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The Echo Chamber
What a thing of wonder a mobile phone is. Six ounces of metal, glass and plastic, fashioned into a sleek, shiny, precious object. At once, a gateway to other worlds - and a treacherous weapon in the hands of the unwary, the unwitting, the inept. The Cleverley family live a gilded life, little realising how precarious their privilege is, just one tweet away from disaster. George, the patriarch, is a stalwart of television interviewing, a 'national treasure' (his words), his wife Beverley, a celebrated novelist (although not as celebrated as she would like), and their children, Nelson, Elizabeth, Achilles, various degrees of catastrophe waiting to happen. Together they will go on a journey of discovery through the Hogarthian jungle of the modern living where past presumptions count for nothing and carefully curated reputations can be destroyed in an instant. Along the way they will learn how volatile, how outraged, how unforgiving the world can be when you step from the proscribed path. Powered by John Boyne's characteristic humour and razor-sharp observation, The Echo Chamber is a satiric helter skelter, a dizzying downward spiral of action and consequence, poised somewhere between farce, absurdity and oblivion. To err is maybe to be human but to really foul things up you only need a phone.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2021
1434 people are currently reading
10932 people want to read
About the author
John Boyne
89 books15.3k followersI was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by UEA.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
I’ve published 14 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, and a short story collection. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was a New York Times no.1 Bestseller and was adapted for a feature film, a play, a ballet and an opera, selling around 11 million copies worldwide.
Among my most popular books are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky and My Brother’s Name is Jessica.
I’m also a regular book reviewer for The Irish Times.
In 2012, I was awarded the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award for my body of work. I’ve also won 4 Irish Book Awards, and many international literary awards, including the Que Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany. In 2015, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.
My novels are published in 58 languages.
My 14th adult novel, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, a sequel and companion novel to THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, will be published in the UK on September 15th 2022, in the US and Canada on November 29th, and in many foreign language editions in late 2022 and 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 1,597 reviews
June 23, 2021
Not my cup of tea, personally. I'm a long-time John Boyne fan, and I thought I could follow him into a satire, having enjoyed his sense of humour in previous books, but this one was just way too farcical for me.
When I read A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, I liked most of the book but had a couple of complaints. Namely that some of the characters had a very pointed discussion about cancel culture and wokeness that felt gratuitous and out of place, and that the characters in the later chapters ventured into farcical caricatures. The Echo Chamber is like John Boyne took those two elements and turned them into their own book.
The Cleverley family are utterly obnoxious. Each has their own vices, in some way linked to a critique of modern culture. Sometimes I agree with Boyne, other times not so much. I, like him, abhor performative wokeness. The kind where instagrammers and Tiktokers posture, express their morality with social justice hashtags in exchange for likes and follows. I also dislike when people sit behind a screen nitpicking at others' language without lifting a finger themselves.
But most of the jokes didn't quite hit the spot for me, which is not great for a humour book. This was amusing:
And the one about penguins. I also snorted a little at the Twitter users who tweeted horrendously ugly comments hashtagged with #BeKind. Too close to the truth.
Overall, though, it was all a bit over the top and too on the nose. It's obvious that these criticisms stem from Boyne's own experiences with his book about a trans girl. Maybe if you don't know that, it'll go down better.
P.S. I hate when people say they are "fiscally conservative but socially liberal" as if economic policy doesn't have any direct social consequences.
When I read A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom, I liked most of the book but had a couple of complaints. Namely that some of the characters had a very pointed discussion about cancel culture and wokeness that felt gratuitous and out of place, and that the characters in the later chapters ventured into farcical caricatures. The Echo Chamber is like John Boyne took those two elements and turned them into their own book.
The Cleverley family are utterly obnoxious. Each has their own vices, in some way linked to a critique of modern culture. Sometimes I agree with Boyne, other times not so much. I, like him, abhor performative wokeness. The kind where instagrammers and Tiktokers posture, express their morality with social justice hashtags in exchange for likes and follows. I also dislike when people sit behind a screen nitpicking at others' language without lifting a finger themselves.
But most of the jokes didn't quite hit the spot for me, which is not great for a humour book. This was amusing:
'I think I might make a brilliant poet,' she said. 'I live like a poet, don't you think?'
'Only in the sense that you contribute nothing to society,' replied George.
And the one about penguins. I also snorted a little at the Twitter users who tweeted horrendously ugly comments hashtagged with #BeKind. Too close to the truth.
Overall, though, it was all a bit over the top and too on the nose. It's obvious that these criticisms stem from Boyne's own experiences with his book about a trans girl. Maybe if you don't know that, it'll go down better.
P.S. I hate when people say they are "fiscally conservative but socially liberal" as if economic policy doesn't have any direct social consequences.
May 17, 2021
John Boyne has the ability to turn the written word ( some of which are rarely used on a day to day basis,) into a joy to read.
The main protagonists in The Echo Chamber though, are awful people, completely narcissistic, unsympathetic, downright nasty, though it does make them all wickedly interesting, whilst at the same time, makes for some truly amusing dialogue.
The Cleverley family are an extremely dysfunctional lot, there’s Dad George, (a BBC chat show host) his novelist wife Beverley, ( yes Beverley Cleverley!) and their three grown up kids, Nelson, Elizabeth and Achilles, each with their own problems/issues, but Boyne uses the family as a platform for more than a tinge of satire, that will leave you smiling. Ustym Karmaliuk, the tortoise also features - he’s a tortoise with a penchant for After Eight Mints!
Told through each of the family members, The Echo Chamber relates how tweets have the ability to change lives, and The Cleverley’s tweets will bring a whole load of trouble for the lot of them. They’re connected in more than just a familial way, - and it will result in their downfall, they just don’t know it yet, which results in hilarious secrets being revealed, and boy it makes for a fascinating and fun read.
Brilliant characters, delightfully witty storyline, pure entertainment!
* I was invited to read The Echo Chamber by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *
The main protagonists in The Echo Chamber though, are awful people, completely narcissistic, unsympathetic, downright nasty, though it does make them all wickedly interesting, whilst at the same time, makes for some truly amusing dialogue.
The Cleverley family are an extremely dysfunctional lot, there’s Dad George, (a BBC chat show host) his novelist wife Beverley, ( yes Beverley Cleverley!) and their three grown up kids, Nelson, Elizabeth and Achilles, each with their own problems/issues, but Boyne uses the family as a platform for more than a tinge of satire, that will leave you smiling. Ustym Karmaliuk, the tortoise also features - he’s a tortoise with a penchant for After Eight Mints!
Told through each of the family members, The Echo Chamber relates how tweets have the ability to change lives, and The Cleverley’s tweets will bring a whole load of trouble for the lot of them. They’re connected in more than just a familial way, - and it will result in their downfall, they just don’t know it yet, which results in hilarious secrets being revealed, and boy it makes for a fascinating and fun read.
Brilliant characters, delightfully witty storyline, pure entertainment!
* I was invited to read The Echo Chamber by the publisher and have given an honest unbiased review in exchange *
November 24, 2021
Fabricated
John Boyne is one of my favourite contemporary authors, and I know I’m biased from the outset, but he has been that good to warrant it. JB is astute, with a deep understanding of plot, themes, characters and relationships, so from the beginning, when you encounter awful characters – no, I mean horrible characters and unbelievable scenarios. I’m wondering how many inimical levels of behaviour we will explore in this contemporary world of social media addiction, political correctness outrage, gender identification, fake news, viral and continuous media influence, and the vigilant ‘woke’ culture. So let’s throw a wealthy and famous dysfunctional family into the mix and see what happens. We get a satirical story that confronts all those contemporary scenarios with witty consequences to an array of dislikeable characters. The Echo Chamber reference is likely the nonstop social media infrastructure where a comment or transgression reverberates forever.
The family in question are the Cleverleys, George is the father, his wife Beverley (yes Beverley Cleverley), their sons Nelson and Achilles, and their daughter Elizabeth. George is a TV personality deemed a national treasure. Unfortunately, he is having an affair with a therapist, Angela, who is now pregnant, and he’s not sure how to deal with this news. George is over sixty and has that way of being politically incorrect without awareness, or possibly he no longer knows how to hide his sexism or racism.
Beverley is a famous best-selling author who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and has an affair with her Ukrainian dance partner Pylyp. As an author, she hires a ghostwriter to write her books with very little guidance on the plot or characters while she is preoccupied chasing Pylyp across Europe. At the same time, he has an apparent sex addiction - having sex with anything that moves, including her children (adult children).
Nelson has psychological problems with women and dresses up in police or doctor outfits to feel more important, so he sees a therapist, and his new one is - you guessed it, Angela. Elizabeth is my vote for the most disliked person, but she’s the social media assassin obsessed with gaining followers and posting outrageous and seriously damaging tweets. Her father is a target for her assault, and she destroys his reputation after critically commenting and retweeting a post he made. The consequences and how George deals with it keep mounting to an epic conclusion. Achilles is remorseless as he scams and bribes people after his ‘sting’ games and moves from girl to girl with abandon until he meets his fate.
As a Buddy read with Ceecee and Beata, we struggled to connect with the genuinely dislikeable characters, and we almost had a game to determine who we hated most. Thanks to my buddies for joining me on this book, as their discussions were priceless.
I think this book will divide opinion, and while it has a lot of clever and witty dialogue, it seems to be so constant on adverse events and people that we lose the contrast in the narrative. However, I commend JB for taking on these issues as he is no stranger to tackling institutional abuse and social misconduct. I would recommend this book, and I would like to thank Doubleday, Random House UK and NetGalley for providing a free ARC copy in return for an honest review.
John Boyne is one of my favourite contemporary authors, and I know I’m biased from the outset, but he has been that good to warrant it. JB is astute, with a deep understanding of plot, themes, characters and relationships, so from the beginning, when you encounter awful characters – no, I mean horrible characters and unbelievable scenarios. I’m wondering how many inimical levels of behaviour we will explore in this contemporary world of social media addiction, political correctness outrage, gender identification, fake news, viral and continuous media influence, and the vigilant ‘woke’ culture. So let’s throw a wealthy and famous dysfunctional family into the mix and see what happens. We get a satirical story that confronts all those contemporary scenarios with witty consequences to an array of dislikeable characters. The Echo Chamber reference is likely the nonstop social media infrastructure where a comment or transgression reverberates forever.
“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the idiots.”
The family in question are the Cleverleys, George is the father, his wife Beverley (yes Beverley Cleverley), their sons Nelson and Achilles, and their daughter Elizabeth. George is a TV personality deemed a national treasure. Unfortunately, he is having an affair with a therapist, Angela, who is now pregnant, and he’s not sure how to deal with this news. George is over sixty and has that way of being politically incorrect without awareness, or possibly he no longer knows how to hide his sexism or racism.
