Others: Writers on the power of words to help us see beyond ourselves

by Charles Fernyhough (Editor), Leila Aboulela, Gillian Allnutt

It doesn’t take much familiarity with the news to see that the world has become a more hate-filled place. In Others, a group of writers explore the power of words to help us to see the world as others see it, and to reveal some of the strangeness of our own selves.

Through stories, poems, memoirs and essays, we look at otherness in a variety of its forms, from the dividing lines of politics and the anonymising forces of city life, through the disputed identities of disability, gender and neurodiversity, to the catastrophic imbalances of power that stands in the way of social equality.

Whether the theme is a casual act of racism or an everyday interaction with someone whose experience seems impossible to imagine, the collection challenges us to recognise our own otherness to those we would set apart as different.

Contributors include: Leila Aboulela, Gillian Allnutt, Damian Barr, Noam Chomsky, Rishi Dastidar, Peter Ho Davies, Louise Doughty, Salena Godden, Colin Grant, Sam Guglani, Matt Haig, Aamer Hussein, Anjali Joseph, A. L. Kennedy, Joanne Limburg, Rachel Mann, Tiffany Murray, Sara Nović, Edward Platt, Alex Preston, Tom Shakespeare, Kamila Shamsie, Will Storr, Preti Taneja and Marina Warner.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2019

About the author

Charles Fernyhough is a writer and psychologist. His non-fiction book about his daughter’s psychological development, The Baby in the Mirror, was published by Granta in 2008. His book on autobiographical memory, Pieces of Light (Profile, 2012) was shortlisted for the 2013 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books. His latest non-fiction book, on the voices in our heads, is published by Profile/Wellcome Collection in the UK and by Basic Books (2016) in the US. He is the editor of Others (Unbound, 2019), an anthology exploring how books and literature can show us other points of view, with net profits supporting refugee and anti-hate charities.

Charles is the author of two novels, The Auctioneer (Fourth Estate, 1999) and A Box Of Birds (Unbound, 2013). His fiction has been published in several anthologies including New Writing 11 and New Writing 14. His books have been translated into twelve languages.

Charles has written for Scientific American, LA Times, TIME Ideas, Nature, New Scientist, BBC Focus, Guardian, Observer, Financial Times, Literary Review, Sunday Telegraph, Lancet, Scotland on Sunday, Huffington Post, Daily Beast and Sydney Morning Herald. He blogs for the US magazine Psychology Today and has made numerous TV and radio appearances in the UK and US, including BBC2’s Horizon, BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, Woman’s Hour, All in the Mind and The Digital Human, and BBC World Service’s The Forum. He has acted as consultant on theatre productions on Broadway and the West End, numerous TV (BBC1 and Channel 4) and radio documentaries and several other artistic projects.

Charles is a part-time Professor of Psychology at Durham University, where he leads the interdisciplinary Hearing the Voice project, investigating the phenomenon of auditory verbal hallucinations. He has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as inner speech, memory and child development.

Reviews

[Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am giving these stars to Charles Ferynhough for imagining this powerful and vital project and for making it happen and to all my fellow contributors who have written stories and essays that are beautiful, troubling and often more revealing than they know.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Others is an insightful, inspiring and thought provoking collection of short stories, poems and real life accounts. The central theme is that of 'other'.  Those we perceive to be different to us and how this difference can shed insight on our own prejudices and truths. We read about the 'other' who doesn't conform to our rules, our culture, and as a result we learn  how we perceive ourselves to be different. We also learn how reading can shed insight into other, as we immerse ourselves in their point of view. 

This is a book that is very much time sensitive. In our current refugee crisis and the rise of the far right, this book makes you question what it actually means to be other, while making us delve deep into our own belief systems and prejudices. 

All of these stories have something important to say. They each have their own distinctive voice. But, one story in particular stood out for personal reasons  ‘We Are the Champions’ by Salena Godden  explores the relationship with the author's sister who has Williams Syndrome. I found this to be emotional, empowering and a wonderful and honest insight into how others perceive disability. It's beautifully written. 

Others showcases the power of words and stories in uniting  us all. Fundamentally, what we learn is that we aren't that different after all, and that difference should be celebrated, not something to be feared. 

