Should we stay or should we go?

Should we stay or should we go?, Lionel Shriver 

Lionel Shriver (The Mandibles, So Much For That) returns to her usual insightful self with her new release Should We Stay Or Should We Go?

The story begins in 1991 when Kay and Cyril, in their early 50s, have returned from Kay’s father’s funeral. Having watched her father’s “four years of steady deterioration and ten years of nothing but degradation” to Alzheimer’s, they make a pact to die together when they are 80, partly to avoid the same decline themselves, but also out of a strong view to avoid being a drain on the public purse. Time marches on over the following 30 years, until the fateful day of March 29, 2020 approaches. But will they go through with it? What follows is a similar idea to her earlier book,

The Post-Birthday World, where two alternate timelines play out simultaneously. Here Shriver has concocted 12 different scenarios of how it could turn out - whether one or both go through with the suicide or not, and what might follow if they do not. Each cleverly picks up a different point in the original storyline and takes it somewhere else. Some are funny, some wryly sad, some are pleasantly utopian, some science fiction, and some a horrific dystopian version of institutionalised care. There’s even an amusing self-referential nod to Shriver herself as an author. As usual, Shriver has managed to contain something of humanity at its best, worst and most mundane throughout, with the usual searing social commentary on pretty much everything from healthcare, Brexit, Covid, economic policy, and of course ageing, death, and care for the elderly.

Shriver really is one of my favourite writers.

Mini fiction reviews

Time and Time Again, Ben Elton

I do appreciate Ben Elton’s writing. He and Lionel Shriver are the authors that get me thinking the most. Hugh Stanton, talented ex-soldier is challenged to consider - if you were going to go back in time to change history where would you go? What if you could go back to 1914, could you change the course of the 20th century? And if you did, would it actually be for the better? 

It’s a great premise, and a powerful one because it’s written with the arrogance of a 21st century mindset that assumes that we know more, and would have done things better. Elton challenges the reader to ask - how much damage could result, all the while trying to make improvements.


Meltdown, Ben Elton

Like all Ben Elton’s writing, it is very relevant when written, so this one published in 2009 is all about the Global Financial Crisis. Jimmy has lived the highlife for 20 years as a financial trader and he and Monica live in luxury with their kids and lots of paid help. Their friends all have high paid jobs in the industry and they help each other out with tips and investments. But what happens to them all when it all comes crashing down? A book about what’s really important when you lose everything that you thought mattered. Funny and insightful, as per Elton’s usual fare.


You Be Mother, Meg Mason

Having enjoyed other writing of Mason’s, I was eager for this one and was not disappointed. Abi, a poor uni student in the UK, has a fling with Stu, an exuberant Australian on exchange. When she discovers she’s pregnant, they decide to make a go of it in Australia. She heads out with 4-week-old Jude and turns up to discover Stu is pretty useless, his parents are unhelpful, and she is stuck in a flat in Cremorne (Sydney) in the heat of summer. On an outing, she comes across Phil, a recently widowed mother of four adult children. They connect over books, but also discover that they share similar griefs. Abi is clearly in dire need of support, and Phil seems to enjoy a project. But neither are being completely honest about their challenges, and soon Phil’s family starts to interject. I enjoyed the complexity of the characters, but also the reminders of some very familiar parts of Sydney.

The Motion of the Body Through Space, Lionel Shriver 

After years of constant solitary exercise, 60-year-old Serenata, has finally had to stop with an injured knee that now requires a replacement. Struggling to adjust to the change to her previously active life, she is somewhat surprised when her usually sedate husband Remington declares at age 62 that he is going to do a marathon. She struggles to support him, but he is determined. As his exercise regime becomes more and extreme and hers becomes more limited, it strains their relationship as they struggle to find common ground. There is a comparison to ultra exercising as a form of religion, like a cult. In fact, Shriver also deals religion a fair serve with their daughter being a recent convert to Christianity. 

Having considered the vast range of social issues and perspectives that Shriver tears down in her novels, it does raise the question of whether she is positive about anything at all. Having said, I do appreciate her dry commentary on many aspects of modern life.

    

Mania

Mania, Lionel Shriver (Harper Collins, 2024) 

Yet again I have been struck by Lionel Shriver’s insight and humour. She has an astonishing ability to explore societal trends through fictional characters and situations, and I have enjoyed many of her books over the years.

