Unputdownable (Inconceivable - Ben Elton)

Member Name: Krystal

Product:	Inconceivable - Ben Elton
Date:	16/08/01 (132 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read, Entertaining, Subject handled well

Disadvantages: None

This is about a subject which for a few years I thought applied to me - infertility. Inconceivable is about a couple, Sam and Lucy, and their struggle to have a baby.

The book is written in the form of the diaries of Sam and Lucy; Sam is doing his reluctantly and feels a bit silly, however Lucy feels it would be beneficial to them both to express their thoughts and feelings. Sam is not at all sure but does his mainly to keep the peace.

Lucy and Sam have been trying to have a baby for five years and one month (that's 61 periods observes Lucy, not that she's counting or anything!) They decide to wait two more months before seeking medical help.

The first step is a blood test for Lucy to check her hormone levels, and a sperm test for Sam, which fills him with horror. He doesn't relish the idea of producing a sample on demand! After he does the deed, Sam has to keep it warm and get it to the clinic as soon as possible, so tries to get a taxi with the little pot safely in his underpants. He has a row with another man over who should have the taxi first, and wins by saying that if he doesn't have it his sperm will die. The man backs off!

The results of the tests are normal, and the next step is something ominously called a "post coital test". I'd forgotten all about this one, but while reading this the memories came flooding back! Sam and Lucy have to have sex, then Lucy has to go straight to the clinic (without washing) so the doctor can take a swab, as sometimes a woman's body can kill off what it sees as hostile sperm. Oh, the delights of trying to have a baby!

While all these tests are going on, Sam is plodding along with his job at the BBC. He's not really sure what his job is, let alone whether it has a title, but it's something to do with promoting new comedy acts. Whatever it is, it involves a lot of lunches.

Sam has long since harboured the desire to write a film scrip
t, and when Lucy embarks on a course of IVF, he decides to turn their story into a movie. He doesn't tell Lucy, as she says that if he ever reveals their intimate details to anyone, she'll leave him.....

So how does the story end? Is a baby the happy outcome? Read it for yourself and see, it's excellent. Although I wanted to read Inconceivable because of its subject, I wasn't sure if I'd like Ben Elton's writing style (I thought he was awful as a stand up comic years ago). I have to say though that he's done a brilliant job, its a delicate subject which he writes about both sensitively and amusingly. When writing Lucy's diary entries, I feel they could have been written by a woman. I mean that as the highest compliment.

Ben and his wife have first-hand experience of IVF, being the parents of twins, so he is something of an expert. A great read.


P.S. My own story ended happily, after many tests and a couple of ops, I conceived naturally after waiting to start IVF!

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