Title: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Author: Karen Joy Fowler
This is the latest book from the author of the best-selling novel, “The Jane Austen Book Club”.
“We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” is the story of Rosemary’s memories of her unusual family, and in particular, the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her sister Fern. Rosemary’s father is a psychologist, who is using his family to conduct a psychological experiment. This experiment has long lasting implications for the future of each family member. It would spoil the story to reveal the twist but there are plenty of hints and clues to the mystery surrounding Fern. After the revelation the reasons behind what happened to Fern are made apparent. The novel then changes gear and becomes much more than a tale of family love and sibling rivalry as it asks thought provoking questions about big moral and ethical concerns.
The story is narrated by Rosemary in a light and witty style, and yet with keen observation. I love her asides and comments, especially, “When I rule the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy.
Even their small sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book.”
The novel in my opinion is a not one of the best I’ve read this year, but I’d certainly recommend it to friends as a good read.
Reviewers Name:
Elaine Burns
Year Group:
Librarian
School:
Macmillan Academy
Title: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Author: Karen Joy Fowler
It's really difficult to describe this book because, as promised on the cover, there is a big twist. In fact, I can't even be specific about the basic premise without giving away the twist--that's how critical the twist is to the plot. What I can say is this: it is basically about a person's search for a sense of themselves, about loneliness, and about the ethical treatment of animals. It's a conscience-driven book, very much in the line of Barbara Kingsolver or
Ruth Ozeki (and I'm sure it's no coincidence that those two have provided glowing quotes for the dust jacket).
At first (before the big twist!), I found the book a little bit difficult to get into. The narrator is a highly educated and intelligent woman, whose education and intelligence play a big part in her alienation from her peers. The writing style is almost disassociative and can be a bit difficult to follow, although it later becomes clear (again—after the twist!) that there is a reason for the hazy and subjective quality of the writing. I really got into the book after The Big Reveal, and in the end I enjoyed it a lot—although I didn’t find it an easy book to read. It’s not what I would call a beach read—your brain has to be engaged to follow the complex sentence structure, the chronological jumps, and the subtle references to previous plot points. In fact, it is the development of these subtle self-references and in-house

metaphors that really show what a gifted writer Karen Joy Fowler is; words that would have had no emotional impact 50 pages earlier suddenly pack quite a wallop. There were a few lines in the book that were so good that I stopped to read them several times—and must have said, “Hm!” out loud when they made me think, as my husband kept saying, “What?”, thus giving me the opening I was hoping for to read the really good bits aloud.
One final remark about this book—as I mentioned above, there is a strong moral to this story. Now, I’m a scientist and I personally think animal testing is an important and often indispensable part of science, if not necessarily a comfortable one. This book, while
“only” a piece of art and not part of the scientific literature, has genuinely caused me to examine and rethink some of my opinions on that matter. I think for that reason alone, it deserves to win a prize—because what is the purpose of art if not to cast a new light on our beliefs?
Reviewer’s Name:
Kay Achenbach
Year Group:
Teacher (physics)
School:
Macmillan Academy
Title: We are all Completely Beside Ourselves Author: Karen Joy Fowler
This book follows a fluent and beautiful tale of siblings and human connection, following the meaning of love and its lasting effect on us.
My favourite part of the novel was at the beginning, when the narrator, Rosemary, reported flashbacks of her and her sister. The book was very heart warming, as well as being quite heart breaking. My favourite character was Harlow, as she was particularly feisty and entertaining. The personality of the author indoctrinated the storyline, and many sophisticated words made the novel developed and intriguing, contributing to the intense description of the book, making it a particularly interesting read.
I would most definitely recommend the book to anybody looking for a realistic, thought-provoking and inspiring piece of literature. The plot twists of the novel were extremely unexpected, making the storyline change from orthodox to unusual, however the author’s writing was graceful and grounding, resulting in the story combining an unusual plot with a perfect technique (style) of writing, made for a truly unique, enjoyable (sadly, rare) read.
Title: J Author: Howard Jacobson

