advise you all read it, and roll with it. May it move and shake you into writing your own review of one the long (soon to be short-) list books!

Guest Reviewer: Jemima Warren

Occupation: Works at Palgrave Macmillan

 We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler



I hate novels about “issues”. And I especially hate ones about animal issues. So when I read the premise of Karen Joy Fowler’s tenth novel – look away from this review if you don’t want to know what that is – I was dubious. A chimpanzee raised in a human family? Here we go. Man’s inhumanity to beast, the evils of vivisection, why-can’t -all-of-creation-just-get-along? Blah blah blah.


There were certainly times when I felt WAACBO veered into that sort of humanitarian point-making. I never really felt that the character of Rosemary’s brother, Lowell, ever developed beyond a two-dimensional spokesman for the radical animal rights movement, for example.


But that aside, the novel is a complete joy, from hilarious observations about airline customer care, to the discovery of a lost ventriloquist’s dummy and, above all, the central voice of Rosemary, honest, funny and (often unwittingly) wise.


“They fuck you up, your mum and dad”, as Larkin has taught us. The fucking up in Fowler’s novel is of both the most unusual and the most ordinary kind. Her realisations about herself and about her family resonate with us all. Sentences like, “I thought there were moments to complain about your parents and moments to be grateful, and it was a shame to mix those moments up. I made a mental note to remember this in my own life, but it got lost the way mental notes do”, strike a pang in the heart of any child, those with siblings and those without.


Reaching the end of the novel, like growing up, you realise that the way you thought things were, is actually, quite wrong. We are, like the title, all completely beside ourselves in that, going on in parallel to the things we tell ourselves, is the actual truth about our existence. Towards the end of the novel, this exchange between Rosemary and her mother:


“…You were a happy, happy child”
“Was I? I don’t remember”


Families are prone to develop collective memory. This novel wonderfully explores how fallacious – and dangerous – that can be.

Guest Review (2): We Are Completely Beside Ourselves across the Atlantic.

Here we go readers. This is the first International book review is gracing our screens. Contenders for the Man Booker Prize 2014 quest are coming in far and wide and it gives me great pleasure to introduce the marvelous musings by a chap who seems a whole other world away. All it takes is a book to bind us.

Guest Reviewer: Douglas Gordy
Occupation: Retired, taught Theatre at the University of San Francisco and St. John's University, NY.
Note: He lives in Walnut Creek, CA., almost exactly halfway between Karen Joy Fowler's residence in Santa Cruz - and Davis, where most of her book is set.

Although to a certain extent, all works of art, literary or otherwise, depend on an element of surprise, certain such entities are more dependent on one's prior knowledge than others (for example, one's enjoyment of Hitchcock's "Psycho' will vary greatly depending upon how much one knows about the identity of Norman Bates' mother going into it!).  Although the big reveal in Karen Ann Fowler's Man Booker Prize longlisted novel, "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves' occurs fairly early on (exactly a quarter of the way in - on page 77 of 308), whether one knows the nature of the character of Fern beforehand or not will ultimately determine how much one appreciates the author's achievements.  I DID know, having read about it in a spoilerish review, and until such point found the book to be almost annoyingly coy ... which Fowler's narrator herself sheepishly admits.  Since it is difficult to speak about the book WITHOUT talking about that central element, those who haven't read the book and want to retain a pristine reading experience should depart NOW!

My only prior acquaintanceship with Fowler was with her most successful book, 'The Jane Austin Book Club', which I enjoyed, but probably never fully appreciated, since I read it as a result of having already seen the very fine film adaptation.  I was rather surprised to see her name on this Booker list, and initially chalked it up to a perhaps misguided attempt for gender parity (and the inclusion of some American authors with the revised eligiblity rulings) in the selections.  But Fowler's new work is a most worthy selection, creating a funny, harrowing, emotionally upsetting and thoroughly immersive experience for the reader.  The novel centers on the lifelong effects on an American family of undertaking the raising of their biological daughter with a similarly aged chimpanzee.  A mystery remains till almost the end as to why the chimp had to leave the family, what happened to her, and how that impacted the lives and destiny of her two siblings.  As the 'brother' becomes an animal rights activist and fugitive from justice, the book includes some rather gruesome descriptions of experimentation on animals that are not for the weak of stomach, but are entirely necessary for the book's plot and message.

The novel is narrated by the 'other' daughter, Rosemary, looking back on the events which shaped her family and created all their disharmony and dysfunction, while she is a college student attempting to make sense of how she got to be the mess she is.   I was initially turned off by her somewhat snarky persona, but realized it provided a much needed dusting of humor to what eventually becomes quite grim.  The final chapters 'cheat' by jumping ahead almost a decade (wait, aren't we narrating from her college years?), but the jump is necessary for resolution and heightening the emotional denouement.

