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The Heart's Invisible Furies

John Boyne

Start date: June 1, 2019

Finish date: June 30, 2019

Discussion: Monthly Bonus Reads

Why we're reading this: June Bonus Read- Gay Pride

"June 28th 1969- LGBT Pride Month 2019. June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transge…more
[close] June Bonus Read- Gay Pride

"June 28th 1969- LGBT Pride Month 2019. June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. The month has been recognized since 1970, one year after the Stonewall Rebellion which took place on June 28th 1969, commemorating the impact the riots had had on society."

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

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What Members Thought

Apr 14, 2018 Ammar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2018

One of the best books that I’ve read in the past 12 months. This is an epic. Decades and attitudes change.

The novel starts with a simple setting, a church, a brimstone and fire sermon, kicking a girl out of her town and forcing her to move to the big city.

In Dublin Catherine Goggin, delivers a child and he is adopted by the Avery’s. And life goes up and down for Cyril Avery our main character who is on a path to search for his real parents and the story of his life. But along the way there are ...more

47 likes · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2018 Suzy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-faves, over-500pp, listened-to, diane-buddyread, found-family, goodreads-discoveries

I was completely swept up in John Boyne’s novel about one Cyril Avery and his life over the decades starting in 1945. Written in first person (perfect for this book!), we first meet Cyril from the future telling about his birth. Born in Dublin as his unwed mother witnesses an unspeakably violent act against two men who have taken her in after she was thrown out by the church and ostracized by her rural Irish family, we make an immediate connection to his story. Boyne then drops us into Cyril’s l I was completely swept up in John Boyne’s novel about one Cyril Avery and his life over the decades starting in 1945. Written in first person (perfect for this book!), we first meet Cyril from the future telling about his birth. Born in Dublin as his unwed mother witnesses an unspeakably violent act against two men who have taken her in after she was thrown out by the church and ostracized by her rural Irish family, we make an immediate connection to his story. Boyne then drops us into Cyril’s life seven years later where we see him try to make sense of his life with his oddly removed adoptive parents, become aware of his homosexuality and try hard to fit in. We check in with Cyril every seven years thereafter to see where life has taken him, how he comes of age and how he matures. Boyne is also telling us the story of Ireland, especially as it relates to the experience of women and homosexuals. Cyril is born into an Ireland where laws, the church and society see homosexuals as a scourge on society setting up both conflict within Cyril and conflict imposed on him from outside forces. This is brought vividly to life by Boyne, giving him the opportunity to tell one man’s story as well as that of a country moving into the 21st Century.

Boyne writes with humor (especially in the first half of the book), poignancy, pathos and tremendous (melo)dramatic tension. I laughed, my heart pounded, I cried, and I equally wanted to slap Cyril for being such an ass, fuss over him as he healed his wounds and embrace him as he came to acceptance of his life. I also wondered if I connected so strongly to this book because I’m about Cyril’s age and have lived through many of the events and changes that took place during the seven decades of this book. Boyne uses coincidences to further both Cyril’s story and his tale of Ireland and there were times when I rolled my eyes, finding them unbelievable. But then I thought of the coincidences in my own life, some of which might sound made up to people who weren’t there. So, I just decided to let go and roll with the story, which I'm very glad I did. I would say as well that the last part of the book had a few scenes of emotional revelation that went on a little too long, making these parts seem a little tacked on in order for Boyne to make his points. But with that said, the ending was brilliant and the overall feeling I had from this book was one of heart-warming satisfaction. If I were feeling stingy today, I might give this 4 ½ stars, but I’m not so it’s an enthusiastic 5 stars from this reader.

This quote from Laurie Hertzel’s review in our local Startribune newspaper pretty much sums up my feelings:
“Despite these missteps, the book never really flags, and Cyril’s intelligent witty voice takes us all the way through to the end of his life. “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” is a brilliant, moving history of an Irishman, and of modern Ireland itself.”

Endnotes:

I listened to The Heart’s Invisible Furies narrated by Stephen Hogan who brought this beautifully to life, surely enhancing this reader’s experience. This will certainly end up as one of my all-time favorite audiobooks!

This is the second book I’ve read this year that looks at the sweep of history through the life story of one person. The other is Fair and Tender Ladies, which tells the story of Appalachia from 1915 through the mid-1970’s through the life of Ivy Rowe. I would not be surprised that they both end up on my top 10 list for 2018. ...more

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Dec 05, 2019 Cam rated it it was amazing

Hands down absolutely loved this book!!!!! The confessional with the priest had me in stitches 🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!! U connect with the characters in this book.

Set in Post-War Ireland, when intolerance cloaked in Catholicism is at its height, this book follows the lifespan of the adopted boy Cyril Avery. You immediately fall in love with Cyril. Born to a unwed teenager in the Irish countryside, expelled from the Catholic Church and her family to fend for herself and unborn child. This book is told with a se ...more

18 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2023 Richard Derus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pearl-ruled, gone

PEARL RULE #6 (p381)

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinite PEARL RULE #6 (p381)

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Cyril Avery is not a real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.

At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from – and over his three score years and ten, will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country and much more.

In this, Boyne's most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit.

I RECEIVED AN ARC OF THIS BOOK FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: I know a lot of y'all are looking at the text above and wondering if I have had another stroke. I'm Pearl-Rule abandoning a read on page 381?! I don't think I owe anyone explanations but I do want to say this clearly: if something you are reading either isn't or stops working for you, IT IS OKAY TO ABANDON IT RIGHT THEN AND THERE. No one is judging you but you... though if they are, you should heed the warning they're sending you.

So. Page 360. Cyril muses about a few people he's seen die, but reflects that he hasn't seen anyone die of AIDS. Then Boyne has him think, "Not yet anyway."

The preceding three hundred plus pages of "funny" digs at Ireland and its culture, of catholic church hypocrisy, at closeted gay life, should have prepared me for this. But it hit me exactly wrong... for all the reasons I have listed. The tone and tenor of the story is irritating. It's been irritating to me from the get-go. Having a character narrate a chapter from the womb is a risk, and one I don't think he succeeded in landing. The every-seven-years structure of the chapters is arch and borderline twee. Many are the folks who loved Cyril and his slow unwinding of the mummy-wrappings of his awful past.

I am not among those folks. YMMV, as always. ...more

16 likes · Like · see review