Why am I passionate about this?
My family was divided by religion, leaving me skeptical about belief systems. After a background in science, I studied philosophy and became intrigued by Heidegger's ‘pitiless atheism.’ The power of his thought but his personal failings have long been an issue for academics. I have since been fascinated partly by powerful personalities but more by the struggle of their followers as they suspend critical thinking and make huge sacrifices to offer their support. This struggle and difficulty of turning back, particularly as the systems begin to collapse, are a feature of many of the works of fiction that intrigue me most, particularly in the books I have chosen.
Martin's book list on people in dangerous systems of belief
Why did Martin love this book?
I like a book in which parents conduct experiments on their children, especially when they do it for the best of reasons. The experiment in this book is completely plausible but uncovers surprising aspects of the parent-child relationship. An unsettling feeling grew, and I knew something was wrong, but I was not sure what. The whole build-up of this is skillfully handled.
Apart from revealing an interesting part of history, it raised questions for me about how families work and how easily we can damage those we care about.
9 authors picked We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club introduces a middle-class American family that is ordinary in every way but one in this novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize.
Meet the Cooke family: Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sister Fern, and Rosemary, who begins her story in the middle. She has her reasons. “I was raised with a chimpanzee,” she explains. “I tell you Fern was a chimp and already you aren’t thinking of her as my sister. But until Fern’s expulsion...she was my twin, my funhouse…