The book is also otherwise far from perfect, and I suspect it will NOT win (and may not even make the short list), due to the fact it will NOT be to everyone's taste.  With all the backwards and forwards and sideways segues, I found myself at odds at times in pinpointing exactly WHERE we were in the story, but eventually was able to piece everything together.  Also had to backtrack in order to remember who one minor character even WAS, since he had disappeared from the story for a good 100 pages.  Another niggling point, but I also noticed a few annoying inaccuracies - for example, Rosemary mentions the family's bread maker in their kitchen in 1979, although such machines were not even invented till 1986, and did not become commonplace in the US till the mid-90's!   All in all, I am glad I read the book and that it DID make the long list, although there are several other tomes I've read recently I would consider worthier selections (i.e., Tom Rachman's 'The Rise and Fall of Great Powers', Smith Henderson's 'Fourth of July Creek', Mira Jacob's 'A Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing').

Drinks & Discussion; To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

A small underground wine bar in the capital was the location of the To Rise Again at a Decent Hour drinks and discussion night. It was a glorious evening of anecdotes and quotes complimented by an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon. I mean, really, does an evening get much better that wine, cheese and a relaxed conversation dancing and darting between chapters of a  book which links everyone together. It was a humble affair, rather than an great crowd which meant there was time for each person to dip into speech, to say their opinion without feeling like they had to stand up and button their jackets in an attempt to hold the floor.

Joshua Ferris's main character Paul O'Rourke provided much of the conversation, much of which was of how likable or unlikable he was. Was this part of a clever and dynamic skill of the Author- to purposefully create a character that at times would make you're skin itch at annoyance? If the character was unlikable in his manner and opinions then Ferris had tapped into that human conditioning of how sometimes a person can just be quite annoying and you can't put your finger on why. To be able to convey this by the use of words deserves praise.

O'Rourke's need to not only be accepted, but to dedicate his own life to those of  the families of his girlfriends was another intriguing discussion. Many felt that this should have been taken deeper as this would help us understand why O'Rourke spent much of his time obsessing and researching into ancient religion which took up a considerable amount of chapters. If there was a bit more background of O'Rourke's own family or of what his family thought of his atheist beliefs then a consensus felt that a clearer understanding of this Dentist's insecurities would come to light.

The main subject of having an identity being copied through the use of social media was praised by all as everyone at the table admitted to having a profile one of the many networks referenced in the book; facebook, twitter, a business website, making comments on online newspaper articles etc. This was an element that grew anxiety through the whole group; a truthful stab showing how open we are to the world. We easily objectify ourselves with screens and it doesn't take much, as we learnt from this book, that even close friends and colleagues might believe the screen personality over the person they are in physical contact with.

This book caused suitably varying opinions and it was a pleasure to hear everyone highlight thier own views. For little snippets of sentences to have been marked by several members of the group.
For that blasted 50-page in C word to spark interesting conversation.
For us all to connect on a Thursday evening.
Thank you to all who came.

Please could everyone think of questions they would like to ask Joshua Ferris and I will have a interview with him for the blog and I would love you all to make you mark. Email me your questions.

The next Drinks/Discussion night will be on We Are Completely Beside Ourselves"; so go and grab that little yellow book and begin reading!

http://www.bedford-strand.com/

Guest Review (3): Got to Love That Dentist

For those that walk to work, it is probably wise not to read on the journey. We all know how annoying it is to have someone looking at their "me-machine", to quote Ferris' O'Rourke, walk slap bang into you because they are not looking where they are going. Somehow my mind would rather someone do this to me if they were to be reading a book. I'd rather know they were indulging in literature rather than checking Facebook. Walking and reading proves to be a health hazard, should this be the case, like our third guest reviewer, the advice would be to don the pjs, shut the world out and get turning those pages.

 Guest Reviewer: Ravi Pau
Occupation: Senior Account Manager, Insider Communications and Editor-In-Chief, Pints and Plates

In Joshua Ferris' To Rise Again at A Decent Hour, we follow our protagonist Dr Paul O'Rourke in a first person perspective.  This helps provide an unique insight into the character. But it does come with an almost infuriating meandering tone that dances around just a tad too much.Whilst slightly infuriating at the beginning,  it does become charming and almost charismatic after a while, in the way that I'd imagine American's find English people. 

It gives Ferris the opportunity to put in these fantastic lines like  'I don't get pussy whipped. I get cunt gripped. I get cunt gripped and just hope to get out alive'. But to read that means dancing through the other bits that Ferris feels, and generally are, important. They just don't feel it at the time. 

Without trying to give too much away - as it is a book you should try. When I first began reading it, I was baffled. I struggled to understand where it was going and I couldn't possibly fathom a link between a New York Dentist, the state of Israel and the history of Zionism and other related Jewish history... Then suddenly, it clicked and I realise the symbolism between the Dentist, his personality and so on and had demolished half the book in what felt like five minutes. 

The book uses comedy to to ask some very serious, interesting, questions about life at it's core. It just takes too long to get there for my personal preference though.... I can think of a few people that might have put it down by the time it begins.

Worth noting that this point, Ferris incredibly struggled on this book. I understand that he spent nearly a year writing it and binning it before considering quitting writing. In the time between starting it and finishing it, he had written two other books and the birth of the internet gave him that click to finish.  I think that the gap is pretty evident, which is why it takes so long to get started...