We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Fowler

[Trent]

Karen Fowler's new novel, We Are All..., didn't take home the Man Booker Prize this week (though she made the shortlist) but that doesn't mean she hasn't written an excellent book! What themes and interesting insights have other readers pulled from this wonderful examination of what it means to be a human being and to have a family?

Trent

[Rachel]

I'm afraid I really didn't like this book! I found it extremely dull

[Alan]

I did enjoy the book but only so far. I thought it lost power about half way. I knew nothing going in so the special circumstances of the family did surprise me. To those who have read the book and want to investigate a real-life story look for a documentary with a keyword lafarge

[Trent]

The book, Rachel, too a small effort on my part to enjoy. But once established, I loved it. And I can see how someone would find it dull. My enjoyment was propelled in some measure by my fascination with psychology.

[Rachel]

I liked the idea but the execution was lacking for me, it just meandered to nothingness

[Andrea]

I thought it was written deeply poetically, with many threads woven through. Even before I had finished, I was keen to reread so I could get even more meaning from this book.

[Anita]

I loved this book, too, and recommend it often. My book club is discussing it next week and I look forward to that discussion. I suspect one theme that will come up is animal rights activism!

[Read On!]

Trent wrote: "Karen Fowler's new novel, We Are All..., didn't take home the Man Booker Prize this week (though she made the shortlist) but that doesn't mean she hasn't written an excellent book! What themes and ..."

I have to say I was absolutely dumbfounded and fascinated by this novel. The concept of rearing a baby chimp along side a human baby girl, of the same age, had never ever occurred to me! The effects this had on Rosemary as she got older I found mind blowing. For instance when Rosemary is sat in a lecture and has the uncontrollable urge to push her finger's through and 'groom' the girl's hair that's sat in front of her. Obviously this was behaviour that she had learnt from Fern and was ingrained in her mind permanently.
It totally made me reassess the relationships between animals and humans as well as rethink the ethics behind animal testing.
I thought it was brilliant.

[Nadine]

I listened to this and found the narration sometimes illuminating, and sometimes heart breaking.

[Trent]

Russ wrote: "Trent wrote: "Karen Fowler's new novel, We Are All..., didn't take home the Man Booker Prize this week (though she made the shortlist) but that doesn't mean she hasn't written an excellent book! Wh..."

I agree Russ. Thanks for the comment.

[[deleted user]]

I vaguely remember reading these articles with great fascination as a child. I did enjoy the book. The most interesting aspect to me was the suppressed guilt, the ever-present guilty, Rosemary (I borrowed the name from above -- I've forgotten, how awful!) never was able to let go. And would becoming an activist like her brother assuage it? It's almost a Dostoyevskian theme, that pervasive guilt. I thought the revelation that Rosemary had maneuvered Fern's removal from the family was just devastating. To Rosemary, I mean. I agree to some degree with some of the comments from those who were disappointed in the book, but I think this book was not about a person becoming unglued by a past "bad act" -- although she was in no way responsible for having to share her parents with a much more interesting creature than an everyday human baby, especially with a father as work-consumed and impersonal as hers was. I understood Rosemary to be attempting to maintain normalcy, which no one else in her family had been able to do. So, I have this theory that if you have something devastating in your life, and not all the emotional tools you need, you have to economize in terms of your angst, but you have to grieve and forgive yourself. I mean, I am the oldest of seven kids, and for a while there wondered how long they were going to keep having them before they found one they liked, so I understand Rosemary not wanting to share her parents. Again, especially with that father. Everywhere she turned, Fern was the star, with the parents, with the grad students. I admired Rosemary for not allowing a childhood act to push her over the edge. I enjoyed the book.