Michelle Herbert reviews Unusual Concentrations by SJ Spurrier…
Unusual Concentrations is a book about one very particular character named Jay Berry. Jay is one of those unfortunate souls that has never managed to be sociable, at times he is almost unlikable, but he can also seem to be a hard done by character. As his story progresses you end up feeling sorry for him as events start to unravel, will a chance encounter in a coffee shop finally give his life meaning?
There are moments in everyone’s lives where they may wonder whether they’re living their life to its full potential, in the case of Jay Berry, you have to consider that this thought has never crossed his mind. Jay spends his days in coffee shops being distracted by other people’s conversations whilst trying to come up with an original idea for a story. Jay’s actual job is ghost writing generic thrillers to a named author’s specifications!
Unusual Concentrations as the title suggests is quite convoluted. During the story we jump back and forth between Jay’s past, present and future, this means that we as readers know more than Jay at any given point in the story. Even with the time jumps between different points in Jay’s life, there is fluidity in the writing that never lets you feel disconnected from the overarching story.
Jay Berry’s defining characteristic is his lack of concentration, he is chronically distracted and this is what leads him through a series of almost normal events that quickly give the book the feel of an action/adventure film. Jay Berry is also a sympathetic character, as he is caught up in events outside of his comprehension; he just doesn’t seem to have a lot of imagination. My favourite term in the book to describe Jay is: “Connoisseur of useful distractions”.
Another theme in Unusual Concentrations is that of loneliness. The encounters that Jay Berry has throughout the story are such a normal part of everyday life and yet time and again he manages to fail spectacularly in being able to hold a conversation beyond mundane pleasantries, if he hasn’t already been distracted. It also gives a hint of café culture which can only be seen by someone who spends all day in a coffee shop working with the swirling bustle of humanity constantly changing around you. The book shows how easy it is to become the part of the background in your own life as well as in the lives of others.
The idea of chance encounters is really interesting, how taking an interest and having a conversation in a coffee shop can actually be a life changing event. There are a lot of unsavoury characters that Jay Berry meets on his journey, although he can characterise them whilst distracted. Jay doesn’t have the social conditioning to be more wary of them as he is so used to being alone. There are also some amusing stereotypes of business people in cafes that makes you wonder how real the experience is to authors in real life. For all the surrealness of the story it does feel rooted in reality, especially with the ending which felt cruel and yet oddly satisfying if you believe in real life there are no happy endings.
I really enjoyed Si Spurrier’s style of writing, especially how he manages to write himself as a character into this story without it feeling contrived. The book has also made me want to improve my vocabulary when writing reviews which all things considered can’t be a bad thing. All in all this is an unusual story that is very intriguing; it had me gripped almost from the start. Once this book has your attention, unlike Jay Berry, you will need to find out how this story about stories ends.
Michelle Herbert
https://youtu.be/IWWtOQOZSTI?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published July 24, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
