Inconceivable

Wanted to like this, but it never really clicked for me. It feels quite shallow - it's hard to tell if Elton has got the voices of Normal People trying to write about their feelings spot on, with all the stilted slightly inadequate ability to talk about their feelings except in cliches, or whether it reads like a GCSE 'try and write about what it must feel like to not be able to have a baby'. I tend towards the latter though. If one was, say, looking for representations of miscarriage in fiction, having the whole thing dealt with with in two paragraphs starting 'today has been a very upsetting day' might just be a bit disappointing. The book is really in two halves - their inability to have a baby, and Sam's career - and I didn't really show more have any interest in Sam's career. It's a comedy, so the plot is a bit farcical and far fetched - letters in wrong envelopes, Most Famous Film Star falling for Sam's wife etc - and I don't think I was in quite the right place to suspend disbelief. Also, Sam is a wanker, and she shouldn't have taken him back...

The ending feels really rushed - there's over 300 pages of book, but in the last 20 pages, she leaves him, goes out with the film star, gets pregnant, leaves the film star, gets back together with Sam and loses the baby. Which leaves a niggling feeling that he knew all these things had to happen, but he'd written more book than he wanted to already, so just rushed to wrap it up.

On the other hand, there are some bits that are spot on - the misery of loving someone, but being caught up in the 'sex on demand' patterns of ttc, and there is something sweetly uplifting about the 'well, we'll just keep loving each other and that will be enough' show less

A bit more touchy-feely than his previous offerings, Ben Elton uses his own experience of both infertility treatment, and working in the media, to bring tremendous humour to both situations. The account of the character Sam transporting a sperm sample across town 'in a warm crevice' is surely a classic of all time.

I was thinking, whilst reading this book, there were a limited number of possible scenarios with which to end the story. I would have felt a bit let down by a movie-style happy-ever-after situation and it worried me. I have to say though, without wanting to spoil it for anyone, I thought the ending was well and truly spot on.

Ben Elton taps his personal career to produce a book centered around a couple working at the BBC. The entire book is formed from the couple's personal diaries, created to help then deal with the difficulty of getting pregnant. As per usual, the Elton brand of wit is sharp, rude and cutting edge, hitting on the taboo areas of our everyday lives most people don't feel comfortable talking about. It's interesting reading since Elton never hints at where he's leading you, or to about which subject he will open up like a can of worms next. The charactisation will make you ask questions of yourself as Elton is uncanny in his portrayal of human psychology and behaviour - it's very Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. So far, it's all good show more news. However, I did find that the actual flow of the book was somewhat impeded by the Diary Entry form of the book. Overall it's a good read; which is on-the-ball with cultural events and humour, but the format, although original, prevents real immersion and gets rather stale towards the end. show less

My dad told me to read it because he thought it was great, but I found it really disappointing.
Elton takes out pretty much every cliché you can possibly think of and puts all of these together in a little novel that's supposed to be funny. And sure, it gives you a smile or two, but mainly I was just annoyed by how cliché and unoriginal it was. I get that that is partly the point of the novel, but it's just not my kind of thing. I just think it's too easy, with too little originality and inspiration.

Plot:
Lucy and Sam have been happily married, but they've recently been struggling: they're trying to have a baby and it's just not working the way it should be working. Lucy's newest idea is that they both keep a journal to maybe discover what's blocking them, emotionally or otherwise. While Lucy hunts down everything that promises the slightest chance to increase their fertility, Sam is much more occupied with trying to finally write his great masterpiece screenplay. As the baby keeps them waiting, their relationship starts to crumble.

Inconceivable is okay. It's not unfunny, but it's predictable to the point of boredom and it never really manages to leave sexist heternormativity behind.

Read more on my blog: show more target="_top">http://kalafudra.com/2017/07/01/inconceivable-ben-elton/ show less

I enjoyed this - the amusing and sad sides of a couple's problematic drive to conceive a child. Very funny in places. I didn't buy the plot turns towards the end though.

This book was very funny. It made me care about the main characters' childlessness even though I couldn't relate to the circumstances *at all*. It was a good read. Ben Elton is a versatile writer!
I left the book in Bangkok and it has already been found and journaled!