Review: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

After studying for an English degree for the past three years you'd think that I would be bored of reading. However, since completing my degree, I have been trying to make an active effort to carry on reading as much as possible. I chose my degree because I love reading, a lifelong hobby that I don't think will ever leave me. This is the most recent book that I have finished: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler.

The book was long listed for The Man Booker Prize 2014 and received raving reviews from a variety of people, including The Times, who said that "There have been many books written about sibling love and rivalry but few, I'm sure, can rend the heart and bore beneath the skin quite like this one ... prepare to be charmed and traumatised." So when I picked up this text in Waterstones, I was excited at the prospect of having a good read through.

The book was very interesting and took plenty of strange twists and turns throughout the narrative. It kept me gripped to the actions of the characters and the developing relationships. However, I didn't feel a connection with these characters or the story as it came across as fairly distant. I'm unsure whether this is intentional from Fowler as Rosemary is a fairly detached woman and the story is actually a memory that she is looking back on. The book also focusses on psychology as Rosemary's father is a psychologist working with apes so this could be an authorial response to this theme. Psychology is a strong theme as Fowler highlights and questions the reliability of memory through Rosemary's flashbacks and realisations as the story unfolds.

The contextual references throughout the novel are key in understanding certain decisions and reactions of the characters and, for someone who may have lived through those contextual happenings, assists in encouraging the reader to reminisce of their own experiences. However, as a reader who had no idea what was happening, I struggled to grasp the context quickly but learned a lot from reading this book. 

Overall, I enjoyed this novel and Fowler's writing style. I liked that I learned a lot about animal rights legislation, psychology, and research culture by reading this novel, it was certainly well-researched and well thought-out. There were definitely a lot of interesting ideas and events throughout. My only issue was with my own connection to the characters, I get very attached to characters and have been known to cry regularly when bad things happen to them. I did not feel that with We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves which made me struggle to empathise with Rosemary and her memories. 

I would recommend this text to a friend, potentially someone interested in animals, animal rights, or animal psychology. It is something a little bit different to what is predominantly out there at the moment and was quite refreshing. Personally, I don't think I would come back to this text anytime soon though, sorry!

3.5/5