Beverley is a famous best-selling author who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and has an affair with her Ukrainian dance partner Pylyp. As an author, she hires a ghostwriter to write her books with very little guidance on the plot or characters while she is preoccupied chasing Pylyp across Europe. At the same time, he has an apparent sex addiction - having sex with anything that moves, including her children (adult children).
Nelson has psychological problems with women and dresses up in police or doctor outfits to feel more important, so he sees a therapist, and his new one is - you guessed it, Angela. Elizabeth is my vote for the most disliked person, but she’s the social media assassin obsessed with gaining followers and posting outrageous and seriously damaging tweets. Her father is a target for her assault, and she destroys his reputation after critically commenting and retweeting a post he made. The consequences and how George deals with it keep mounting to an epic conclusion. Achilles is remorseless as he scams and bribes people after his ‘sting’ games and moves from girl to girl with abandon until he meets his fate.
As a Buddy read with Ceecee and Beata, we struggled to connect with the genuinely dislikeable characters, and we almost had a game to determine who we hated most. Thanks to my buddies for joining me on this book, as their discussions were priceless.
I think this book will divide opinion, and while it has a lot of clever and witty dialogue, it seems to be so constant on adverse events and people that we lose the contrast in the narrative. However, I commend JB for taking on these issues as he is no stranger to tackling institutional abuse and social misconduct. I would recommend this book, and I would like to thank Doubleday, Random House UK and NetGalley for providing a free ARC copy in return for an honest review.
July 13, 2021
John Boyne's latest novel is an outrageously bonkers satire on the modern world's social media addiction, living life online rather than grounded in real life realities and relationships. It is clearly inspired by Boyne's personal experience of the online world and cancel culture, culminating in his creation of the monstrous, dysfunctional and over privileged Cleverley family all living under one roof. George is a 'national treasure' of a BBC talk show host, his wife, Beverley, is a romantic novelist, although she hires a ghostwriter, who has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing. Both have been having affairs, George with a therapist, Angela, who is pregnant, Beverley with a SCD sex addict dancer.
They have 3 children, a somewhat uniform obsessed teacher, an aspiring social influencer, and then there is Achilles, who blackmails just because he can and for the cash. The entire family have issues, and are about to discover just how their lives can unravel and spiral way out of their control through social media. This is an entertaining and at times a screamingly funny read, although on occasion it was a little too heavy handed in its messaging and skewering for me. What made me give it 4 stars is the language, Boyne is a true wordsmith, with prose that captures the imagination and captivating dialogue. A rather different book from his previous works that is definitely worth reading, but more of a marmite affair. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
They have 3 children, a somewhat uniform obsessed teacher, an aspiring social influencer, and then there is Achilles, who blackmails just because he can and for the cash. The entire family have issues, and are about to discover just how their lives can unravel and spiral way out of their control through social media. This is an entertaining and at times a screamingly funny read, although on occasion it was a little too heavy handed in its messaging and skewering for me. What made me give it 4 stars is the language, Boyne is a true wordsmith, with prose that captures the imagination and captivating dialogue. A rather different book from his previous works that is definitely worth reading, but more of a marmite affair. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
September 9, 2021
JB is one of my all time favourite authors. ive rated every adult fiction novel of his that ive read 5 stars. so it truly saddens no one more than me that im rating this less than.
to begin with, the synopsis did not capture my interest. but i thought, ‘its JB. its going to be a good story, regardless.’ and while i agree with the message - the dangers of how deep social media has integrated itself in our lives, how reliant we are on it as individuals and as a society to push an agenda, and the often negative feedback loops that plague social media - its just too… on the nose for me. JB has a really remarkable track record for nuanced characters and writing, but this is an over-the-top rant. i get that thats the point, but its a total miss for me. none of the characters are likeable and, even if they were, theyre presented in such a caricature way that prevents me from taking any of them seriously.
i guess im just so used to JB writing more serious and subtle historical novels that this feels like its written by a completely different author. good for him for trying something new, i suppose, but satire is not the genre for me. those who enjoy tongue-in-cheek humour should be able to appreciate this more than me.
and i know that its unlikely to love everything an author has written, so im just going to chalk it up to a personal miss and eagerly wait for JBs next book!
a really big thanks to random house UK/doubleday for the ARC!!
↠ 2.5 stars
to begin with, the synopsis did not capture my interest. but i thought, ‘its JB. its going to be a good story, regardless.’ and while i agree with the message - the dangers of how deep social media has integrated itself in our lives, how reliant we are on it as individuals and as a society to push an agenda, and the often negative feedback loops that plague social media - its just too… on the nose for me. JB has a really remarkable track record for nuanced characters and writing, but this is an over-the-top rant. i get that thats the point, but its a total miss for me. none of the characters are likeable and, even if they were, theyre presented in such a caricature way that prevents me from taking any of them seriously.
i guess im just so used to JB writing more serious and subtle historical novels that this feels like its written by a completely different author. good for him for trying something new, i suppose, but satire is not the genre for me. those who enjoy tongue-in-cheek humour should be able to appreciate this more than me.
and i know that its unlikely to love everything an author has written, so im just going to chalk it up to a personal miss and eagerly wait for JBs next book!
a really big thanks to random house UK/doubleday for the ARC!!
↠ 2.5 stars
February 12, 2024
”Well, here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into” the quote made famous by Oliver Hardy, to me, illustrates the fact that most ‘messes’ we find ourselves in are human made. This is one major take away from this clever book - The Echo Chamber, by John Boyne.
The Cleverley family (great name), consist of:
George: A National Treasure…….(quote: George Cleverley), the father of the family has worked for the BBC for decades as a light entertainment presenter. He is a household name and much loved. He is having trouble with the new terminology, and etiquettes required in the modern world. There are millions ready to pounce on the likes of him when he errs, and err he does. Oh, he is having an affair.
Beverley: Has a nice ring doesn’t it…..Beverley Cleverley? Mum is also partaking in extra-marital activities. Her marriage to George lacks the passion of years gone by. She is quite frankly a snob and would shudder at the thought of catching a bus and mingling with the great unwashed masses of London.
Nelson: The oldest brother. Now this boy is an odd specimen. He feels more comfortable wearing costumes in his daily life, than not. He wears Scrubs, police uniforms and more. This invariably gets him into trouble as he goes about his daily business. He is a teacher – and is bullied by most. Nelson takes social awkwardness to World-class levels.
Elizabeth: The middle sibling, she is uber-active on social media. Elizabeth enjoys using anonymous handles on social media – such as @TruthIsASword, so she can abuse with gay abandon. Obtaining a Twitter blue tick is a life-time goal hers. Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Wilkes, is a social warrior who doesn’t wash – I found him revolting and hilarious. The family could smell him well before he entered a room, oh and his underpants…….don’t get me started!!
Achilles: Perhaps the most detestable of the family – even though they all seem to adore him. He will think nothing of extorting a few grand from middle aged men. He is charismatic and gorgeous – just ask him.
There is one other cast member who needs a mention, a tortoise called Ustym Karmaliuk. Beverley is babysitting her Ukrainian lover’s pet as he needs to go back home to well……..put it about a bit. Ustym made my heart melt – poor thing.
So back to my opening paragraph. This book and the grubby characters of the Cleverley family inflicted considerable pain on themselves, with consummate ease. But, on top of that – humankind, as a collective, with the creation of all consuming social media and easy to obtain cellular phones, has made it even easier for us to exact damage on each other and ourselves.
There are some salient messages in this book, all while providing the reader with a great laugh. It is a wonderful, witty, ultra-sharp, satire on contemporary life, the power of the masses and cancel culture. It is also a wee bit scathing of aspects of wokeness. I feel so lucky to have read this. Oh, and John Boyne has written heaps of books, and this is my first. Happy Days ahead.
5 Stars
Woke: Aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality.
Self-disclosure: I am happy to be woke, using this Cambridge Dictionary definition my value systems fit very snugly within these words. I suppose the question is – how far do ‘we’ go?
The Cleverley family (great name), consist of:
George: A National Treasure…….(quote: George Cleverley), the father of the family has worked for the BBC for decades as a light entertainment presenter. He is a household name and much loved. He is having trouble with the new terminology, and etiquettes required in the modern world. There are millions ready to pounce on the likes of him when he errs, and err he does. Oh, he is having an affair.
Beverley: Has a nice ring doesn’t it…..Beverley Cleverley? Mum is also partaking in extra-marital activities. Her marriage to George lacks the passion of years gone by. She is quite frankly a snob and would shudder at the thought of catching a bus and mingling with the great unwashed masses of London.
Nelson: The oldest brother. Now this boy is an odd specimen. He feels more comfortable wearing costumes in his daily life, than not. He wears Scrubs, police uniforms and more. This invariably gets him into trouble as he goes about his daily business. He is a teacher – and is bullied by most. Nelson takes social awkwardness to World-class levels.
Elizabeth: The middle sibling, she is uber-active on social media. Elizabeth enjoys using anonymous handles on social media – such as @TruthIsASword, so she can abuse with gay abandon. Obtaining a Twitter blue tick is a life-time goal hers. Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Wilkes, is a social warrior who doesn’t wash – I found him revolting and hilarious. The family could smell him well before he entered a room, oh and his underpants…….don’t get me started!!
Achilles: Perhaps the most detestable of the family – even though they all seem to adore him. He will think nothing of extorting a few grand from middle aged men. He is charismatic and gorgeous – just ask him.
There is one other cast member who needs a mention, a tortoise called Ustym Karmaliuk. Beverley is babysitting her Ukrainian lover’s pet as he needs to go back home to well……..put it about a bit. Ustym made my heart melt – poor thing.
So back to my opening paragraph. This book and the grubby characters of the Cleverley family inflicted considerable pain on themselves, with consummate ease. But, on top of that – humankind, as a collective, with the creation of all consuming social media and easy to obtain cellular phones, has made it even easier for us to exact damage on each other and ourselves.
There are some salient messages in this book, all while providing the reader with a great laugh. It is a wonderful, witty, ultra-sharp, satire on contemporary life, the power of the masses and cancel culture. It is also a wee bit scathing of aspects of wokeness. I feel so lucky to have read this. Oh, and John Boyne has written heaps of books, and this is my first. Happy Days ahead.
5 Stars
Woke: Aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality.
Self-disclosure: I am happy to be woke, using this Cambridge Dictionary definition my value systems fit very snugly within these words. I suppose the question is – how far do ‘we’ go?
March 17, 2025
I believe that John Boyne is able to surprise and delight me more than just about any other writer I’ve read. His ability to structure complex but compelling storylines, to introduce and bring alive appealing characters, and above all, his willingness to take risks is astounding. Take the last three books of his that I’ve read: The Heart’s Invisible Furies is a heartrending story of intolerance and self-transformation; A Ladder to the Sky had the feel of a psychological thriller, a book perhaps best read whilst lying prostrate on a Mediterranean beach; A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom provided an epic journey stretching across two millennia which I found hard to follow and which, to some extent, I’m still trying to unpick. And yet somehow I loved all of them, rating each a 5 Star read. So what next? Well, what about modern day satire on people’s obsession with social media and what the author sees as the intolerant left’s over the top reaction to anything that clashes with so-called ‘woke’ culture - yes, that should do the trick.
