Despite really not liking We Need To Talk About Kevin, I really wanted to give Shriver another go. Glad I chose this one! Despite such a heavy and sad subject, a clever and quite fun (and somewhat scary take on the subject) making for an interesting read. Didn't even mind it being so heavily full of politics!

Thanks to the publisher for granting me access to an eArc via NetGalley.

We Need to Talk About Death
Bestselling author Lionel Shriver chats to us about aging, her daily rituals and why her new novel about a suicide pact is actually very funny
By Jane Vorster
CANTANKEROUS, crabby, combative, quarrelsome ¬¬– Lionel Shriver has been called all these things and more. That’s because if there are feathers to be ruffled or sacred cows to be shot, the bestselling American author is usually only too happy to put her hand up for the job.
But not today. Sitting in the lounge of The Vineyard hotel in Cape Town, the author radiates warmth and good cheer as she tells us about the wine she’s been sampling, the scenic drive she’s just been on and the hike she’s going to be taking on Lion’s Head later this afternoon.
There are no withering put-downs, derisive snorts or strident rants – I must admit, I’m disappointed. Lionel chortles when I tell her this and insists that her prickly reputation is totally unwarranted
“I mean, the truth is I have a good time most of the time,” she says. “I know I sometimes come across as a bit of a misanthrope but I'm enjoying talking to you right now.”
Although she’s mellow in person, on the page she remains as sharp as ever. Lionel has been appalling and enthralling her readers in equal measure since her 2003 novel We Need to Talk About Kevin about a boy who carries out a high school massacre put her on the map – and in her latest offering, Should We Stay or Should We Go, she continues the tradition.
It’s centres around British couple Kay and Cyril Wilkinson who hatch a plan when they’re in their early 50s to commit suicide together after they both turn 80 to avoid the humiliating indignities of old age.
Lionel then presents 12 different scenarios of how things could play out for them, ramping up the ante in each timeline. Despite its grim central premise, you can see she had lots of fun cooking up all the possible outcomes, including one bizarre sequence in which Kay suffers freezer burn after being cryogenically preserved.
“Who wants to read a totally serious book about suicide?” Lionel muses. “Nobody . . . including me.”
The beauty of the novel is its dialogue which allows her to offer a humorous take on some her pet topics such as Brexit (she’s unapologetically in favour of Britain’s split from the EU) and Covid lockdown rules (which she sees as a gross infringement on her civil liberties).
“I like to keep myself amused. I love making myself laugh when I write. If I’m laughing a lot then I know it’s a good sign,” she says.
Her 17th novel was inspired by a conversation with a friend who told her she had no desire to live beyond the age of 80.
“I found myself wondering, given that my friend was then about 60 and therefore 80 wasn’t all that far away, whether she’d actually act on that vow when they time came.“
OLD age definitely isn’t for sissies. Lionel admits that at 64, she’s already experiencing annoying niggles. Because of her achy knees she’s been forced to give up jogging so she now just cycles and plays tennis.
Although she hails from America, she’s lived in the British capital for years with her husband, jazz drummer Jeff Williams.
A typical day will see her getting up at around 11am and then spending about three hours reading the news online. Then she’ll write until about 10pm, do a bit of exercise while watching more news followed by dinner (her only meal of the day) at around midnight.
“We stay up absurdly late – usually until around 4am.”
Given how active and independent she is, it’s hardly surprising that she views old age with trepidation.
So would she be tempted to set her own expiry date – and if so does she think she’d have the guts to go through with it?
“It’s a very brave decision. I cannot tell you whether I'm capable of it,” she says with a shrug.
Is she afraid of death?
“I don't think I'm afraid of death itself. I'm afraid of incapacity. Like any sane person, I'm afraid of physical suffering.”
There’s only one thing that concerns her about dying.
“When I get into writing a novel I become afraid of not completing it. So I'll be on an plane and I'll worry about the prospect of dying in a crash. I’m much more willing to die between books.”