Howard Jacobson’s novel, ‘ J’ has earned its place on our shelves amongst other greats. This much was predictable; however to the reader’s dismay this is where the spoon feeding stops. Jacobson makes it his life ambition to perplex his reader, determined to keep them guessing to the extent of it being exhausting. The prose is full to the brim with eyebrow-knitting jargon that forces you to reread the page whilst aimlessly trying to unravel its meaning. The dialogue – being no more helpful, takes you back to nursery, being forced with mounds of disorientating swirly lines. Stick through it and the climax is only sweeter, imagine yourself taking a turpentine rag and dabbing it at the story before you, scrubbing away at the misleading facade like old paint, unveiling an astounding piece of art.
Set in the distant, eerie future in which Britain is recovering from the after math of “WHAT
HAPPENED, IF IT HAPPENED”, the reader can guess as much as to say it was a cataclysmic disaster that has morphed society into a vulgar, ignorant place, with recognisable aspects such as weight watchers!
The male protagonist Kevern ‘coco’ Cohen, a middle aged man whom habitates in Port Reuben, who carves love spoons for local shops. Meanwhile, flower in the rough, Ailinn Solomon has just relocated to the very same remote town, stashed away on the cliffs. It would seem like fate’s work that these two would be introduced by a stranger whom knew both of their names ..... Could this meeting be a piece of the puzzle, leading to a larger picture? The readers suspicions are furthered by the presence of an older lady named EZ, she acts as a substitute for Ailinns lack of motherly warmth but almost interrogates her for answers on her newly found attraction with Kevern.
What are those hushed away boxes filled with his Parents Notebooks?
All leave the reader scratching their heads thinking, What happened ........ If it happened.
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2014
Title: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour Author: Joshua Ferris
This novel follows the journey of a rather troubled dentist named Paul O’Rourke, who appears to be rather controversial and dark humoured. He is an avowed atheist and an insomniac, who shares his obsession with baseball and is a reluctant New Yorker.
This book is definitely one that is centred around humour, however very morbid humour at the least. Ferris writes in a way which intrigues his readers despite its rather lengthy descriptions and tangents of thoughts, allowing us to visualise all aspects of this characters agenda. From the very beginning, we can see that the mouth is something very significant in this novel and runs directly throughout. Ferris states that the mouth is a weird place, yet continues to use this when describing his previous relationships, and uses it himself to describe his own manifesto for the origins of life, showing that he too is a victim of words in such a uncivilised society. I think that Ferris writes exceptionally well in this novel, especially when delivering us with a character that is not only out of touch with the world that he lives in, but also a character who is possessed by his wicked thoughts of regret and is willing to openly illustrate them in this novel.

I found this novel easy to follow and very imaginative, especially when someone begins to impersonate Paul O’Rourke online, in which he begins the avid thought process of figuring out who has done this. Not only does the imposter begin by creating a website for his dental practice, but also sets up a Twitter and Facebook account dedicated to him, in which religious quotations are posted. However, Paul’s thought process suddenly turns very dark and delusional, as he begins to question whether his virtual, online self is better than his true self. Despite this being an account of a middle-aged man, to me it almost epitomized a quest to find oneself.
Personally, I believe that this novel deserved to win the Man Booker Prize as it is very open and modern.
Reviewers Name: Chelsea Reidy Year Group: 12 School: The Kings Academy
The Lives of Others
This intricate novel explores how the past and the wider politics of the world impact on a middle class family in Kolkata. Politics is a central theme of the book, especially if you take politics to be as the author defines it “the way we live our lives.” The Ghosh’s live their comfortable urban lives against a backdrop of poverty and starvation among the farmers of West Bengal. When Supratik, an eldest grandson in the Ghosh family, runs away to join the Naxalite insurgency supporting the farmers against wealthy and corrupt landowners and police, these two worlds collide.
The novel is written with the two stories intertwining. The everyday lives and bickering of the Ghosh family contrast with Supratik’s immersion into a life of poverty and his escalating participation in revolutionary violence.
The graphic and shocking opening of the book drew me straight into the story even though the relevance of this prologue is not apparent until much later. In fact, it’s a theme of the book that motive and explanation for many events and actions are revealed later on and I often found myself flicking backward to correlate the stories. There’s also a very useful family tree at the start which helps until you get to know the extended family. The novel takes you on a similar journey to the
Ghosh family as it makes you consider how far we should become bound up in the lives of others. Is it best to concentrate on our own families as Supratik’s mother argues? Is our influence best served with those most closely related to us? Or do we have a duty to open our eyes to the wider world, even to the detriment of our own families? These questions are visited repeatedly and from different perspectives. The sometimes sad, funny and inspirational stories of the different members

of the declining Ghosh family show how our lives are interconnected. Events from decades ago come to have an impact and tragedies unfold as one event blindly follows another.
This is a very worthy read that’s enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking. The Ghosh family could be any of us.
Dr Casson
Science Teacher
Title: How to be both Author: Ali Smith
When I read the first page I was like “What?” It was quite confusing. But as I read I found it more interesting and the language used was unique. Hat’s off to Ali Smith!
Reviewers Name:
Semra Hussain
Year Group:
Year 12
School:
The King’s Academy
Howard Jacobson’s ‘J’
The closest contemporary example of Orwell’s outlandish 1984:
Howard Jacobson’s modern take on a post-apocalyptic world has echoes of Orwell’s classic but perhaps falls slightly short of total annihilation. It seems to be the done thing in the ‘Man Booker’ world to write a story without a story (or at least without an opaque story). Although I can appreciate that sometimes a truly intellectual and challenging novel can open your mind to a new world of literary greatness, I can’t help but wonder – if Orwell had done this? If?
But Jacobson’s characters inhibit a world on the edge of narrative, on the edge of humour and the edge of an ever increasing abyss. If only Jacobson had filled this abyss with a story of some relevance: WHAT HAPPENED? The answer is still hidden somewhere in the 300 and odd pages (it’s not relevant) and perhaps the answer will still not satisfy an Orwellian reader. Ironically, the fact that
‘J’ comes before ‘O’ in the alphabet perhaps suggests how far behind this novel is from Jeorge’s 84’.
Finally, every novel should be viewed in its own right before it is compared to the other works of a similar vein, and Jacobson’s novel does at least pulsate with a new blood, but Jacobson’s ‘tale’ comes with an Orwellian preamble already imposed upon it by the critics of our time and I found it painstakingly difficult to ignore this comparison.