Boyne introduces us to the Cleverley family: George, Beverley, and their three children. George is a television personality and self-acclaimed national treasure. Beverly writes shallow romantic stories, or rather, she hires a ghost writer to do the actual work based on a very sketchy outline and using her tried and tested formula. The children are an odd mix: a socially challenged teacher who is being bullied at work by the same boy who bullied him at school, a daughter who spends virtually all her waking hours wondering how to increase her social media ‘likes’ and an arrogant teenager who hustles lonely men out of significant sums of money. There’s very little plot to the book. It simply tracks a short period of time in the life of this group – a downward spiral that seems to have no bottom.
It’s just the sort of book that I thought I’d hate, and yet I kept picking it up and reading a little more, and before long I’d ploughed my way through most of it. It made me think, but even more so, it made me laugh. On one level it’s simply a pointed attack on the role overt political correctness has had on modern society. Poor old George, for example, believes himself to be a dyed in the wool liberal, but he can't keep up with changing terminology and keeps putting his foot in it. And as a white male of a similar age, I confess I have some sympathy with him, particularly when it comes down to matters of gender identification. But Boyne manages to soften the edges by demonstrating real comedic talent in pulling together a number of linked strands in the manner of a farce – it’s preposterous that all these things should so impact one family and yet it’s also highly amusing.
Once again, Boyne has delivered up a book that has surprised me. It’s fun, but at the same time he’s stirring the pot on the cultural divide that exists around this issue. It’s another of his books that will almost certainly divide opinion, but I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. My thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Boyne introduces us to the Cleverley family: George, Beverley, and their three children. George is a television personality and self-acclaimed national treasure. Beverly writes shallow romantic stories, or rather, she hires a ghost writer to do the actual work based on a very sketchy outline and using her tried and tested formula. The children are an odd mix: a socially challenged teacher who is being bullied at work by the same boy who bullied him at school, a daughter who spends virtually all her waking hours wondering how to increase her social media ‘likes’ and an arrogant teenager who hustles lonely men out of significant sums of money. There’s very little plot to the book. It simply tracks a short period of time in the life of this group – a downward spiral that seems to have no bottom.
It’s just the sort of book that I thought I’d hate, and yet I kept picking it up and reading a little more, and before long I’d ploughed my way through most of it. It made me think, but even more so, it made me laugh. On one level it’s simply a pointed attack on the role overt political correctness has had on modern society. Poor old George, for example, believes himself to be a dyed in the wool liberal, but he can't keep up with changing terminology and keeps putting his foot in it. And as a white male of a similar age, I confess I have some sympathy with him, particularly when it comes down to matters of gender identification. But Boyne manages to soften the edges by demonstrating real comedic talent in pulling together a number of linked strands in the manner of a farce – it’s preposterous that all these things should so impact one family and yet it’s also highly amusing.
Once again, Boyne has delivered up a book that has surprised me. It’s fun, but at the same time he’s stirring the pot on the cultural divide that exists around this issue. It’s another of his books that will almost certainly divide opinion, but I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. My thanks to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 8, 2024
4.5★
“But you have to appreciate that we’re not talking about normal people here. We’re talking about people on Twitter. There’s an enormous difference. It’s like comparing house cats to lions that have only ever lived in the wild, ripping the heads off young gazelles and feasting on their bodies.”
Yes, well, the people on Twitter. But it’s not only Twitter. George Cleverley, his wife Beverley, son Nelson, daughter Elizabeth, and son Achilles were a comfortable family as the kids were growing up. George is a famous, popular TV host, and Beverley is a much-loved “writer” of romance novels. Or rather, she wrote one and has her name on the cover of many more that are written by ghosts.
The children grew up with a succession of these ghosts in their lives. The book opens with George and the first two children waiting nervously in hospital for Beverley to have the third baby. She is in some trouble, and George is beside himself with worry.
So far, so normal. But the family’s story is punctuated with the technological advances of the day. As the doctor appears to tell them Beverley is okay and George is crying with relief, the author inserts this comment:
“And at that precise moment, in a dorm room at Harvard University, a nineteen-year-old boy presses the return button on his computer keyboard and watches as the first post on something he’s called ‘The Facebook’ appears:
Thus we see the lighting of the fuse that leads to the social media explosion which has blown up the world as we know it.
The story is completely over the top. It is a hoot. Boyne is very clear to warn us beforehand:
I would call it Slapstick Satire and just what I was in the mood for.
It may not be factual, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are people who are, shall we say, ‘inspirations’ for some of these characters. Some are “wokesters” ( ‘The POOTs . . . The Permanently Outraged of Twitter”, and some are your garden variety bigots. Whatever you want to call them, they are engaging right now in mortal combat on Twitter, which is the focus of this story.
Boyne has a wonderful time with names and accents. I feel the same as George about his producer, “Ben Bimbaum, whose full name George always struggled to pronounce.” I can’t hear it in my head without hearing the quick drumbeat, the sting, that’s played after the punchline of a joke.
There’s a Ukranian playboy, Pylyp Tataryn, whose only real love is a 115-year-old tortoise. He is a handsome, skilful lover who seems to have slept with almost everyone, man or woman, in the story. His mother is a brain surgeon. I have no idea if the unusual names that crop up mean anything or are perhaps some kind of anagrams. But I don’t need to know.
This is a far-fetched, ridiculous, funny, biting look at how far we’ve come or how low we have sunk, depending on your point of view, and how attached to a smartphone you are. This is a family that thrives on “likes” and responses and approval.
George, who is certainly old-school, gets his pronouns mixed up (as do we all, I suspect) . A “he” has become “she”, while his daughter’s boyfriend has become “they”. (This is not a previous boyfriend named Tuscany Fields. Ah, the names!) When George tweets something meaning to sound supportive of a person transitioning from male to female, he botches it so badly that he is hauled over the coals by his boss, the Head of Entertainment, Margaret.
“‘You may have meant well, George, but intentions no longer matter. Social media has changed all that.’
‘Because, ironically, when it comes to social media, anything is acceptable and nothing is acceptable.’”
Until now, George has enjoyed Twitter and being a public figure. After all, as a popular TV host, he wields a fair bit of power. He knows that his boss is actually more expendable than he, ‘the talent’, so he’s comfortable arguing with her.
“‘I think it’s idiotic and it feels like the obsession of narcissistic morons with far too much time on their hands, but I accept that the culture exists in the world. Just like National Socialism did in the thirties. And McCarthyism in the fifties.’
‘Please don’t say anything like that on social media, George. Those are all very powerful lobbies.’
‘Not the Nazis. They got defeated.’
‘Well, they’re back. And, this time, they’ve all got Twitter accounts.’”
Daughter Elizabeth tells her parents why her boyfriend says he once had a sister, but not anymore.
“‘She got cancelled,’ said Elizabeth.
Beverley blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘I said she got cancelled.’
‘I heard what you said. It just didn’t seem to be a collection of words that, placed together in an otherwise reasonable sequence, made any sense.’
. . .
‘Your sister was cancelled,’ said George, trying out the phrase on his tongue. ‘I’m sorry, but is she a television programme, perhaps? Or a train timetable? A subscription service of some kind?’
. . .
‘Oh, Mother,’ said Elizabeth, throwing her hands in the air. ‘It means that she lost all her followers, no one talks to her any more and she’s considered a pariah. Like, in your day, when someone was sent to Coventry. Her friends have all abandoned her and she’s not welcome in polite society. Like Harvey Weinstein, say.’”
Son Nelson, in his twenties, is a social misfit while younger brother Achilles, still in high school, is handsome and seductive beyond his years. Needless to say, since the introduction of the various social platforms and the ease with which we can spy on each other, life has changed for this family. And ours? Probably.
Thanks for a great topical read, John, especially the bit where Elizabeth argues with herself between two of her Twitter accounts, trying to raise her profiles. Loved it all!
Thanks also to NetGalley and Random House/Transworld for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted, although I don’t think the selections I’ve chosen do justice to the book.
Please enjoy this article from 'The Guardian' about the author's own troubles with Twitter and how it inspired this book. https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
“But you have to appreciate that we’re not talking about normal people here. We’re talking about people on Twitter. There’s an enormous difference. It’s like comparing house cats to lions that have only ever lived in the wild, ripping the heads off young gazelles and feasting on their bodies.”
Yes, well, the people on Twitter. But it’s not only Twitter. George Cleverley, his wife Beverley, son Nelson, daughter Elizabeth, and son Achilles were a comfortable family as the kids were growing up. George is a famous, popular TV host, and Beverley is a much-loved “writer” of romance novels. Or rather, she wrote one and has her name on the cover of many more that are written by ghosts.
The children grew up with a succession of these ghosts in their lives. The book opens with George and the first two children waiting nervously in hospital for Beverley to have the third baby. She is in some trouble, and George is beside himself with worry.
So far, so normal. But the family’s story is punctuated with the technological advances of the day. As the doctor appears to tell them Beverley is okay and George is crying with relief, the author inserts this comment:
“And at that precise moment, in a dorm room at Harvard University, a nineteen-year-old boy presses the return button on his computer keyboard and watches as the first post on something he’s called ‘The Facebook’ appears:
Mark Zuckerberg changed his profile picture.
just now.”
Thus we see the lighting of the fuse that leads to the social media explosion which has blown up the world as we know it.
The story is completely over the top. It is a hoot. Boyne is very clear to warn us beforehand:
“This book is a work of satirical fiction and is not intended to be factual.”
I would call it Slapstick Satire and just what I was in the mood for.
It may not be factual, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there are people who are, shall we say, ‘inspirations’ for some of these characters. Some are “wokesters” ( ‘The POOTs . . . The Permanently Outraged of Twitter”, and some are your garden variety bigots. Whatever you want to call them, they are engaging right now in mortal combat on Twitter, which is the focus of this story.
Boyne has a wonderful time with names and accents. I feel the same as George about his producer, “Ben Bimbaum, whose full name George always struggled to pronounce.” I can’t hear it in my head without hearing the quick drumbeat, the sting, that’s played after the punchline of a joke.
There’s a Ukranian playboy, Pylyp Tataryn, whose only real love is a 115-year-old tortoise. He is a handsome, skilful lover who seems to have slept with almost everyone, man or woman, in the story. His mother is a brain surgeon. I have no idea if the unusual names that crop up mean anything or are perhaps some kind of anagrams. But I don’t need to know.
This is a far-fetched, ridiculous, funny, biting look at how far we’ve come or how low we have sunk, depending on your point of view, and how attached to a smartphone you are. This is a family that thrives on “likes” and responses and approval.
