We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a novel by Karen Joy Fowler, which has received many awards and has been praised by great authors. It is also very popular with most readers and became a bestseller. If you are looking for an easy read, I think you might like it.
I have never read the author before, but you may recognize her from her book Jane Austen Book Club. And, yes, there is a movie, but I haven’t seen that either. But, while I was reading We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, I thought it would make a perfect film. Although each family has different dynamics within itself, and all of them have interesting stories, some of them amaze people. I can say that the family in this book is a family that shocks people.
The book also makes us think about how we perceive the world as a child. Growing up, making mistakes while growing up, regrets, missing and forgetting are all in this book.
I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I like because at parts I was extremely bored with the narration. I couldn’t like the characters at all so; there was always a distance between us. I wouldn’t recommend this to readers who are looking for a literary fiction full of depth. But you may enjoy it if you are looking for an easy read. Enjoy!
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Rosemary’s young, just at college, and she’s decided not to tell anyone a thing about her family. So we’re not going to tell you too much either: you’ll have to find out for yourselves, round about page 77, what it is that makes her unhappy family unlike any other.
Rosemary is now an only child, but she used to have a sister the same age as her, and an older brother. Both are now gone – vanished from her life. There’s something unique about Rosemary’s sister, Fern. And it was this decision, made by her parents, to give Rosemary a sister like no other, that began all of Rosemary’s trouble. So now she’s telling her story: full of hilarious asides and brilliantly spiky lines, it’s a looping narrative that begins towards the end, and then goes back to the beginning. Twice.
It’s funny, clever, intimate, honest, analytical and swirling with ideas that will come back to bite you. We hope you enjoy it, and if, when you’re telling a friend about it, you do decide to spill the beans about Fern – it’s pretty hard to resist – don’t worry. One of the few studies Rosemary doesn’t quote says that spoilers actually enhance reading.
Karen Joy Fowler
Karen Joy Fowler is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. Her work often centers on the nineteenth century, the lives of women, and alienation. She is best known as the author of the best-selling novel The Jane Austen Book Club that was made into a movie of the same name.