This new offering presents an alternative world where intelligence (or more specifically, the lack of it) has become the primary social justice issue. It began in 2010 with the release of a book suggesting that discrimination against dumb people was the last civil rights fight. This startled a trickle, which quickly became a torrent stating that there was no difference in intellect, merely different processing issues. In due course, it became socially unacceptable to refer to anyone’s intelligence or lack thereof. Shriver shows us where this naturally leads. 

Early on there are numerous language changes to adapt to: removal of terms like dumbwaiter, dense, dumbbells, thick, bovine, bright, and quick. Knives could not be described as sharp, clothes could not look smart, Smarties had to change their name, and there could be no mention of turkeys or sage at Thanksgiving. Many TV shows were cancelled, including Big Bang Theory and Sherlock Holmes. Newspapers removed all crosswords, lest anyone feel traumatised by being unable to do them.  

Over the following 5-10 years all school tests are abolished, no entry requirements are needed to attend university, anyone can be issued with a degree, and no one who applies for a job can be refused. Consider surgeons with no qualifications, aeroplane engineers who do not understand hydraulic systems, and food preparations not held to any standards. On the World Stage, America (and the West) have begun to fall apart, Russia has invaded Europe and China controls all of Asia. In this world, Obama is seen as too elite and intelligent, so is a one-term President. Amusingly, the next two presidents echo this world’s reality.  

It’s written from the perspective of Pearson Converse, of average intellect, who is a university English lecturer. She was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness, but rejected it in her teens. She has three children and a loving husband, and fights against the lunacy of the changes going on around her. Yet her best friend, Emory, has become a champion of the Mental Parity (MP) movement and has a platform on CNN from which to project them.  

I highlighted so many quotes, I couldn’t possibly share them all with you - but here is a sample to get the idea: 

“Emory drummed her fingers during the traditional scramble for vocabulary that hadn't yet been exiled to the naughty step.” 

“Social hysterias do not stand still if they are not yet losing steam, they are getting worse. And this one was getting worse. Radical movements keep ratcheting up their demands, because nothing ennervates a course more than success.” 

“By this point it's indisputable that human beings will believe anything. Accordingly, a wide variety of historical phenomena that once confounded me now seem explicable, if not ordained. I'm no longer astonished by the Holocaust and there's no country in the world that I would deem impervious to the modern equivalent of a Nazi takeover.” 

“I haven't adopted a revolutionary way of looking at the world that I'm intent on imposing on everyone else. Everyone else is imposing their revolution on me. All I've done is refuse to capitulate. I stayed in the exact same place while the rest of the world has careened off to la-la land.”

Shriver has strong views and she does not hesitate to weave them into her writing with an acerbic edge, harshness, and dark humour. All of her writing is strongly anti-religious. She is clearly addressing social justice, inclusivity, diversity and the cancel culture of the Western world. Even when I disagree with her perspective, or hold another opinion, I love her writing. She makes me think, question, and consider.

The Post-Birthday World

The Post-Birthday World, Lionel Shriver

I have been planning to read something by Lionel Shriver for a few years, hearing so many positive reviews about her books. At the same time I suspect that emotionally I may not be up to We Need to Talk about Kevin, the story of parents as they cope with a child who has committed a school massacre. So I was happy to grab this one off the library shelf in order to 'give the author a go'.

It's based on the classic premise - 'what if?'

Irina has a long term partner, Lawrence - life isn't perfect, but it's comfortable. They have a friend, the hard-living snooker player Ramsay. One year, Irina and Ramsay have dinner for his birthday. After drinking too much they end up back at Ramsay's place and Irina is faced with a choice. Does she lean forward and kiss Ramsay, setting off one chain of events? Or does she stop herself, go home and therefore live out a different life?

We read matching chapters of each scenario, as they play out side by side over about 15 years. For those that remember the movie Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow - it's exactly the same idea.

I enjoyed it. Shriver writes realistically about people, their choices and foibles. I enjoyed her writing style and her use of language. It's gritty at times, and if you don't like a lot of talk about intimate relations, you might be uncomfortable at a number of points.

I might have a look for some of her other titles, like So Much for That and give them a go too.


(If you would like to read the first few chapters online, go here)

So Much For That

I decided to try another Lionel Shriver book after The Post Birthday World.

I was not disappointed.

Shep, age 48, has always planned for his Afterlife. That is, he has spent his whole life saving in order to retire early to a Third World Nation, where he will be able to live comfortably for the remainder of his life, on much less money than it currently costs in New York.