George, who is certainly old-school, gets his pronouns mixed up (as do we all, I suspect) . A “he” has become “she”, while his daughter’s boyfriend has become “they”. (This is not a previous boyfriend named Tuscany Fields. Ah, the names!) When George tweets something meaning to sound supportive of a person transitioning from male to female, he botches it so badly that he is hauled over the coals by his boss, the Head of Entertainment, Margaret.
“‘You may have meant well, George, but intentions no longer matter. Social media has changed all that.’
‘Because, ironically, when it comes to social media, anything is acceptable and nothing is acceptable.’”
Until now, George has enjoyed Twitter and being a public figure. After all, as a popular TV host, he wields a fair bit of power. He knows that his boss is actually more expendable than he, ‘the talent’, so he’s comfortable arguing with her.
“‘I think it’s idiotic and it feels like the obsession of narcissistic morons with far too much time on their hands, but I accept that the culture exists in the world. Just like National Socialism did in the thirties. And McCarthyism in the fifties.’
‘Please don’t say anything like that on social media, George. Those are all very powerful lobbies.’
‘Not the Nazis. They got defeated.’
‘Well, they’re back. And, this time, they’ve all got Twitter accounts.’”
Daughter Elizabeth tells her parents why her boyfriend says he once had a sister, but not anymore.
“‘She got cancelled,’ said Elizabeth.
Beverley blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘I said she got cancelled.’
‘I heard what you said. It just didn’t seem to be a collection of words that, placed together in an otherwise reasonable sequence, made any sense.’
. . .
‘Your sister was cancelled,’ said George, trying out the phrase on his tongue. ‘I’m sorry, but is she a television programme, perhaps? Or a train timetable? A subscription service of some kind?’
. . .
‘Oh, Mother,’ said Elizabeth, throwing her hands in the air. ‘It means that she lost all her followers, no one talks to her any more and she’s considered a pariah. Like, in your day, when someone was sent to Coventry. Her friends have all abandoned her and she’s not welcome in polite society. Like Harvey Weinstein, say.’”
Son Nelson, in his twenties, is a social misfit while younger brother Achilles, still in high school, is handsome and seductive beyond his years. Needless to say, since the introduction of the various social platforms and the ease with which we can spy on each other, life has changed for this family. And ours? Probably.
Thanks for a great topical read, John, especially the bit where Elizabeth argues with herself between two of her Twitter accounts, trying to raise her profiles. Loved it all!
Thanks also to NetGalley and Random House/Transworld for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted, although I don’t think the selections I’ve chosen do justice to the book.
Please enjoy this article from 'The Guardian' about the author's own troubles with Twitter and how it inspired this book. https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
November 28, 2022
I wish the characters had been a little more likeable, and the epilogue had been a little less cheesy, but there were lots of LOLs here, and that's never a bad thing, is it?
November 5, 2025
The Echo Chamber is a dangerous book to listen to out in public. I found myself chuckling almost nonstop. The book introduces us to the Cleverley family, who overestimate their own self worth and underestimate the ability of social media to screw your life up. It’s a barbed message about how we have ceded over our lives to certain apps and the negative effect it’s had on society.
Boyne is a master at satire. The humor is layered, it goes from the sublime to the outrageous. I’d be willing to bet that a repeat listen would pick up multiple things I missed the first time. He spares no one and everyone comes in for his scathing wit - the woke, the Luddites, the privileged, the unwashed masses, the right and the left alike. He’s a master of language and uses it to great effect here.
Rather than outline each of the family members, let’s just say they each take prizes for being obtuse, unlikeable personalities. But yet, like a clock that’s right twice a day, every now and then a gem would pop out and I would find myself agreeing with some of their thoughts.
The plot twists and turns and it was amusing to see how certain characters intertwined with the main characters.
The problem with listening to this, not counting the strange looks, was that I couldn’t highlight some of the real zingers. One of my favorites:
“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the idiots.”
As I’m writing this, there’s a segment on the news about a backlash against the tech in smart houses and a desire to detox. Maybe Boyne was just a little prescient and we are slowly learning that tech isn’t always a good thing.
Richard E. Grant narrated this and did a fine job.
Boyne is a master at satire. The humor is layered, it goes from the sublime to the outrageous. I’d be willing to bet that a repeat listen would pick up multiple things I missed the first time. He spares no one and everyone comes in for his scathing wit - the woke, the Luddites, the privileged, the unwashed masses, the right and the left alike. He’s a master of language and uses it to great effect here.
Rather than outline each of the family members, let’s just say they each take prizes for being obtuse, unlikeable personalities. But yet, like a clock that’s right twice a day, every now and then a gem would pop out and I would find myself agreeing with some of their thoughts.
The plot twists and turns and it was amusing to see how certain characters intertwined with the main characters.
The problem with listening to this, not counting the strange looks, was that I couldn’t highlight some of the real zingers. One of my favorites:
“Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the idiots.”
As I’m writing this, there’s a segment on the news about a backlash against the tech in smart houses and a desire to detox. Maybe Boyne was just a little prescient and we are slowly learning that tech isn’t always a good thing.
Richard E. Grant narrated this and did a fine job.
May 23, 2021
3.5 stars.
This is the darkly satirical story of an utterly dysfunctional family most of whom are addicted to social media. Father George Cleverley is a well known BBC chat show host, wife Beverley (yes, Beverley Cleverley!) is a novelist, eldest son Nelson is a sometime and very reluctant teacher with a penchant for uniforms, daughter Elizabeth’s greatest desire is to be a social media influencer and the youngest Achilles is onto blackmail just for a laugh -oh also the cash. George and Beverley are at a crossroad in their relationship and also with their repugnant offspring.
The characterisation is the strongest element of the book as all are depicted with sharp and startling clarity but it’s hard to connect with characters that are so revolting although that is entirely the authors point. To describe them as narcissistic, self obsessed bigots and blinkered, blind and inattentive to each other is an understatement. They are all guilty of self deception but George in particular thinks he’s ‘Woke’ but in fact he’s in non-REM sleep as he demonstrates with breathtaking effect. Some of the satirical humour is really good with some wit and dark irony which I enjoy especially the ripple effects! However, other scenes that maybe others find funny I just think seem weird, sometimes puerile and leaves me cold as it waffles and goes into mad rambles of the kind made famous by a certain orange man and all they do is make me cringe. Ok, I admit again that’s the point but I don’t have to like it!!! There are some devastatingly accurate and cutting comments on a social media society and the broader ‘state of the nation’ although it’s not very subtle! It’s a dark view of society but actually very sobering as the author is right that life for some is lived through an app rather than with real contact and in oblivious unawareness of what’s going on around them.
It makes some very pertinent points about the cynicism of things that are ‘leaked’ online designed to make a ‘name for yourself’ any which way, anyhow but then it becomes a pick and mix read with parts that make my eyes roll and not in a good way. I think the author overplays his hand with the Twitter swipes as they are overblown with points hammered home with a great big unsubtle mallet. It’s repeated so often that it gets wearing and I think some swipes are personal to the author rather than in a novel. I must mention the tortoise - ‘strictly’ necessary?? Absolutely not. I do though like how important events in the family’s lives are linked to the creation of a social media platform and that is cleverl(e)y done.
Overall, it’s a mixed bag for me, some parts are devastatingly funny, acutely observed and enjoyable while others are bizarre and odd. In all honesty, I can’t say I enjoy the book though fully recognise that I may be an outlier here and it’s well worth checking out 4 and 5 star reviews to get a balance of opinion.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the arc in return for an honest review.
This was a great buddy read with my good friends Peter and Beata. I know Peter liked this one more than I did so make sure you check out his excellent review! Thank you buddies, we had a lot of fun with this one even though it wasn’t a five star read! 🥂🥂🥂
This is the darkly satirical story of an utterly dysfunctional family most of whom are addicted to social media. Father George Cleverley is a well known BBC chat show host, wife Beverley (yes, Beverley Cleverley!) is a novelist, eldest son Nelson is a sometime and very reluctant teacher with a penchant for uniforms, daughter Elizabeth’s greatest desire is to be a social media influencer and the youngest Achilles is onto blackmail just for a laugh -oh also the cash. George and Beverley are at a crossroad in their relationship and also with their repugnant offspring.
The characterisation is the strongest element of the book as all are depicted with sharp and startling clarity but it’s hard to connect with characters that are so revolting although that is entirely the authors point. To describe them as narcissistic, self obsessed bigots and blinkered, blind and inattentive to each other is an understatement. They are all guilty of self deception but George in particular thinks he’s ‘Woke’ but in fact he’s in non-REM sleep as he demonstrates with breathtaking effect. Some of the satirical humour is really good with some wit and dark irony which I enjoy especially the ripple effects! However, other scenes that maybe others find funny I just think seem weird, sometimes puerile and leaves me cold as it waffles and goes into mad rambles of the kind made famous by a certain orange man and all they do is make me cringe. Ok, I admit again that’s the point but I don’t have to like it!!! There are some devastatingly accurate and cutting comments on a social media society and the broader ‘state of the nation’ although it’s not very subtle! It’s a dark view of society but actually very sobering as the author is right that life for some is lived through an app rather than with real contact and in oblivious unawareness of what’s going on around them.
It makes some very pertinent points about the cynicism of things that are ‘leaked’ online designed to make a ‘name for yourself’ any which way, anyhow but then it becomes a pick and mix read with parts that make my eyes roll and not in a good way. I think the author overplays his hand with the Twitter swipes as they are overblown with points hammered home with a great big unsubtle mallet. It’s repeated so often that it gets wearing and I think some swipes are personal to the author rather than in a novel. I must mention the tortoise - ‘strictly’ necessary?? Absolutely not. I do though like how important events in the family’s lives are linked to the creation of a social media platform and that is cleverl(e)y done.
Overall, it’s a mixed bag for me, some parts are devastatingly funny, acutely observed and enjoyable while others are bizarre and odd. In all honesty, I can’t say I enjoy the book though fully recognise that I may be an outlier here and it’s well worth checking out 4 and 5 star reviews to get a balance of opinion.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the arc in return for an honest review.
This was a great buddy read with my good friends Peter and Beata. I know Peter liked this one more than I did so make sure you check out his excellent review! Thank you buddies, we had a lot of fun with this one even though it wasn’t a five star read! 🥂🥂🥂
October 11, 2021
My first read by John Boyne was an absolute comedy delight. A 'laugh out loud' experience that I enjoyed immensely. But, it was also relevant, ironic., and a scary reminder of just how dependent, obsessed and addicted we are as a culture to our smart devices. The characters were spoiled and pampered, and behaved badly, but I couldn't help feeling some empathy for their escalating situations and naivety.. I definitely plan to read more by this author.
