[ZXE]∎ Download Gratis We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 9781846689659 Books

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 9781846689659 Books

Download As PDF : We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 9781846689659 Books

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 9781846689659 Books

My Review: After reading the description on the book jacket while perusing the library for new reads I was eager to crack this book open. It sounded like a family drama wrapped up in a suspenseful read. A missing sister and a brother hunted by the FBI for domestic terrorism? Sounds good but after reading this book I could describe this book in one word ... strange.

The book started off strong with me anxious to find out what happened to Fern, Rosemary's missing sister. And then, fairly early on, we learned who Fern is and I was utterly gobsmacked and felt almost betrayed and tricked by the surprise. This revelation changed the entire book for me from then on. I was expecting a mystery of sorts to figure out where the sister went and I suppose there is one but not what I was expecting.

Without giving anything away, there were some issues brought up in the book that were heart-wrenching and the inclusion of the psychology-based information throughout the book helped me feel like I was using my psych degree just a bit. ;) But even that seemed to get tedious and overdone quickly.

Unfortunately Rosemary and the other characters weren't engaging at all. Rosemary was a confusing protagonist as she tells her story but often wasn't sure if what she was telling was in the present, past or something from a dream. This made it very confusing for the reader. Then there were the secondary characters who just didn't seem to fit into the plot well. There were a couple of truly odd characters, namely the marionette (yes, a puppet) and the CIA-wannabe landlord, who both felt out of place within the main story. I'm still not sure why they were added.

The writing also felt disjointed and the plot just plodded along so much so that I ended up skimming passages less than half way through. I finished the book, but just barely. I can't help but feel that the controversial aspect of the book and the case studies took precedence over the quality and interest of the storyline. While I did find some of the scientific/psychological aspects of the book interesting the fictional writing was less than captivating.

I think the author was going for a unique plot and it is unique. Just not interesting and verged on being tedious and very grim. I do believe that the issues brought forth are very important and this is shown with some emotional and disturbing situations in the book. I have no issue with forcing the reader to look at something uncomfortable and in need of change. Unfortunately, there were just too many other hurdles in this book to overcome and overall I just didn't like this book.

My Rating: 1/5 stars

** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm ([...]).


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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves Karen Joy Fowler 9781846689659 Books Reviews

Having been raised from infancy with an ape as a sister, Rosemary had inadvertently proved the fact that humans are the most imitative of animals. Her father's experiment, superficially, had meant to explore the ways an ape could develop those traits we deem strictly human. In the five years living with a human family, Fern had taught Rosemary the comforts of constant contact and grooming. She had delineated facial expressions and modeled an exuberance that did not serve Rosemary well when she finally entered school. One day, after an aggressive incident, Fern is removed "to a lovely farm" leaving Rosemary with every type of doubt and fear of abandonment.

It is the 1990's and man regards animals as his chattel, not terribly different from today. Ape experiments were dense on the ground and several families had attempted the experiment of raising an ape as a child. These experiences have rendered both the humans and the apes in a state which is not a fit for either species. The most compelling theme of this book is the concept of "uncanny valley response" which is the "human aversion to things that look almost but not quite like people." Rosemary's entering kindergarten with ape-like mannerisms triggered this response in her new peers, just as wild animals classically do poorly when released from domestic life into the wild.

The line of human and "human like" is well explored in an intelligent and literate form. References are drawn from the non-fiction world of interaction. Into the mix is the role of memory as it can "seem like a mist, as if what really happened matter less than what should have happened." The actor in this synthesis is language which serves to mold our memories into edifices. And language is the hinge on which the human species moves away from its relatives. Expressive language other than simple words and phrases is the gold standard for awarding human status and is the impetus for many an experiment.

This is a thoughtful book that engages the reader fully and quickly. I had this book recommended to me from a multitude of sources online, including . It just never appealed to me, so I am late to the reading. Now short listed for awards, I was compelled to try it and recommend it to you. Just as the idea of raising an ape with a human is not at all what the surface may suggest, this book has deeper rivers to row.
What first struck me about this book was its voice. That clever story voice belongs, in the first person, to Rosemary Cooke, whose life is unusual, intriguing, and fascinating. The story, in general, is about a close-knit family who stops being one when an adopted member is given away while Rosemary was a five-year-old child. The family dynamics has gone totally askew, and the reader finds out why through the twists and turns of the plot. In fact, in addition to the fantastic voice, the surprise factors of the plot twists make this book a truly memorable one.

Over and above the dysfunctionality of the family, however, is the book’s internal concern on animal experimentations and the ethics of the handling the animals by scientists and the laboratories. To say more on the subject would be giving away the plot.

From where I stand, I can say that this book was a delightful surprise, although it has dark, shattering and deeply moving sides to it. The wit of the speaker, the brilliance in the unfolding of the plot, the depth in the scenes, and the handling of tension and suspense are absolutely exquisite.

To take a different plot of such an unusual family, to make their story absolutely believable, and to give it a heart as well is not any run-of-the-mill author’s feat. For this novel, Karen Joy Fowler deserves a huge applause.
My Review After reading the description on the book jacket while perusing the library for new reads I was eager to crack this book open. It sounded like a family drama wrapped up in a suspenseful read. A missing sister and a brother hunted by the FBI for domestic terrorism? Sounds good but after reading this book I could describe this book in one word ... strange.

The book started off strong with me anxious to find out what happened to Fern, Rosemary's missing sister. And then, fairly early on, we learned who Fern is and I was utterly gobsmacked and felt almost betrayed and tricked by the surprise. This revelation changed the entire book for me from then on. I was expecting a mystery of sorts to figure out where the sister went and I suppose there is one but not what I was expecting.

Without giving anything away, there were some issues brought up in the book that were heart-wrenching and the inclusion of the psychology-based information throughout the book helped me feel like I was using my psych degree just a bit. ;) But even that seemed to get tedious and overdone quickly.

Unfortunately Rosemary and the other characters weren't engaging at all. Rosemary was a confusing protagonist as she tells her story but often wasn't sure if what she was telling was in the present, past or something from a dream. This made it very confusing for the reader. Then there were the secondary characters who just didn't seem to fit into the plot well. There were a couple of truly odd characters, namely the marionette (yes, a puppet) and the CIA-wannabe landlord, who both felt out of place within the main story. I'm still not sure why they were added.

The writing also felt disjointed and the plot just plodded along so much so that I ended up skimming passages less than half way through. I finished the book, but just barely. I can't help but feel that the controversial aspect of the book and the case studies took precedence over the quality and interest of the storyline. While I did find some of the scientific/psychological aspects of the book interesting the fictional writing was less than captivating.

I think the author was going for a unique plot and it is unique. Just not interesting and verged on being tedious and very grim. I do believe that the issues brought forth are very important and this is shown with some emotional and disturbing situations in the book. I have no issue with forcing the reader to look at something uncomfortable and in need of change. Unfortunately, there were just too many other hurdles in this book to overcome and overall I just didn't like this book.

My Rating 1/5 stars

** This book review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm ([...]).