[Valerie George · Rating 5 out of 5]

At last! In these unsettling times when politicians in the highest positions can make covert racist comments, here is a book which helps to counteract intolerance, prejudice and ignorance of others in terms of otherness in all its forms as it "helps us to see beyond ourselves".
"Others" is an interesting, touching and thought provoking collections of stories, poems, memoirs and essays by writers who have experienced the phenomenon of "otherness". Although their contribution to the book may relate only to one incident or situation, the issues these writers face are usually ongoing. In some of the texts, the reader has to define for themselves the nature of the "otherness" - intriguing!
The profit from a purchase will go towards supporting two caring charities - Stop Hate UK, which gives access to organisations most able to help those suffering from hate crimes, and Refugee Action which gives advice to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.
Quite apart from all that, it is an excellent read!

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compelling collection of short stories and excerpts that clearly convey what it means to be "other." I enjoyed that the "other" included characteristics beyond race and immigration status. A few othering factors that stood out for me were autism, being deaf, Roma, and poverty. I liked the Foreword and the Introduction sections as well for framing the issue of otherness.

The piece by Peter Ho Davies on Vincent Chin is one of the most powerful and emotionally wrenching. It's beautifully done. Kamila Shamsie's The A to Z of an Earthquake Zone was also very poignant and had quite a punch especially given its succinct format.

Thanks to Unbound publishing and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great collection of writing about being "other". I love how there were so many contributors to this project, as the writing styles varied. I highly recommend this book!

[Suzanne Conboy-Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's very easy to rate this book because it is five stars-worth of high quality, extraordinary writings brought together to celebrate otherness. It's much less easy to review because what do you choose?

Edited by Charles Fernyhough and published by Unbound, this is a Patreon funded collection of stories, poems, and essays by invited authors giving insight into what it means to be on the outside. I was tempted to take photos of paragraphs or sentences that distilled a writer's experience, but that would have made an album, and anyway there's no facility for them here. Is it enough to say that, if you know nothing of autism, you might when you've read Salena Godden's We Are the Champions? If being a refugee is outside your experience - and thank goodness for most of us that's true - then try Choosing Sides by Alex Preston. And what about being black? Colin Grant's Sounds of Blackness describes how being black comes first on any list of attributes and starts to define those attributes for you before you have a chance to correct it.

There are so many more and to do it justice I'd need to talk about all of them, and include quotes, and then say what the context was, and by that time you might as well buy the book. While all the authors are different and talk about different kinds of feeling or observing the othering process, each voice speaks with the same simple elegance and economy of language that is the mark of an expert communicator. And if it all seems a bit hifalutin and worthy, I'd say it isn't. It speaks plainly and while it's not worthy in an earnest ignore-the-quality-feel-the-sympathy kind of way, it is in that walk-alongside-me-listen-and-watch way that opens eyes and ears to different lives.

There are actually 278 pages in the book and the stories end on page 256 which means Goodreads has you finished before you're finished :)

[Rhett Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Others' is an extraordinary and eye-opening collection of stories, poems and essays, of all shapes and sizes, peppered with surprises and aha moments, that reveal as much about ourselves as they do about the myriad of characters we encounter. Reading 'Others' is like glimpsing yourself in a mirror as you walk by or catching yourself in a photo you haven't controlled, it's like seeing another person and yet you know it's you, and you don't always like what you see, and this reflection can change how we relate to others. The introduction skilfully maps the territory that these tales explore, points out that words can help us empathise, as we inhabit the lives of others, and reminds us that if we notice how 'other people' are different to us, we in turn could well be 'other people' to them, encouraging humility, kindness and understanding. Will Storr's excellent 'Original Sin' cuts to core of the issue, explaining the 'minimal group effect' and the often subconscious psychological tendency we all have to favour people within a group we are part of (where people share similar characteristics or beliefs), and to be irrationally prejudiced against those outside the group. His essay calls out our cognitive biases for making us think we are righter and more morally sound than others, confronts this human behaviour as universal and invites us to be better than this. In 'Things Unspoken' Sara Novic puts us in the point of view of a deaf boy, whose parents have lazily declined to learn sign language, letting lip-reading take the strain and isolating the child in the process. The joy of a new deaf sister, a companion in his world, puncturing the loneliness, is threatened when his parents decide to get her a cochlear implant and desperate action is required. These are just two examples of the varied, nuanced and thought-provoking selection in this brilliant and timely volume.