September 10, 2022
4+ Quite a departure for Boyne here, at least compared to the novels of his I have read. Seems he has drawn on his inner snarkiness to give us a tale about the ridiculous of our social media addicted society. Where real life, nature, reading actual books, taking to people in person has given way to a life of clicks and likes. Where self esteem is measured by how popular one is and a warm fuzzy feeling can be had by the application of a blue checkmark.
A very unlikable, though maybe recognizable family for the most part, though they hadn't always been that way. The tangled mess they get in series to show how far we have as a society, fallen into the trap of instantaneous gratification and how ridiculous and extreme it has become.
A great deal of humor, cynicism and irony. A great moral fable but one that too many won't heed.
So, to keep with the theme of this story or some people's alternate reality,
#culturewars
#apsforeverything
#pronounconfusion
#socialmediaaddicted
#entitled
#cancelled
A very unlikable, though maybe recognizable family for the most part, though they hadn't always been that way. The tangled mess they get in series to show how far we have as a society, fallen into the trap of instantaneous gratification and how ridiculous and extreme it has become.
A great deal of humor, cynicism and irony. A great moral fable but one that too many won't heed.
So, to keep with the theme of this story or some people's alternate reality,
#culturewars
#apsforeverything
#pronounconfusion
#socialmediaaddicted
#entitled
#cancelled
June 7, 2022
3.5
Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots.' UMBERTO ECO"
John Boyne's novel is a social satire that lambasts the social media frenzy and the damage it causes. The story centers on a dysfunctional upper-class British family, the Cleverlys. The father, George Cleverly, age 60, is a BBC talk show host, and his wife, Beverly Cleverly, is a writer of romance novels. Their three grown children, Nelson, Elizabeth, and Achilles, are all i=ridiculous in their own ways.
I am a fan of John Boyne, and The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel I enjoyed immensely. However, I found the Echo Chamber disappointing.
There are great, laugh-aloud moments of social satire, but the characters are unsympathetic, and the book is too long and becomes repetitive.
Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots.' UMBERTO ECO"
John Boyne's novel is a social satire that lambasts the social media frenzy and the damage it causes. The story centers on a dysfunctional upper-class British family, the Cleverlys. The father, George Cleverly, age 60, is a BBC talk show host, and his wife, Beverly Cleverly, is a writer of romance novels. Their three grown children, Nelson, Elizabeth, and Achilles, are all i=ridiculous in their own ways.
I am a fan of John Boyne, and The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel I enjoyed immensely. However, I found the Echo Chamber disappointing.
There are great, laugh-aloud moments of social satire, but the characters are unsympathetic, and the book is too long and becomes repetitive.
October 9, 2024
John Boyne's The Echo Chamber is an absolute hoot. Haven't laughed this hard in a long time. A definite re-listen.
Narrator Richard E. Grant's performance is perfection. His voice inflections and accents dazzled as he flawlessly brought all of these quirky, self-absorbed, and (somehow) lovable family of characters to life. Simply spectacular.
Highly recommend for a fantastic laugh out loud spoof on Americana.
Narrator Richard E. Grant's performance is perfection. His voice inflections and accents dazzled as he flawlessly brought all of these quirky, self-absorbed, and (somehow) lovable family of characters to life. Simply spectacular.
Highly recommend for a fantastic laugh out loud spoof on Americana.
January 5, 2022
Well, what can you expect when a novel starts out with Umberto Eco's words:
And before the reader recovered, I mean, I immediately felt offended, another quote is shot into our unsuspecting orbits:
Here we go, I thought. Buckle up, let's do it.
The awful truth of contemporary life. John Boyne had me in smiles and here and there a good giggle with this satire. Or rather, his social commentary on current trends. What a great stand-up gig this could be.
Well, it happens when the spotlight is switched on over society, regardless of the location or occasion. In this case it is social media, and the mad place it can become for most people. We are all aware of suicides, cyber bullying, echo chambers, and what not destroying people's lives. The survival of the fittest doesn't count anymore. Here bullying and the cancel culture dictates the narrative. Guilty until proven innocent. A hit-and-run mob of keyboard warriors targeting whomever they feel like. As an afterthought, one can add the mighty tech companies overruling governments and democracy. Yep, we live in delightful times. A song and a dance, my friend.
Why we still prefer to call this family, the Cleverleys, dysfunctional, is beyond me. We, and they, are as normal nowadays as can come. We, they, are the norm, not the exception: arrogant, narcissistic, entitled, obnoxious, apathetic, pathetic. This novel is as funny as it is sad. And riveting. Entertaining and completely compelling! What a hoot we are in 2021.
How many readers recognize ourselves in Elizabeth Cleverley, the almighty 'influencer', in the family:
Poor girl:
The main peanut in the packet for me, however, was Beverley Cleverley's final words: (paraphrased): Alexander Graham Bell, the fucker, has a lot to answer for.
I mean, What!!!????? REALLY????!!!! Drum-roll here: they were all victims of Alexander Graham Bell! His fault. I cracked up completely. Please forgive me. The satire was just too good. Too poignant. Too spot-on.
Boyne comments on good writing: Well, (according to cleverley beverley in conversation with her ghost) a novel must have good sentences that gather together to make fascinating paragraphs ...
... art must imitate life and, in life I find there are the categories into which most people fall.
He does it throughout the novel, which elevates this saga to something higher than just a send-up in bouts of laughter of our own madness.
The bottom line: don't read this tragicomedy if you take yourself too seriously. It will hurt. Badly and bigley - and I'm laughing again.
Five stars for your guts, John Boyne. Loved it. Comedy is alive and well. Thank goodness. Oops, you might be cancelled for this one.
Farcical? Find out for yourself. We do not stand on the peripheries here. We're facing a mirror. It's difficult to laugh at ourselves. But sometimes it's a good thing.
Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. Then they were quickly silenced, but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots.
And before the reader recovered, I mean, I immediately felt offended, another quote is shot into our unsuspecting orbits:
'The snowflake never needs to feel responsible for the avalanche.' by Jon Ronson.
Here we go, I thought. Buckle up, let's do it.
The awful truth of contemporary life. John Boyne had me in smiles and here and there a good giggle with this satire. Or rather, his social commentary on current trends. What a great stand-up gig this could be.
Well, it happens when the spotlight is switched on over society, regardless of the location or occasion. In this case it is social media, and the mad place it can become for most people. We are all aware of suicides, cyber bullying, echo chambers, and what not destroying people's lives. The survival of the fittest doesn't count anymore. Here bullying and the cancel culture dictates the narrative. Guilty until proven innocent. A hit-and-run mob of keyboard warriors targeting whomever they feel like. As an afterthought, one can add the mighty tech companies overruling governments and democracy. Yep, we live in delightful times. A song and a dance, my friend.
Why we still prefer to call this family, the Cleverleys, dysfunctional, is beyond me. We, and they, are as normal nowadays as can come. We, they, are the norm, not the exception: arrogant, narcissistic, entitled, obnoxious, apathetic, pathetic. This novel is as funny as it is sad. And riveting. Entertaining and completely compelling! What a hoot we are in 2021.
How many readers recognize ourselves in Elizabeth Cleverley, the almighty 'influencer', in the family:
“Why, she asked herself, did she not feel validated as a human being unless strangers were listening to her, commenting on her, liking her? This small piece of plastic and computer circuitry sitting before her had taken control over her life. Would she even exist if it didn’t?”
Poor girl:
It's not that I don't want to work, said Elizabeth, 'I just don't think that it is the right thing for me. I can't be stifled, you know? I'm not the kind of person who can just take the Tube into some office every morning. Like, I'm really creative and individual and spiritual. I need time to just do me.
The main peanut in the packet for me, however, was Beverley Cleverley's final words: (paraphrased): Alexander Graham Bell, the fucker, has a lot to answer for.
I mean, What!!!????? REALLY????!!!! Drum-roll here: they were all victims of Alexander Graham Bell! His fault. I cracked up completely. Please forgive me. The satire was just too good. Too poignant. Too spot-on.
Boyne comments on good writing: Well, (according to cleverley beverley in conversation with her ghost) a novel must have good sentences that gather together to make fascinating paragraphs ...
... art must imitate life and, in life I find there are the categories into which most people fall.
He does it throughout the novel, which elevates this saga to something higher than just a send-up in bouts of laughter of our own madness.
The bottom line: don't read this tragicomedy if you take yourself too seriously. It will hurt. Badly and bigley - and I'm laughing again.
Five stars for your guts, John Boyne. Loved it. Comedy is alive and well. Thank goodness. Oops, you might be cancelled for this one.
Farcical? Find out for yourself. We do not stand on the peripheries here. We're facing a mirror. It's difficult to laugh at ourselves. But sometimes it's a good thing.
November 25, 2021
Last year I named John Boyne my author of the year.
He is, without any doubt, a terrific writer.
I do recommend his books.
But if you had read his previous books, be prepared for this one. It’s nothing like what he has written before.
Although skillfully written, this is one of those books that you need to be careful not to judge it badly just because you hate all the characters.
It’s mostly around the horrible (evil) world of social media.
My first impression when I started reading was that the author was very angry with the world when he came up with the concept of this book. I could feel that anger jumping out of the pages.
There is plenty of dialogues that should be considered funny, but I couldn’t stop feeling the author’s anger.
And, in my opinion, I’m afraid that at the end, all that humour became farcical.
He does touch lots of important topics and I do think that it is a great read, but I’m absolutely sure that this book will not please the majority of readers.
I confess that I felt tempted quitting the book just because of those characters.
What a shallow world they live in.
Thanks to great reviewers, especially the one written by Peter, I was able to read this book in full and I’m glad I did.
Believe me. John Boyne is an excellent writer.
PS. I have never heard of a ghost writer. Is that a real thing? If so, it could explain why some of my favourite authors seems to have lost that touch.
He is, without any doubt, a terrific writer.
I do recommend his books.
But if you had read his previous books, be prepared for this one. It’s nothing like what he has written before.
Although skillfully written, this is one of those books that you need to be careful not to judge it badly just because you hate all the characters.
It’s mostly around the horrible (evil) world of social media.
My first impression when I started reading was that the author was very angry with the world when he came up with the concept of this book. I could feel that anger jumping out of the pages.
There is plenty of dialogues that should be considered funny, but I couldn’t stop feeling the author’s anger.
And, in my opinion, I’m afraid that at the end, all that humour became farcical.
He does touch lots of important topics and I do think that it is a great read, but I’m absolutely sure that this book will not please the majority of readers.
I confess that I felt tempted quitting the book just because of those characters.
What a shallow world they live in.
Thanks to great reviewers, especially the one written by Peter, I was able to read this book in full and I’m glad I did.
Believe me. John Boyne is an excellent writer.
PS. I have never heard of a ghost writer. Is that a real thing? If so, it could explain why some of my favourite authors seems to have lost that touch.
July 8, 2021
3.5
I like satire, so when presented with the opportunity to read the latest from John Boyne, I jumped at the opportunity.
