The Heart's Invisible Furies

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Average customer rating 4.3 (3 comments)

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The description of this book did not grab me but I started reading it because the author's book "The Boy in The Striped Pajama" tore at my heartstrings. Well, this book did not disappoint either. Its narrator Cyril Avery, is the illegitimate son of Catherine Goggin, who is adopted at birth by an eccentric couple. It tells the tale from Cyril's perspective, between 1945 and 2015. It's somewhat of a coming of age novel and a good one at that. To be Irish, Catholic, and homosexual is not a pretty combination and it is amazing that Cyril is able to maintain his sense of humor, which he does. Some of the situations seem contrived but they make for interesting reading and one gets a good view of the politics in Ireland as also the hold that the Catholic Church had on the country. All in all a gripping novel.

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I found this story to be both engaging and somewhat off-putting. Cyril's life was certainly heartbreaking with moments of joy, but I was put off by what was one too many seemingly contrived events. I can just see Boyne "doing the math" and counting back every seven years from 2001 just so he could get a bit about 9/11 in there. I think I am often a cynical reader, and I don't take to a tidy ending most of the time. I enjoyed the book, but I liked "A Little Life" better. It was much sadder, of course, but I tend to be attracted to dysfunction more than reconciliation. My favorite parts were the rapid fire conversations that Cyril and other characters had that often sounded like an Abbott and Costello "Who's on First" comedy sketch. Boyne is great at dialog. And I was amused by the insistent use of "adoptive" by Charles and Maude, and then by Cyril himself. Boyne's characterizations were spot-on when I think of the Irish, although I assume they're stereotypical--on purpose. There are events in the lives of these gay characters that are very true-to-life, and we have all heard of the horrible treatment and secrecy that the gay population still endures, so there is plenty of sadness and frustration in these characters' lives. But Boyne approaches these experiences with honesty without overwhelming the reader with debilitating tragedy. It's a relatively quick read in spite of the 600 pages, and I'm glad to have read it.

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Although I haven’t read John Boyne’s other books so can’t speak for them, his THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES is truly a winner, some will even call it wonderful. Coming from me, this is a compliment you can believe. This book is partly a coming-of-age novel. If this type bores you, as it does me, you’re in for a surprise. Boyne’s dialog (and THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES is packed with it) is so enjoyable, so clever, I promise, you won’t be bored. I’m not sure if Boyne exaggerates when he describes Ireland in the 20th century or of Catholic priests there. The book begins in the 1940s when a 16-year-old Catherine is denounced by a Catholic priest in front of her church’s congregation, including her family. She is thrown out of her small village, and Catherine travels, penniless and pregnant, to Dublin. So begins the life of Cyril, Catherine’s son. We meet him when he is 7 years old and follow his life in seven-year increments thereafter. Throughout THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES, Boyne seems to exaggerate. All Catholic priests in Ireland are cruel, Cyril’s adoptive parents are ultra-distant and insist he realizes that distance, his father and his father’s lawyer invite a jury for dinner, etc. But Boyne’s greatest seeming exaggeration in this book is 20th-century Ireland’s treatment of homosexuality. I say “seeming” because he probably doesn’t exaggerate there. So it turns out that this book is about growing up through adulthood as a homosexual male in 20th- and 21st-century Ireland. Again, this subject may bore you, as it usually does me. It may even put you off. But in this case it won’t do either. Boyne is such a skillful writer, he won me over, even with put-offish subjects. THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES is the best kind of long book: when I got to the end, I didn’t want it to end. Now I want to read his other books. I won an ARC of THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES through librarything.com.