[Clare Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it really makes you think about how we can all feel a sense of "otherness" but at the same time how many people really do experience "otherness" everyday.
It is a varied mix of poignant and thought provoking pieces. Beautifully written with a diverse range of styles and is easy to dip in and out of as time allows.
Of particular note was the essay by Selina Godden about her sister Jo-Ann who has Williams Syndrome. I loved the way Selina's descriptions made me want to meet the vibrant Jo-Ann who loves music, sparkly things and tactile fabrics but at the same time felt empathy with the frustrations of their daily life. A story of love, patience and devotion mixed with creativity and humour.

[Noelia Alonso]

This collection has a bit of everything, from fiction to non-fiction to poetry. I won't be rating it as a whole because all of my ratings for each individual story, poem, what have you, are all over the place. In terms of enjoyment, the collection is quite balanced in the sense that I enjoyed some stories a lot but I also DNFed a couple and I couldn't care less about the poetry.

[Ita Marquess · Rating 4 out of 5]

If we stop learning and growing we are not alive or present. We need to hear from all perspectives, voices and life stories to get a sense of the bigger picture, even the parts we are not comfortable with.’ So writes Selena Godden in her unforgettable and very moving piece about her sister Jo who has Williams Syndrome.

‘Others’ anthology is a great opportunity to extend our horizons. It contains writing which is shocking, moving, powerful. Rachel Mann discloses what it is like to be Transgender, Joanne Limburg in ‘Excuse Me, but Your Otherness is Showing’ writes candidly about her Asperger’s Syndrome, and Tom Shakespeare in ‘A Short Story’ writes about the assumptions average, ordinary, normal people make about him. To him his short stature is a small thing because in all other respects he sees himself as completely normal. To most of the people he meets his stature is everything.

Louise Doughty reveals the advice she was given to conceal her Roma heritage, and an excerpt from Peter Ho Davies’ novel ‘The Fortunes’ tells of the murder of a young Chinese naturalised American man in Detroit. Kamila Shamsie’s ‘The A-Z of an Earthquake Zone’ is a sequence of aftershocks. Under ‘D’ she tells us how, at the start of the week she spent in Kashmir following the December 2006 earthquake, she was given the job of filling out coupons with people’s names and their villages. The coupons were later exchanged for housing materials. ‘It is something anyone with basic literacy skills could do,’ she writes. ‘It is also the most significant writing of my life.’

The book ends with Noam Chomsky’s very powerful essay about the refugee crisis, ‘A Deep and Persistent Shame.’ There are other excellent pieces of writing in this anthology, including a foreword by Richard Holloway and an introduction by editor, Charles Fernyhough.

‘We are all more connected than we realise, and more similar. Now more than ever’, writes Selena Godden, ‘now in this era of performative cruelty, it is our differences that unite us. And our actions of kindness and tolerance are more vital than ever. We must all stand up and speak up, take room and make room for all other others.’

[Lisa Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the recent release Common People by Unbound, Others is a collection of essays, short stories, and poems of what it is like to be ‘other’.

What I learned from reading this wonderful collection is that there are so many relatable ways to feel other and that by sharing these kind of stories is so important because it makes you feel less alone.

Please support Unbound publishers because they really do release great books and support brilliant undiscovered writers.

Others – Writers on the Power of Words to Help us See Beyond Ourselves by Charles Fernyhough is available now.

[Melanie Rippon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of pieces about identity, (not) belonging, difference, similarity. Who has the privilege, power, access, to frame the narrative, decide who is “other”? And how do you change that? Do you try to change that? Can you? At least that’s how I felt reading this. Should be on school curricula - or at least in as many libraries as possible.

[Cal Davie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting read, collection of writing on the concept of the "other". Some pieces are brilliant, some not. Not a bad read overall. Some of the more "creative writing" pieces were a bit lame, trying to be deep and profound but reading more like last minute GCSE coursework.

[Anna Karoline · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful collection with some especially poignant pieces (which perhaps make up for some less impactful passages), covering a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and forms of ‘otherness’. thought provoking and moving. will be rereading - probably many times

[Cordelia Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an all-encompassing, fascinating, thought-provoking collection of pieces on otherness. It will inform and challenge even the most liberal and open-minded readers to question their values and the extent to which they really accept others.