I use social media every day - Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family, Twitter for politics/news/current events, Goodreads for the obvious reason, Instagram now and then to post some of my photos. I am well aware of the hoo-ha about cancel culture. I can't help but notice that those bemoaning it are, generally speaking, people who have had platforms and a certain privilege. On many occasions, their misbehaviour, inc sexual abuse, and other transgressions come out to light. I'm not a big fan of people digging out past comments from when one was a teenager - we're supposed to grow, learn and change, so we should allow people the benefit of the doubt for past jokes and other misdemeanors.
As with most things, it's how you use them.
Boyne has chosen the Cleverleys to drive his views on social media and society. The patriarch, George Cleverley, is a famous BBC presenter with over thirty years in the public's eye. He's got clout. He thinks of himself as the most wonderful, measured, generous public figure. His wife, Beverley Cleverley, is a successful romance novel author. Well, she uses ghostwriters, but she still thinks of herself as a terrific writer. They have three children who still live at home, in their multi-million pound home. Nelson, the eldest, is a twenty-two teacher, a neurotic virgin, who is seeking help from therapists. His sister, Elizabeth, is attached to her phone, she thinks herself an influencer. She takes great pleasure from bullying people online under her second Twitter account. Then there's the handsome, sociopathic Achilles, seventeen. He enjoys blackmailing unassuming middle-aged men. This is one affluent dysfunctional family, none of its members has any insight or self-awareness. It was very easy to hate the Cleverleys. Which I thought was problematic. They were too cartoonish. I would have appreciated this novel more if Boyne had been less obvious and had made the Cleverleys slightly less obnoxious.
While reading this novel, I found myself wondering if Boyne had had any bones to pick with people on Twitter, because the messaging was a little too obvious. Google provided me with the answer. My suspicions were correct.
That's not to say that there weren't some very funny moments, among the many ridiculous situations and occasionally grating monologues. I particularly enjoyed his comments on certain very popular TV shows.
To conclude my ramblings, this novel will appeal to some people more than others, depending on where you find yourself on the woke/outrage scale. I like to think that I'm self-aware and woke enough not to take the jabs personally, especially since they were occasionally warranted.
I just like my baddies to be more nuanced and the novels less obviously message-y, which I realise is a contradiction when it comes to satire.
Kudos to Boyne for writing this novel, it showcases the breadth of his talent.
I've received the ARC from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.
I like satire, so when presented with the opportunity to read the latest from John Boyne, I jumped at the opportunity.
I use social media every day - Facebook for keeping in touch with friends and family, Twitter for politics/news/current events, Goodreads for the obvious reason, Instagram now and then to post some of my photos. I am well aware of the hoo-ha about cancel culture. I can't help but notice that those bemoaning it are, generally speaking, people who have had platforms and a certain privilege. On many occasions, their misbehaviour, inc sexual abuse, and other transgressions come out to light. I'm not a big fan of people digging out past comments from when one was a teenager - we're supposed to grow, learn and change, so we should allow people the benefit of the doubt for past jokes and other misdemeanors.
As with most things, it's how you use them.
Boyne has chosen the Cleverleys to drive his views on social media and society. The patriarch, George Cleverley, is a famous BBC presenter with over thirty years in the public's eye. He's got clout. He thinks of himself as the most wonderful, measured, generous public figure. His wife, Beverley Cleverley, is a successful romance novel author. Well, she uses ghostwriters, but she still thinks of herself as a terrific writer. They have three children who still live at home, in their multi-million pound home. Nelson, the eldest, is a twenty-two teacher, a neurotic virgin, who is seeking help from therapists. His sister, Elizabeth, is attached to her phone, she thinks herself an influencer. She takes great pleasure from bullying people online under her second Twitter account. Then there's the handsome, sociopathic Achilles, seventeen. He enjoys blackmailing unassuming middle-aged men. This is one affluent dysfunctional family, none of its members has any insight or self-awareness. It was very easy to hate the Cleverleys. Which I thought was problematic. They were too cartoonish. I would have appreciated this novel more if Boyne had been less obvious and had made the Cleverleys slightly less obnoxious.
While reading this novel, I found myself wondering if Boyne had had any bones to pick with people on Twitter, because the messaging was a little too obvious. Google provided me with the answer. My suspicions were correct.
That's not to say that there weren't some very funny moments, among the many ridiculous situations and occasionally grating monologues. I particularly enjoyed his comments on certain very popular TV shows.
To conclude my ramblings, this novel will appeal to some people more than others, depending on where you find yourself on the woke/outrage scale. I like to think that I'm self-aware and woke enough not to take the jabs personally, especially since they were occasionally warranted.
I just like my baddies to be more nuanced and the novels less obviously message-y, which I realise is a contradiction when it comes to satire.
Kudos to Boyne for writing this novel, it showcases the breadth of his talent.
I've received the ARC from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.
May 9, 2021
‘Speaking as a mother’ (one of the novel’s in-jokes) this is the most devastatingly accurate ‘current state of the nation’ novel that I have read so far this year - so spot-on in fact, that it almost risks being banned by the Woke crowd that it satirises - luckily they are beyond understanding satire.
And what an unexpected departure this is from the author’s previous novels, none of which prepared me for this complete change in style - and so much for the better, in my opinion. Here he displays a total mastery of the Irish satirical tradition - with touches of Flann O’Brien’s genius - and as with O’Brien’s storytelling, the plot doesn’t really matter - it's the effervescent use of language, the witty punning and inventive turn of phrase that make his writing such a joy and laugh out loud funny.
As well as the satire, his wonderfully oddball cast of characters engage in the whip-smart sizzling dialogue of the old Hollywood movies, as the whole thing descends into glorious farce.
I loved it, and hope we can expect more of the same from this amazingly versatile author.
Many thanks for the ARC from the publisher via NetGalley
And what an unexpected departure this is from the author’s previous novels, none of which prepared me for this complete change in style - and so much for the better, in my opinion. Here he displays a total mastery of the Irish satirical tradition - with touches of Flann O’Brien’s genius - and as with O’Brien’s storytelling, the plot doesn’t really matter - it's the effervescent use of language, the witty punning and inventive turn of phrase that make his writing such a joy and laugh out loud funny.
As well as the satire, his wonderfully oddball cast of characters engage in the whip-smart sizzling dialogue of the old Hollywood movies, as the whole thing descends into glorious farce.
I loved it, and hope we can expect more of the same from this amazingly versatile author.
Many thanks for the ARC from the publisher via NetGalley
December 4, 2022
I never thought I'd see the day where I would give a John Boyne book two stars. Boyne has written some amazing fiction over the years, one of my favourites being The Heart's Invisible Furies. It honestly blew my mind. I mean, was The Echo Chamber even written by Boyne himself? It certainly didn't feel like it.
I've read a few Boyne books, and with all of those I found that the characters are always well fleshed-out, interesting and even rather relatable, but in this book, I disliked every single one of them. The Cleverley's, all five of them, were entirely unbelievable and hideously bombastic.
George Cleverley, is a BBC TV presenter that enjoys the heat of Twitter, and dipping his bread in someone other than his wife, Beverley Cleverley, who is a low-key author that gets ghosts to write her books instead of herself, and in her spare time enjoys sitting astride her Ukrainian fling that secretly sleeps with anything that moves. We also have Elizabeth, that does nothing but scroll through social media all day and troll people online, usually while masturbating. Nelson spends all of his energy hiding his sexuality so has little time for anything else, and Achilles enjoys blackmailing older males for money on order to get a date. And that's literally it, that is as far as the characters go.
I understand that Boyne was attempting to put a modern twist on this, speaking of the problematic issues of social media, but this, this was too much to endure. The plot was literally all over the place, often leaving me feeling dissatisfied, and with every turn of the page, I felt irritation with the stupidity of the characters. I felt no love here.
More than disappointment I feel sadness, because Boyne has delivered some wonderful writing, some of which I'll probably return to, but unfortunately, this one is off to the charity shop.
Sorry, John.
I've read a few Boyne books, and with all of those I found that the characters are always well fleshed-out, interesting and even rather relatable, but in this book, I disliked every single one of them. The Cleverley's, all five of them, were entirely unbelievable and hideously bombastic.
George Cleverley, is a BBC TV presenter that enjoys the heat of Twitter, and dipping his bread in someone other than his wife, Beverley Cleverley, who is a low-key author that gets ghosts to write her books instead of herself, and in her spare time enjoys sitting astride her Ukrainian fling that secretly sleeps with anything that moves. We also have Elizabeth, that does nothing but scroll through social media all day and troll people online, usually while masturbating. Nelson spends all of his energy hiding his sexuality so has little time for anything else, and Achilles enjoys blackmailing older males for money on order to get a date. And that's literally it, that is as far as the characters go.
I understand that Boyne was attempting to put a modern twist on this, speaking of the problematic issues of social media, but this, this was too much to endure. The plot was literally all over the place, often leaving me feeling dissatisfied, and with every turn of the page, I felt irritation with the stupidity of the characters. I felt no love here.
More than disappointment I feel sadness, because Boyne has delivered some wonderful writing, some of which I'll probably return to, but unfortunately, this one is off to the charity shop.
Sorry, John.
April 7, 2021
An entertaining read by author John Boyne featuring the dysfunctional family ‘ The Cleverley’s’. Father George works for the BBC as a chat show host and is regarded by many as a national treasure. His wife Beverley is a successful novelist who has now started to take on ghost writers to do the writing for her. Their three children Nelson, Elizabeth and Achilles all come with issues and are happy to live in the family house rather than face the outside world.
The story follows each of the family members as they go through their far from normal lives creating havoc where ever they go. The story is told through these wonderful characters with a lot of humour and wit and will leave you smiling. Well written, great characters and lots of fun making this an entertaining read.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows each of the family members as they go through their far from normal lives creating havoc where ever they go. The story is told through these wonderful characters with a lot of humour and wit and will leave you smiling. Well written, great characters and lots of fun making this an entertaining read.
I would like to thank both Netgalley and Random House UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
February 23, 2025
Browsing the new release shelf at the library I stumbled upon it and after reading the summary checked it out. Unlike most of his stories, Boyne calls upon his Brit sense of humor poking fun at today's society. A laugh out loud experience, we're introduced to the Cleverly family, George and Beverly as well as children, Elizabeth, Achilles and Neville.
A popular BBC personality, George's notoriety and long career affords his family a level of affluence few achieve. His wife Beverly Cleverly is a best selling author of 'junk romance' novels she creates through use of a 'ghost' writer. With George and Beverly out of touch with reality, parenting and politically correct mindsets, they're not exactly the best role models for the kids, who happen to live at home. And this is where the rubber meets the road.