On the day he finally decides to go, with or without his family, his wife Glynis announces she has mesothelioma (cancer) and he cannot leave, for she needs his health insurance.

As her cancer progresses and various treatments are attempted, we see Shep caring for his wife, all the while watching his life savings disappear.

While some might say, "what value can you place on human life?", when you live in a world where all treatments cost money, and some exorbitantly so, it is a real question when everyone only has a finite amount of money.

It is a dark and harsh book, not only due to the subject matter, but because of the characters Shriver has created. Shep's best friend Jackson constantly bemoans his life. Glynis is often bitter and nasty. Their extended family are awful, including the standard over-the-top portrayal of Christians. (I do get the feeling the Shriver is pretty anti-Christian).

Having said that, I liked it. It was real. It didn't skirt around hard relationships or death. I like her insights into many aspects of life. I came away absolutely thrilled we don't live in the US and our health system is not the same.

In the end though, what is striking about this book is what it shows about people that have no hope. If you have no hope of heaven, this life is all there is. Therefore, extending this life for as long as possible, no matter how sick you are, is crucial. At the same time, enjoying every minute you can for yourself is very important, because that's all you have to live for. When your idea of the 'Afterlife' is living cheap in Africa, you really have no idea how good the real afterlife will be.

The Mandibles

The Mandibles, Lionel Shriver

Absolutely captivating, this book had me hooked for a solid few days. And frankly, reading it at the moment, when we are watching economies suffer and change, it was not easy or comfortable.

It’s 2029, and life in America is not so great. Five years ago was the Stonage, when other nations hacked the US power grid and everything, everywhere turned off. That started the decline and inflation that people are now dealing with. As the dollar continues to plummet, and other nations unite to propose a new currency to form the basis of world trade, the President installs dramatic measures - the cancellation of all foreign debt, that all gold in the US in now owned by the government, no US dollars can be removed from the country, and any trade in the new currency (bancor) is prohibited.

To make it personal, these changes are played out in the lives of multiple generations of the Mandible family. Great-grandfather Douglas, now in his nineties, is the controller of the family wealth, earned years ago by inventive forebears and now keeping him in the lap of luxury in an exclusive nursing home. His two children (in their 70s) have been quietly waiting for years to come in their inheritance, but have managed very comfortable lifestyles of their own. The adult grandchildren never relied on the money, but the satisfaction that it was there somehow helped everyone get by. It seems that only one of them, Willing, a fourteen-year-old great-grandchild, is able to grasp the enormity of what is happening, and what they need to do about it.

As the changes enacted by the government filter their way into the community, you see what really happens to people under dire economic breakdown. Persistent inflation, wages no longer cover basic goods, banks reclaim mortgaged homes, and jobs are lost. Mass unemployment, mass homelessness, mass chaos.

Shriver has keen insight into humanity and their varied ways. Some will just get by, some will flee, some will bury their heads in the sand, some will turn to whatever it takes to find some money, and everyone is pushed beyond what they ever thought they would have to deal with.

“Everyone adapts effortlessly to coming up in the world, and improved circumstances always seem well deserved. But going in the opposite direction feels unnatural. What’s really poisonous that it also feels unjust… I’ve never met anyone whose life has taken a sudden turn for the worse who thought a reversal of fortune was just what they had coming to them. The outrage, the consternation, the fury, all of it impotent - well. Setbacks never bring out the best in people.”

As I said, reading this in the midst of Covid-19 made it especially realistic. Chillingly so. There are comments about the stockpiling of toilet paper that could be out of the news of the last month or so. Of course, once all the paper goes, it’s shredding old clothes and sheets that is required to be used with vinegar, thrown out at first and later saved and washed to preserve them. We can be thankful we didn’t get to that (yet?). Another comment points out that since various diseases spread in communities, it is no longer acceptable to hug or even shake hands (sound familiar?!)

About the first three-quarters tells of the unravelling of the American way of life over the first five years. The final part skips ahead 15 years to show what could have happened moving forwards, picking up the stories of the same people.

Throughout Shriver has comments about healthcare, the US government departments, the US interactions with other nations, most notably Mexico and China. There are obviously many observations about economical and monetary places, and I will admit that Husband had to help me out with understanding some of the early changes described.

All in all, an excellent, thought-provoking read.