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO
&&&&
By Lionel Shriver
Borough Press

"It's a riotous, occasionally bilious satire that asks how long we want to live and how we wish to die." – Alex Preston. FT.COM

"Anybody looking for a comfort read should probably avoid the novels of Lionel Shriver." – James Walton, The Times

Shriver’s latest novel is characteristically contrarian, fiercely experimental and decidedly timely. – Emily Watkins, inews.co.uk

I’m a fan of the author so expected to enjoy Should We Stay Or Should We Go. I was not disappointed. I had a lot of fun reading this book. The book uses a premise similar to the movie Sliding Doors in which we are shown different possible paths Kay and Cyril’s life could take. One path is what happens if they go through with their suicide pact, another path is what happens if they don’t. The other paths are more complex and include a hilarious chapter or two showing what could happen if Kay chickens out and tells one of their children their plans only to find her and Cyril sectioned under the mental health act living in an awful nursing home. The book is sad at times but very funny and enjoyable.

Shriver has produced a timely novel that tackles important contemporary sociopolitical issues, like Brexit, mass migration, the coronavirus, in an absolutely engaging manner.

I’m a big fan of Shrivers earlier books. She was a go to author for me and any new book was an automatic buy for me. I read her opinions over the years which are vastly opposite to my own and was able to separate that and still her appreciate her fiction. Until now, I couldn’t finish this one . I’ve started and it put it down three times, the humour falls short of the mark, the authors prejudices are too apparent and nothing was encouraging to read any further than a third of the way in. Not for me.

Wow, what an amazing, thought provoking book. I’ll be recommending this to my Bookgroup.. Certainly one you’ll want to talk about after reading. Lionel Shriver is so clever at addressing subjects we should all be thinking about.

I've said this many times, but Lionel Shriver is one of my favourite authors of all time. I've read most of her books and her writing is always superb. 'Should We Stay or Should We Go' has a really interesting premise where each chapter follows a married couple, Kay and Cyril, in different parallel universes after they've decided to end their lives once they hit 80. This felt like a series of related short stories and I loved it! In some stories they both stay alive, in some one of them ends their life, and one even features cryogenics and we see into the (very weird) far future! This was such an entertaining but thought-provoking book and I highly recommend it.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Should We Stay or Should We Go via NetGalley and I am so glad I did. I loved, loved, loved reading this absolutely stunning piece of literary fiction. Beautifully written, it was so unique it left me thinking about it for days afterwards. I savoured each chapter and tried to guess how each would end. I loved Kay and Cyril as the main characters, finding them hugely entertaining and irritating in equal measure but certainly never boring - so much of the detail reminded me of the relationship I have with my partner. I also loved the way the same characters weaved in and out of the different scenarios and the repetition of small details for continuity. I wasn’t expecting the book to be as funny as it was despite the subject matter and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. I can totally see this book becoming a book club favourite - thoroughly recommended read.

No-one can write a book with so many potential scenarios for an ending like Lionel Shriver. The book starts with Kay and Cyril agreeing to a joint suicide on Kay's 80th birthday before they get too old and become incapacitated, mentally or physically, or simply end up as a drain on the NHS. The book is cleverly set so that this planned suicide will take place in March 2020, so the future is played out against the Covid ridden world we find oursleves in today.

However, as Kay's 80th birthday draws near, Shriver constructs a novel of potential futures. It felt like a 'You Choose' book that you give to children, but with much more chilling visions of mankind's future! There are 12 alternative 'futures' for Kay and Cyril: from cryogenics; to living in their loft because their house has been taken over by immigrant squatters; there is dementia; partial suicide success; incarceration in an asylum; wonder drugs which stop reverse the aging process; a wonderful retirement home life style...

It reveals a very pessimistic view of the future and what mankind have to look forward to. Kay and Cyril's children are quite unpalatable in almost every scenario, though there does feel like a sense of 'you reap what you sow ' in their existence. I was troubled at the initial idea of euthanasia, but rarely does Shriver offer Kay and Cyril a future which end with a better outcome.

I loved the repetition of small details for continuity eg the wedding china that pops up in different ways, or white van man. I think this is a book which will keep you thinking long after you have finished reading it. In their shoes, what would you do?