The youngest of the three, the 17 year old Achilles extorts money from older men that want to ravage him. A middle child at 20, Elizabeth is all about social media followers and like most is glued to her phone. Neville, the oldest is a frustrated teacher who dives into speed dating and in the process discovers he's gay.
George has problems with commentary especially where sexual identity is concerned. Beverly's problem is her highly opinionated stodginess; Achilles a soon-to be-criminal and Neville.. Mr. Ripley has nothing on him! And what about the smart phone strapped to the tortoise? Read the book and find out :)
A sarcastic romp, Boyne demonstrates their disconnection with humanity, family dysfunction, phone addiction and how easy society misinterprets comments. The phrase 'Lose Lips Sink Ships' is one that will come to mind as you make your way through the labyrinth.
A fan of humor, this was by FAR the funniest book I've read and will definitely be reading it again. Having only read one of his others, I would hope Boyne will continue to use his unbridled sense of humor in the future! If you want to take a break from mysteries, romance or horror and laugh out loud, make sure to add it to your list
A popular BBC personality, George's notoriety and long career affords his family a level of affluence few achieve. His wife Beverly Cleverly is a best selling author of 'junk romance' novels she creates through use of a 'ghost' writer. With George and Beverly out of touch with reality, parenting and politically correct mindsets, they're not exactly the best role models for the kids, who happen to live at home. And this is where the rubber meets the road.
The youngest of the three, the 17 year old Achilles extorts money from older men that want to ravage him. A middle child at 20, Elizabeth is all about social media followers and like most is glued to her phone. Neville, the oldest is a frustrated teacher who dives into speed dating and in the process discovers he's gay.
George has problems with commentary especially where sexual identity is concerned. Beverly's problem is her highly opinionated stodginess; Achilles a soon-to be-criminal and Neville.. Mr. Ripley has nothing on him! And what about the smart phone strapped to the tortoise? Read the book and find out :)
A sarcastic romp, Boyne demonstrates their disconnection with humanity, family dysfunction, phone addiction and how easy society misinterprets comments. The phrase 'Lose Lips Sink Ships' is one that will come to mind as you make your way through the labyrinth.
A fan of humor, this was by FAR the funniest book I've read and will definitely be reading it again. Having only read one of his others, I would hope Boyne will continue to use his unbridled sense of humor in the future! If you want to take a break from mysteries, romance or horror and laugh out loud, make sure to add it to your list
May 14, 2021
So firstly I'd like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy.
Then I would just like to state that I have been a big fan of Boynes previous works and as a result I was VERY excited when I received this copy.
And that, unfortunately is where it went downhill from.
The character of George Cleverley was very on the nose, but I'll come back to him.
I actually found the dimwitted nature of some of the Cleverley family, Beverley for example was actually quite entertaining at parts to read. The thing was though is that it's TOO much - like this is obviously a satirical take on cancel culture - but in my opinion it was a bit loud, if this book was a bit more subtle in it's humour I think it would have been funnier. To be completely honest, the way it's written just feels like a toddler having a temper tantrum.
So based on that I probably would have given this book like, a 3/5 review. But the character of George Cleverley was just Boyne throwing the toys out of his pram over his own social media run-in and it was just a little bit embarrassing tbh.
So George Cleverley identifies as a left-wing liberal, always has been, etc etc. He lands himself in some hot water after deadnaming and misgendering a trans receptionist, Nadia and congratulating her on social media on her transition. But he complains "I was trying to support the trans community" and does not take criticism when he's told he did it wrong. Sound familiar to anyone??? Hmm???
After the controversy surrounding Boyne's previous release where he tried to represent the trans community (and to give him the benefit of the doubt - maybe his heart was in the right place?), He was told he was doing an injustice to the trans community in the way he represented it, but instead of apologizing and educating himself, honestly it feels like he wrote this entire book as an "f you" to the "Permanently Outraged on Twitter" as he calls them in this book.
Overall, I must say I have really enjoyed Boyne's past books - as mentioned earlier. I think his writing is good. But what I think an author needs to understand is that if they are going to write a book about a certain community, he does not necessarily have to be a part of that community but does have a certain responsibility to get their inputs and experiences BEFORE writing a whole book about them. Or at the very least, accept the criticism, put your hand up and say "my bad". Not denouncing the entire idea of "cis" as he did.
This book just felt like John Boyne got annoyed he was targeted on twitter for his wrongdoings and thinks by taking the mick out of them, he's going to regain some personal pride or something. I dunno. I will be telling people to avoid this one for sure.
Then I would just like to state that I have been a big fan of Boynes previous works and as a result I was VERY excited when I received this copy.
And that, unfortunately is where it went downhill from.
The character of George Cleverley was very on the nose, but I'll come back to him.
I actually found the dimwitted nature of some of the Cleverley family, Beverley for example was actually quite entertaining at parts to read. The thing was though is that it's TOO much - like this is obviously a satirical take on cancel culture - but in my opinion it was a bit loud, if this book was a bit more subtle in it's humour I think it would have been funnier. To be completely honest, the way it's written just feels like a toddler having a temper tantrum.
So based on that I probably would have given this book like, a 3/5 review. But the character of George Cleverley was just Boyne throwing the toys out of his pram over his own social media run-in and it was just a little bit embarrassing tbh.
So George Cleverley identifies as a left-wing liberal, always has been, etc etc. He lands himself in some hot water after deadnaming and misgendering a trans receptionist, Nadia and congratulating her on social media on her transition. But he complains "I was trying to support the trans community" and does not take criticism when he's told he did it wrong. Sound familiar to anyone??? Hmm???
After the controversy surrounding Boyne's previous release where he tried to represent the trans community (and to give him the benefit of the doubt - maybe his heart was in the right place?), He was told he was doing an injustice to the trans community in the way he represented it, but instead of apologizing and educating himself, honestly it feels like he wrote this entire book as an "f you" to the "Permanently Outraged on Twitter" as he calls them in this book.
Overall, I must say I have really enjoyed Boyne's past books - as mentioned earlier. I think his writing is good. But what I think an author needs to understand is that if they are going to write a book about a certain community, he does not necessarily have to be a part of that community but does have a certain responsibility to get their inputs and experiences BEFORE writing a whole book about them. Or at the very least, accept the criticism, put your hand up and say "my bad". Not denouncing the entire idea of "cis" as he did.
This book just felt like John Boyne got annoyed he was targeted on twitter for his wrongdoings and thinks by taking the mick out of them, he's going to regain some personal pride or something. I dunno. I will be telling people to avoid this one for sure.
September 6, 2021
Before I began this review my initial first thought on John Boyne’s latest novel is:
This is going to make a lot of people angry.
Then I changed it to:
This will make certain people angry.
Being in my early 40’s I have seen the rise of the World Wide Web and the introduction of social media sites: Hi5, Myspace, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (sorry I never liked Snapchat and I just can’t get into Tik Tok – yet) However in the past two years, especially on Twitter and Instagram stories I’ve noticed a new breed of people cropping up; they are self-righteous, quick to act aggressive if an opinion does not match with theirs and get all their education from memes, which they share and follow as the gospel truth. Furthermore copies are now scared of these people so when someone voices an opinion that is ‘wrong’ that person may be out of a job as that company does not want their reputation tarnished.
These Twitter-folk are the basis of John Boyne’s The Echo Chamber. The story itself is simple: TV personality, George Cleverley, mistakenly uses the wrong pronoun when speaking about a transwoman on Twitter. This erupts into an internet scandal of colossal proportions. Meanwhile the rest of The Cleverley family also have their problems; Beverley, George’s wife is an author of pulpy romances who does not write her own books, Daughter Elizabeth lives for social media, alongside her woke boyfriend Wilkes, although the former shitposts on witter under a pseudonym, son Nelson has problems accepting his sexuality and youngest son, Achilles is a con artist. With the exception of Beverley and Nelson , social media plays a big role in these people’s lives, however they all suffer the brunt of it.
Although John Boyne’s message is clear : Social Media is basically a method for a lot of people to validate their existence get rid of it and life will be better, he does not take sides. Take Wilkes. I have met a TON of people like him – righteous, does stuff for social media, wants to be gender fluid but one can see it’s because he thinks it’s fashionable (before anyone says something may I remind you that Bernardine Evaristo talks about the same thing in Girl, Woman Others ) and yet by the end of the book he comes to a realization and redeems himself. All the Cleverleys are not the best people but they learn and try to improve. I do like that sort of balance.
As the book is a satire, there are a lot of laughs but if one digs a bit, one can see that The Echo Chamber is about a lot of serious topics, ranging from sexism in the media, the lack of education in younger generations, being an authentic author to politics. There’s a lot going but John Boyne is a skilled writer and the book is a page turner. Incidentally satirist Jonathan Coe gets a side mention and I can see why. Jonathan Coe as also satirized the influence of media in both What a Carve up! and Number Eleven, I would dare say that The Echo Chamber is a natural successor.
I felt a lot of anger in The Echo Chamber (it is actually based on events John Boyne went through due to a book he published) and I related to these sentiments as well. I also feel that there is a nasty side to social media and no matter how hard I try to avoid it, I constantly am tired of the righteous preaching and name calling. Obviously it can be used positively (I have had authors contact me which brought some wonderful books into my life) but I still feel that there is a long way to go. A lot of people may be annoyed at The Echo Chamber but if it helps them realise that their behaviour is toxic then that’s always a good thing.
This is going to make a lot of people angry.
Then I changed it to:
This will make certain people angry.
Being in my early 40’s I have seen the rise of the World Wide Web and the introduction of social media sites: Hi5, Myspace, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (sorry I never liked Snapchat and I just can’t get into Tik Tok – yet) However in the past two years, especially on Twitter and Instagram stories I’ve noticed a new breed of people cropping up; they are self-righteous, quick to act aggressive if an opinion does not match with theirs and get all their education from memes, which they share and follow as the gospel truth. Furthermore copies are now scared of these people so when someone voices an opinion that is ‘wrong’ that person may be out of a job as that company does not want their reputation tarnished.
These Twitter-folk are the basis of John Boyne’s The Echo Chamber. The story itself is simple: TV personality, George Cleverley, mistakenly uses the wrong pronoun when speaking about a transwoman on Twitter. This erupts into an internet scandal of colossal proportions. Meanwhile the rest of The Cleverley family also have their problems; Beverley, George’s wife is an author of pulpy romances who does not write her own books, Daughter Elizabeth lives for social media, alongside her woke boyfriend Wilkes, although the former shitposts on witter under a pseudonym, son Nelson has problems accepting his sexuality and youngest son, Achilles is a con artist. With the exception of Beverley and Nelson , social media plays a big role in these people’s lives, however they all suffer the brunt of it.
Although John Boyne’s message is clear : Social Media is basically a method for a lot of people to validate their existence get rid of it and life will be better, he does not take sides. Take Wilkes. I have met a TON of people like him – righteous, does stuff for social media, wants to be gender fluid but one can see it’s because he thinks it’s fashionable (before anyone says something may I remind you that Bernardine Evaristo talks about the same thing in Girl, Woman Others ) and yet by the end of the book he comes to a realization and redeems himself. All the Cleverleys are not the best people but they learn and try to improve. I do like that sort of balance.