The fact that I feel like reviewing Orwell’s classic tells you something about Jacobson’s ‘J’.
Mr Walters
English Teacher
Title: How to be Both Author: Ali Smith
How to be Both follows the story of 2 separate people, using 2 completely different stories to explain their account.
The first narrative explains the life of an artist, Francescho Del Cossa whom is brought back from the dead to overlook George, who the second story is about. At first, we presume that Francesco is a boy, but as you read on we find out that he is in fact a she, and as we find out more about her life the reader discovers that she has also lost her mother which made her become a professional painter.
For this part of the book, I found it fairly hard to understand at first as it was not set in modern times which you could tell by the layout and language used. Also, throughout the book it was difficult to see which was speech and which was narrative, which unfortunately, I disliked. However, as I read on it became easier to comprehend because more of Francescho’s life was exposed to the reader.
In the second story, George’s life is told, about how her mother died and how she savours a trip to see the painting’s made many years ago by Francescho. She also fears that her mother had a relationship with a woman who was either a spy or a lover, or both.
Cleverly, Smith links the two stories, using language, setting and references to portray this. One link would be that both people lost their mothers, causing a tragedy in both lives. Although Francescho seems to acquire good from this, George however, does not as she dwells on her mother’s relationship while stalking the lover/spy.
Ali Smith is a clever and witty writer, and although her books may not be to everyone’s liking, I would thoroughly recommend her book as it brings to life history and modern life intertwined; both being captured perfectly.
Sarah Leatherland Year 12 The King’s Academy
Title: To rise again at a decent hour Author: Joshua Ferris
Joshua Ferris is a unique writer – the first page was smart, funny and touching. However during this book it is thought – provoking and gets the reader’s attention. I recommend this books to anyone who likes to read complicated but fascinating books.
Title: How To Be Both Author: Ali Smith

If you’re a fan of ‘buy one, get one free’, you’ll love Ali Smith’s, How To Be Both. Smith experiments with the novel form by combining two narratives within one book. Depending on which copy of the novel you pick up in the bookshop, you might start with the narrative of Francesco del Cossa, a fifteenth century fresco painter, or that of a teenage girl, who has recently lost her mother, who happens to be using the life of del Cossa for a school project. Although separate, each narrative contains references to the other, time often slips and each story begins to move beneath the skin of the other.
Much of del Cossa’s narrative is concerned with the artist’s work as a fresco painter and it is this artistic process that is reflected in the structure of the novel. When creating a fresco, an initial sketch (or sinopia) is made on the rough plaster, before the final layer of plaster is applied to the wall. The final artwork may differ from the original sketches lying beneath and this ‘understory’ is what interests Smith.
How To Be Both is a certainly clever book, but it’s also a joyful and adventurous one. Smith experiments with language throughout. In the opening section of del Cossa’s narrative, for example, where fragmented lines are closer to poetry than prose, she creates the disorienting sense of being flung through time at speed. This movement through time is ever present in the novel and pulls the reader along for the ride.
Title: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour Author: Joshua Ferris
This book is a story with three strands. The first is about Paul O’Rourke. Paul is a Red Sox fan. He is one who falls head over heels in love, to the point of obsession . He had a traumatic family loss which has resulted in slightly fixated behaviour. The second is his career. A dentist, with his own practice and the relationships he has with his co-workers and patients. The final facet to this book is
Paul, the person who has his identity stolen by social media. Paul becomes engrossed in who has stolen his identify; why is this impostor posting comments on sites about religious views, views which the real Paul, has never expressed.
The book follows a path of not only Paul’s quirky behaviour, but also the ease to which a person’s identity can be used without their consent.
Paul begins the unusual relationship of emailing his social media self. He learns about a new race, to which he is said to have evolved from and the tribulations of this group. He starts to investigate the difficult question of truth and hoax, of religion and of cult.
This book has compelling moments, where I could not put it down, but also long winded explanations of almost scripture-like verse. Personally I would have preferred less of this and more about Paul and his hilarious behaviours and disappointing love life. I also question the author’s use of the “c” word.
Yes I would recommend, as it is a different read, and one which is certainly poignant of our present times.