Should We Stay or Should We Go is moving, incisive, richly described literary fiction from one of my favourite writers, Lionel Shriver. It follows a married couple who decide they will take control of their final years by exiting the world together at the age of 80—with unexpected consequences and possibilities in New York Times bestselling author Lionel Shriver’s brilliantly conceived parallel-universe novel of sickness, marriage, old age and mortality reminiscent of The Post-Birthday World. When her father dies, Kay is relieved. For ten years, she watched helplessly as Alzheimer’s ravaged this once decorous man. Her husband of twenty-eight years, Cyril, found his brief exposure to her father’s decline intolerable. Healthy and full of vitality, both Kay and Cyril, now in their early 50s, fear what may lie ahead for them. One thing is certain: neither wants to die without dignity. To avert a similar fate, they make a pact: on Kay’s 80th birthday they will commit suicide together. Cyril, a doctor, acquires the means they will need to exit the world, a bottle of tablets they keep in a black box tucked away in the back of the fridge. Their deal is made in 1991. They will have thirty more years together. But as time passes and their “final” day approaches, doubts begin to arise. This is a captivating, tender and often sardonic read with a whole lot of heart and soul injected into it.

It's deftly plotted and on such a poignant overarching theme I couldn't think of anyone better than to write this astonishing and touching tale about the fickle, fleeting nature of life, the fallibility of memory and the pitfalls of growing old. In it Shriver constructs twelve parallel universes, exploring multiple futures for the couple, some of which stray into speculative fiction (e.g. successful cryogenics, a cure for ageing), and I had an absolute ball reading this book, which may have a grim starting point, but which in its execution is playful, funny, and sometimes, life-affirming. Both timely and timeless, the intention of the story is serious—to examine the quandary of how to live a long enough life yet still go out in style. I can't resist Shriver’s writing, so I decided to forge ahead despite this being a topic I would usually avoid. I must say, it's heartbreaking and beautiful, poignant and surprisingly humorous and it goes without saying: exquisitely written with deft handling of sensitive issues. Among the topics it explores are living life to the full, dying with dignity, autonomy and suicide. It has emotional depth, but Shriver balances that against lighter quips throughout giving a perfect equilibrium between light and dark themes in this thoughtful, thought-provoking story. Highly recommended.

My first thoughts about this book were along the lines of - finally, a book which manages to include the covid pandemic, not be about the pandemic, but also still works as a novel. Maybe that says more about me than the book and I am also not sure why this excites me so, but it does.
When we first meet Kay she is mourning the loss of her father. I say mourning but it's not sadness. She is beyond that, she let him go years ago when Alzheimers took him. It was actually a relief when he eventually died. This leads her to evaluate her own life and indeed death. And this leads to an interesting conversation with husband Cyril as to what they want to happen to them, before they get too old and become a burden. Still in their early 50s at the start of the book, they decide that they will end their lives on Kay's 80th birthday, her being a year younger. The lead up to which will be filled with all the things they want to cram into their lives before they go.
Seems a good plan and things are ticking along nicely all the way up to the moment of truth... This book then splits into iterations of what happened next... Twelve parallel universes, each detailing a different way things could have gone, with very different outcomes.
I can well see this book being a bit marmite, and as with such books, should also be a cracking book-club book as it does throw up a lot to debate. A lot of controversial topics too. Me, I loved it - you might have already guessed from the 5 stars. I simply whizzed through it, hanging off every word as it shocked, saddened, amused me in equal measure. It really is an emotional book all told. And also having got to know many sides and facets of both Kay and Cyril, I have to admit that I was a bit devastated to have to say goodbye to them at the end of the book. I'd love to hear more from them in the future - maybe what happened up to their 50th years. They have three children - all very different so I think plenty of background for storylines.
Anyway, back to this book and I have a few favourite "endings" for our duo but I am not sure how much to divulge here - some of which are mentioned in the blurb so I am safe to mention two such favourites were the dodgy retirement home and the cryogenic one. Fabulous!
All in all a cracking read which I have no hesitation to recommend. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Well I went through various different thought processes while reading this book. Firstly I thought 'Well this book is far too intelligent for me', then 'Would an 80 year old couple really have such long, eloquent, wordy discussions? `, then' Oh no, not another 'Life After Life' style story, I obvs hadn't read the blurb properly', then 'Actually, this is rather clever, I'm rather enjoying this', and finally to 'Blimey, how did she manage to fit all that stuff into one short book?!' (I'm not as eloquent as Kay and Cyril).

It's emotional, it's crazy weird, it's got dark humour, satire, a few guffaw moments, it's a commentary on current world issues (yes, including Covid), and it's a look into some alarming possible future world scenarios.

One thing I would comment on is that I much preferred the non-dialogue parts, mainly because I don't believe many British couples talk to each other like that, and I found them far too wordy. I do like the fact that the author poked fun at herself within the story too.