As the book is a satire, there are a lot of laughs but if one digs a bit, one can see that The Echo Chamber is about a lot of serious topics, ranging from sexism in the media, the lack of education in younger generations, being an authentic author to politics. There’s a lot going but John Boyne is a skilled writer and the book is a page turner. Incidentally satirist Jonathan Coe gets a side mention and I can see why. Jonathan Coe as also satirized the influence of media in both What a Carve up! and Number Eleven, I would dare say that The Echo Chamber is a natural successor.
I felt a lot of anger in The Echo Chamber (it is actually based on events John Boyne went through due to a book he published) and I related to these sentiments as well. I also feel that there is a nasty side to social media and no matter how hard I try to avoid it, I constantly am tired of the righteous preaching and name calling. Obviously it can be used positively (I have had authors contact me which brought some wonderful books into my life) but I still feel that there is a long way to go. A lot of people may be annoyed at The Echo Chamber but if it helps them realise that their behaviour is toxic then that’s always a good thing.
April 24, 2021
If I hadn’t known this was written by John Boyne, I wouldn’t have guessed. All credit to him for having the talent to write such different books. This is just so funny - a state-of-the-nation satire, poking fun at people’s reliance on social media platforms for personal affirmation or mischief-making. It hinges on five members of one family, brilliantly created, distinctive characters, coming a cropper for one reason or another as they try to navigate the absurdities of the modern world. I was particularly tickled by George’s experiences at the BBC, especially his disciplinary meeting. Great dialogue carries the whole thing along at a cracking pace.
For most of the book I was going to award 4 stars, but am bumping that up to 5 just for the ending and where they all end up, close to my heart. Highly recommended and I can’t wait to see what JB tackles next.
With thanks to Random House, Doubleday via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
For most of the book I was going to award 4 stars, but am bumping that up to 5 just for the ending and where they all end up, close to my heart. Highly recommended and I can’t wait to see what JB tackles next.
With thanks to Random House, Doubleday via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
January 16, 2023
I absolutely love John Boyne. This one was a bit of a swerve for him. It’s a satire about how phones and social media have created a society full of idiots, nasty trolls and attention-seekers. It’s about woke-culture and how careful we have to be to not get “canceled.” He’s spot on. It’s not a pretty picture. . . Said as I type my review on a social media platform after having scrolled through Facebook and Instagram. 😂😂😂
October 9, 2021
Ouch, the satire is sharp in this one!
We are introduced to the Cleverly family:
George is a successful TV presenter who considers himself a ‘National Treasure’, a liberal at heart, success and privilege has turned him into a narcissistic dinosaur.
Beverly once wrote a bestselling romance novel and now thinks giving ideas to a ghost writer makes her an author.
They have 3 children Nelson a socially inept teacher, Elizabeth an unemployed young adult whose self-worth is dependent on her social media status, and Achilles an indolent 17-year old who uses his charm and good-looks to black mail vulnerable men.
We follow the Cleverlys as they stumble through life lacking insight and empathy, concerned only with how their actions affect themselves. It is a theatre of horrors yet occasionally the author flashes back to their earlier life, pre-social media, when they were still a caring family.
In his previous books I have enjoyed John Boyne’s beautiful, flowing prose as he brings us an understanding of his flawed but likeable characters.
Here there is no one to love, except maybe Ustym Karmaliuk the tortoise, and yet the author still manages to create believable characters.
Mr Boyne uses his writing skills to appeal to our reason, not our hearts, as he mocks modern wokeness and the addiction to social media.
And among the broad strokes of satire and some truly appalling behavior we have a marvelous scene when George, surrounded by ‘woke’ colleagues berating him as he displays sincere regret for a particularly appalling remark, turns out to the only person in the room who understands just why the remark is considered so offensive. It is a not-so-gentle condemnation of the uninformed consensus of social media.
‘The POOTs . . . The Permanently Outraged of Twitter”
An entertaining, thought-provoking 4.5 stars worth.
I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
We are introduced to the Cleverly family:
George is a successful TV presenter who considers himself a ‘National Treasure’, a liberal at heart, success and privilege has turned him into a narcissistic dinosaur.
Beverly once wrote a bestselling romance novel and now thinks giving ideas to a ghost writer makes her an author.
They have 3 children Nelson a socially inept teacher, Elizabeth an unemployed young adult whose self-worth is dependent on her social media status, and Achilles an indolent 17-year old who uses his charm and good-looks to black mail vulnerable men.
We follow the Cleverlys as they stumble through life lacking insight and empathy, concerned only with how their actions affect themselves. It is a theatre of horrors yet occasionally the author flashes back to their earlier life, pre-social media, when they were still a caring family.
In his previous books I have enjoyed John Boyne’s beautiful, flowing prose as he brings us an understanding of his flawed but likeable characters.
Here there is no one to love, except maybe Ustym Karmaliuk the tortoise, and yet the author still manages to create believable characters.
Mr Boyne uses his writing skills to appeal to our reason, not our hearts, as he mocks modern wokeness and the addiction to social media.
And among the broad strokes of satire and some truly appalling behavior we have a marvelous scene when George, surrounded by ‘woke’ colleagues berating him as he displays sincere regret for a particularly appalling remark, turns out to the only person in the room who understands just why the remark is considered so offensive. It is a not-so-gentle condemnation of the uninformed consensus of social media.
‘The POOTs . . . The Permanently Outraged of Twitter”
An entertaining, thought-provoking 4.5 stars worth.
I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
August 19, 2023
Actual Rating: 4.25 Stars
I read six Boyne books so far and I enjoyed all of them. I thought The Echo Chamber won't be my cup of tea, but I am happy that I was wrong and that it was a very enjoyable read.
I am not a big fan of satire. I like funny books and humor is always a good thing to have in a book but when it is overly satirical, I tend to enjoy it less which I thought would be the case with this book. Let me make it clear that this book is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I think not many people would enjoy it as it is a bit courageous for this decade which I think was the whole point here.
The book follows the Cleverley family which is a very weird family and is certainly a dysfunctional one. The author discusses many of the moder day issues relating to social media use such as cancel culture, influencers, political correctness and the woke culture. I think the author did not hold back which is why I said it is not for everyone and I know many readers won't be comfortable reading it. I also know that this book comes from the author's own experience after writing his book "My Brother's name is Jessica" and getting lots of hate back then. This made it like this is the author's gift to those who criticized him then which is kind of salty.
But from a story point of view, I really liked the writing. Although I would have preferred some parts to be tamed a bit from the satirical point of view. I also liked the unlikable characters and how everything connects together at the end. IF I have a criticism then it is how the tortoise part was handled and I won't elaborate as I don't want to spoil it.
Summary: This is definitely a controversial book, but I get what Boyne was trying to say and I think choosing a satirical narrative was a smart move. I laughed many times reading this time and I enjoyed the unlikable characters and how everything was wrapped up at the end. I am definitely continuing my journey to read more Boyne books!
I read six Boyne books so far and I enjoyed all of them. I thought The Echo Chamber won't be my cup of tea, but I am happy that I was wrong and that it was a very enjoyable read.
I am not a big fan of satire. I like funny books and humor is always a good thing to have in a book but when it is overly satirical, I tend to enjoy it less which I thought would be the case with this book. Let me make it clear that this book is definitely not for everyone. In fact, I think not many people would enjoy it as it is a bit courageous for this decade which I think was the whole point here.
The book follows the Cleverley family which is a very weird family and is certainly a dysfunctional one. The author discusses many of the moder day issues relating to social media use such as cancel culture, influencers, political correctness and the woke culture. I think the author did not hold back which is why I said it is not for everyone and I know many readers won't be comfortable reading it. I also know that this book comes from the author's own experience after writing his book "My Brother's name is Jessica" and getting lots of hate back then. This made it like this is the author's gift to those who criticized him then which is kind of salty.
But from a story point of view, I really liked the writing. Although I would have preferred some parts to be tamed a bit from the satirical point of view. I also liked the unlikable characters and how everything connects together at the end. IF I have a criticism then it is how the tortoise part was handled and I won't elaborate as I don't want to spoil it.
Summary: This is definitely a controversial book, but I get what Boyne was trying to say and I think choosing a satirical narrative was a smart move. I laughed many times reading this time and I enjoyed the unlikable characters and how everything was wrapped up at the end. I am definitely continuing my journey to read more Boyne books!
September 9, 2021
This novel was brilliant. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much whilst reading a book. This is clever humour, heavy on the pop culture and political references, and so in tune with the pulse of society as it is today. The Cleverley family were absurdly magnetic, the loop of six degrees of separation bouncing between them and the extra cast of characters was hilarious and really reinforced just what a small world it can be in certain circumstances, particularly when are you are up to no good or just simply making a spectacle of yourself.
There are layers of funny to this novel that make it incredibly erudite. If you’re at all oversensitive about your phone usage and/or your social media interactions, this is not the novel for you. Nor is it suitable for keyboard warriors or those who indulge in outrage for the mere sake of simply being permanently and vocally outraged. For everyone else, it’s an excellent novel and you should absolutely read it and weep – with tears of laughter. Honestly, it’s just the best. To say anything more might lead me down the same path as the Cleverley’s. And if you want to know how that worked out, you’ll just have to read the book.
Spanning five days, the novel is broken up into five parts, each prefaced with a familial memory of the Cleverley’s from bygone days timed in sync with key developments of social media platforms. I liked this, a lot, the representation of their unravelling as a family unit as more social media platforms became available. Definitely thought provoking! And that very last scene, where Beverley Cleverley (I know, that name!) notes the subject of George’s 800 page biography – gold! What a perfect way to end a brilliant novel.
Thanks to the publisher for the copy.
There are layers of funny to this novel that make it incredibly erudite. If you’re at all oversensitive about your phone usage and/or your social media interactions, this is not the novel for you. Nor is it suitable for keyboard warriors or those who indulge in outrage for the mere sake of simply being permanently and vocally outraged. For everyone else, it’s an excellent novel and you should absolutely read it and weep – with tears of laughter. Honestly, it’s just the best. To say anything more might lead me down the same path as the Cleverley’s. And if you want to know how that worked out, you’ll just have to read the book.
Spanning five days, the novel is broken up into five parts, each prefaced with a familial memory of the Cleverley’s from bygone days timed in sync with key developments of social media platforms. I liked this, a lot, the representation of their unravelling as a family unit as more social media platforms became available. Definitely thought provoking! And that very last scene, where Beverley Cleverley (I know, that name!) notes the subject of George’s 800 page biography – gold! What a perfect way to end a brilliant novel.
Thanks to the publisher for the copy.
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