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| So this chap Plato had a canary, right... |
Straight off the bat, as a matter of both principle and habitual need
to be accepted even if I am spouting drivel, there are two apologies to be
made. Cue scraping chairs, muttered oaths and weary but sharp exits. Firstly,
as the author of the book is quite likely to at least look at this review
(likely because I will be making him aware of its presence and will also duplicate
it on the Unbound website, whence I did buy said book) please understand that I
may use hyperbolic terms in support of his literary and scholarly talents.
These can be read as exaggerated praise in the hope of reciprocity of an undetermined
kind, either immediate or future; I may be looking for work and in need of an
astounding reference (or indeed an astounding psychiatrist). Secondly, as is
typical of most amateur reviewers, I shall be relating much of this book to my
experiences using the first person singular perspective much maligned by a
grumpy Tibor Fischer in 2003 (yes, I’m back there again). Whether or not that ultimately adds or
subtracts from your enjoyment of the book is of no interest to me, but please feel
free to attempt to enlighten me in the comments section below (for readers on
Blogger only).
A few contextual titbits for uninformed to start with, then. A Box Of Birds is another fine novel published by Unbound, a company currently
triggering in me both joy and guilt-ridden despair because a) they do publish
exceedingly good books across a whole range of genres and b) they publish so
many good books that I can’t possibly pledge support for them all at the level
I would like (to secure goodies and party invites etc.) and this makes me feel
as though those authors to whom I would dearly love to express my gratitude and
felicitations through such an act might feel less grateful than I would have
hoped because I can’t afford to buy the cloth bound hardback with gilt edges
and hand-stitched personal dedication. But this is my own problem.
Plot wise then, and I hope not to reveal too much, Yvonne Churcher is a neuroscientist,
a hollow woman bereft in many senses (of love, emotional intelligence and
hope), about whose job as a vivisectionist at a fictional state-funded college she
is ambivalent. There is some evidence of a degree of cognitive dissonance which
probably exacerbates her existing disconnection with her emotional life. Into
this personal void waltz two students, one handsome and cool, one manic and
beguiling, with enthralling results.
Yvonne uses her materialism, her belief that a mutually unaware collection
of systems and cells acting in parallel to complete genetically assigned tasks combines
unwittingly to form the illusion of the self, to isolate herself from others,
even going so far as to live in a nearly deserted part of the campus in a tree house.
This professed belief permits her indulgence of the fear of interaction with
others on a more profound level that that of the purely functional, but Fernyhough
seems to enjoy providing evidence to the contrary – Yvonne’s ego surely could not rationalise to her id the feeding of a chimp, emancipated from
the local evil biotech, or the continued support of an elderly friend whose own
progressive dementia, fuelled by cancer and strokes, also serendipitously provides
her with a narrative outlet at the conclusion of the novel in the form of her
nurse, Daren. She battles constantly, externally and internally to maintain her
rigid stance. At a counterpoint to Yvonne’s materialism, James Bonham, suave,
dangerous and all too confusingly alluring student and activist, believes in the
power of the history, the path along which one has walked, to influence
character and fate, that he is the sum of his past almost to the point of
denying any input from nature. Somewhere along the spectrum is Gareth, obsessive
and brilliant, wishing for a world where the self can control the system (Plato’s
aviary serving as both metaphor and physical allegory and lending the author
his title) and attempting to manipulate events so that Yvonne can see for
herself the ‘truth’ he has laid out for her to discover.
I confess to knowing very little about the topography of the philosophical
battle ground between neuroscientist and psychiatrist. If I were a reflective rather
than reflexive sort, I might muse upon the similarity of Yvonne’s position and
my own, wherein the only constant in my behaviour seems to be the
inconsistency, itself responsive only to the contemporary situation – I’m greedy,
selfish and morally dubious by most standards*. I might also wonder at the
romantic facet of my psychic life, whence spring rather naive and forlorn hopes
including such wishful bull-poppy as becoming a Writer and having the Perfect
Marriage – I’m a bit of a fool. Likewise I admit to lacunae when it comes to understanding
surgical intervention in and the causes of dementia and related brain diseases -
I’m no brain surgeon. But I did absolutely and thoroughly enjoy this book, understanding
what Fernyhough was saying about neuroscience (I trust) as well as what his characters were saying
(on a practical level), wherein lies the gift of the author for suspending
disbelief with his superior intellect, literary genius, and patient and benevolent
erudition**. Like I say, I don’t know how realistic it all might be, with
theories being bunged around about electrical stimulation of memory centres,
controllable by the individual, but it was with a shiver that I caught a general
interest programme on Radio 4 a day or so ago where a chap had undergone brain
surgery, with no general anaesthetic, to insert rods into his brain powered by
a battery embedded in his chest, to control a permanent and progressive tremor
of his muscles... Spooky. You’ll understand when you get to that bit.
All in all I hope he is satisfied with his output and that it does indeed surpass what he himself calls "the old-fashioned ideas of self, subjectivity, love and so on" to be found in other books attempting something similar. In my humble opinion, it does what he set out for it to do: it is a good book, he is an excellent writer, and I would hope
that this review goes some way to both raising awareness of Fernyhough as an
author and Unbound as a concept AND business that deserves support, and to
securing me some kudos or other vicarious reward. I’d hate to think what a
psychiatrist would make of that.
*I refer you to apology number two.
**Apology number one...
(Paid link)
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