This is such an interesting idea. Kay and Cyril are two medical professionals who, in 1991, are in their 50s. Kay has spent the previous few years watching her father swallowed up by Alzheimer's and Cyril proposes that on their 80th birthday, they should commit suicide.

What follows are twelve different endings, twelve different scenarios about how this proposal could turn out. I'm not going to give you any clues about the different endings, but Lionel Shriver really does present you with ideas about the future, some that we have probably all thought of at one time or another. I'm also not revealing which of the twelve I preferred.

The relationship between Cyril and Kay is what makes this book. They are brilliant characters, Cyril is very set in his ways while Kay has a zest for life, but their love for each other is so touching. As the year that they turn 80 is 2020, coronavirus makes an introduction and Cyril had some very strong opinions in some of the scenarios and we see how the disease affects them and their plans. Brexit is also another topic that Cyril has opinions about.

This is certainly a book that makes you think about the future, although I don't think I'd be too happy if my own husband came up the same idea as Cyril.

Thought-provoking satire with an interesting premise - Kay and Cyril, a middle aged couple working for the NHS, make a pact to commit suicide on their 80th birthday, to avoid the decline brought on by age and illness and not to be a burden on the tax payer. How does this pan out? Shriver conjures many scenarios, each chapter shows a different outcome - including the coronavirus pandemic, brexit, immigration etc etc. What's the best option? Food for thought...witty, sad and funny at the same time.

Should the death of a parent come as a relief? For Kay Wilkinson, over ten years of Alzheimer’s destroyed her once erudite and intelligent father, and the burden of care fell squarely on Kay and her mother, so after such a gruellingly hard and desperately sad ten years, her father’s death is exactly that: a relief. To the extent that she can’t even cry about it.

Kay and her husband Cyril are both in their fifties, working as medics and enjoying good health, but, they have seen too many of their elderly NHS patients in similar states of decay to Kay’s father. Determined to die with dignity, Cyril proposes that they should agree to commit suicide together once they’ve both turned eighty. When their deal is sealed in 1991, the couple are looking forward to another three decades together, and their agreement is largely ignored for the whole of that time, but then they turn eighty, and they have to face the implications of the pact they made.

In this "Sliding Doors" meets "Life After Life" novel, each successive chapter offers a different “ending” for Kay and Cyril, as the intertwined issues of how to cope with declining health in old age, and the dilemma of how to go out in style at the optimum time are explored.

A wide range of scenarios play out – some are happy, some most definitely are not – and these different endings rehearse an equally diverse spectrum of philosophies and attitudes to the subject: Is suicide a cop out; surely it is braver and more noble to lose everything by degrees and take what comes? Or, is it better to postpone suicide if you’re still hale and hearty at 80, live your best older age life until you can’t and then make an exit? Or, should one take decisive action, even before decrepitude has set in, in order to retain control over one’s own destiny?

No spoilers here, but it is safe to say that the subject, in all its aspects, is explored comprehensively within the novel, along with a menu of other contemporary issues of the day such as Brexit, the pandemic and elderly care.

So is it a good read? Well, it is fair to say that this very much an issue-driven novel rather than character-driven, and inevitably, given the subject of the book, there are potential triggers around old age, illness, suicide and elder-abuse/elderly care, which may be distressing for some.

It is written with Lionel Shriver’s usual shrewd eye, her observational skills and trademark mordant wit, so there are many apt and pithy quotes to enjoy. Overall I found this to be a very readable and thought-provoking novel, and it is the kind of book which leaves you chewing things over in your mind long after you have finished it.
Thank you to The Borough Press via NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.

The conundrum behind the title, as Ms Shriver describes it herself, is “how to live a long-enough life yet still go out in style?”
The concept is the parallel universe one, where the alternative timelines make for multiple perspectives and possibilities to play out. She deploys twelve scenarios, some blackly comic, some touching and sad, including the repercussions of a suicide pact and - in one case, she plays with the speculative fiction of cryogenics.
This playful ‘what if ?’ conceit also means that Shriver can employ her usual trenchant social criticism over a range of current issues, such as Brexit, immigration, political correctness and the Covid ‘pandemic’.
Set in Britain, the American born Shriver is spot on with our geography, vernacular and politics because she has lived in the U.K. for nearly three decades.
This is the 12th novel I’ve read by this author, and I’ve found it as much fun as she admits she had in writing it.

I have long enjoyed Lionel Shriver’s work and her ability to cut to the heart of topical issues. Her writing is always elegant and so witty. She carries on in the same vein in this latest novel, turning her attention to ageing, and I found this really engaging, especially to begin with. But, as the publisher’s blurb says:

‘Weaving in a host of contemporary issues - Brexit, mass migration, the coronavirus - Lionel Shriver has pulled off a rollicking page-turner in which we never have to mourn deceased characters, because they’ll be alive and kicking in the very next chapter.’

and this is where my problem with this book lies. Although of course I found the different situations Kay and Cyril experience sometimes entertaining, sometimes downright scary, always thought-provoking (I am thinking here of the cryogenics chapter particularly), overall I felt there were too many social issues crammed into too many possible scenarios, to the extent that by the end I failed to care about the outcome for the characters one jot. I don’t suppose LS intended us to care about them, but it came as a disappointment for me as I’d been invested in their dilemma in the first chapters.

In her latest novel, Lionel Shriver brings in themes and devices from many of previous (and very varied) books. There's the alternate versions seen in 'Post Birthday World', the speculative fiction of 'The Mandibles', the themes of overpopulation and life expectancy from 'Game Control, and the intense political commentary of - well, most of them. Shriver even includes passing mentions of characters from some of these other novels, and even to herself - a device I always find irritating as I feel it breaks the 'fourth wall' (to borrow from theatre terminology), but other readers might find that fun and enjoyable.

The book starts with introducing the characters and concept. Cyrus and Kay are an NHS doctor and nurse. They decide to commit suicide when they both reach the age of 80, in 2020, to avoid the indignities of older age. The remaining twelve chapters offer alternate versions of what happened next. These range from the prosaic to the fantastical, the extremely depressing to the unrealistically wonderful. In one, the pair are cryogenically frozen and wake up in a distant future - an experience nowhere near as interesting and pleasant as most literature imagines it. In another they end up trapped in a hellish old people's home. Sometimes one of them dies and not the other. Sometimes they experience various degrees of serious illness and disability, other times they do not.

It's a clever way of looking at the consequences of life changing decisions and the whole debate about euthanasia, ageing, and population dynamics. Some of the futures would have justified their decision to 'bow out' voluntarily as a good one, others would have shown it to be a very bad idea. The trouble with real decisions of this nature is that you have no way of knowing which outcome you'll get. Although it should be obvious from the blurb, it's worth noting specifically that suicide is a strong theme of this novel and therefore those who avoid this topic should not read.

All in all, it's an interesting read and full of Shriver's usual unflinching social commentary and dissection of human nature. It's not a very happy book - it's often downright depressing. I don't always agree with the opinions of Shriver's characters, but she always puts them across well. The alternate futures are varied and different enough (but also with enough cross-relevance) to remain interesting. Unfortunately, the pessimistic scenarios seem more plausible than the optimistic ones, which leaves you with the sense that the only realistic options would be unhappy ones. Most of the scenarios are written too extremely (in my opinion) although that might be differentiate them better. They all serve quite well to make the point that you don't know what the future holds and if you absent yourself from it, you'll never know.

If you enjoy literary fiction, and Shriver's other novels, I think you are likely to enjoy this one. I certainly prefer it to her last couple of books. It's an ambitious idea and is up-to=the-minute (as of mid 2021) relevant. Book groups could get a lot out of it as there is plenty to discuss. For example, which optional ending do readers think is the most likely, and which did they enjoy the most. Was their suicide pact ultimately a terrible idea or a sensible one? I'm not sure it's possible to answer these questions definitively even once you've read the book, but you could certainly have a great discussion about it.

I love Shriver's trenchant wit and intellect but I'm sorry to say this book didn't work for me. It's issue-driven and the characters are just chess pieces whose only function is to be moved around the board from chapter to chapter. The topic of an aging population has so much potential but it gets diluted via the showy 'Sliding Doors' format which Shriver has worked far more effectively in the past. And there's a strained attempt to liken the projected suicide of the characters to the national self-harm of Brexit and the covid lockdown (Shriver seems sceptical about the latter). This could have made a snappy short story - stretched to novel length, it fell flat for me. But flashes of cynical humour are a reminder of just how iconoclastic Shriver can be.