Buddy Read - The Heart's Invisible Furies

[Meli]

This is a buddy read thread for The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne. I know there is at least one member who will join, so welcome to anyone else that would like to read along!

This is a chonker, so feel free to read and post at your own pace.
Please try to use the spoiler function to avoid spoiling anything for our fellow readers.

How many tears will be spilled reading The Heart's Invisible Furies!?

[Jen K]

It will be so many tears! Thanks for setting this up and I hope others join too!

I ended up purchasing the book in my hometown bookstore last week when I was home checking on my dad. I figured a bookstore in a town of less than 6,000 needed my support more than the indies in DC.

I won't be able to start immediately but in the next week or so hopefully. Really looking forward to it!

[Meli]

Yay! I hope others join too.

I got a used copy maybe at my local indie.
Good call on patronizing your hometown bookstore, I bet you are right in your thinking.

No rush on starting. I don't know how quickly it reads, but it is a long one so might carryover to October.

[LibraryCin]

There will be LOTS of tears! It's been a couple of years since I read it, but I'll follow along. May or may not have comments to add, depending how the conversation goes and what I can remember of it.

[Jen K]

Started last night. Really enjoying the writing so far. Rough life in Ireland at the time.

[Robin P]

I did this on audio, where the Irish accents were great.

[Meli]

I will be starting soon! I just need to finish a quick book for book club this weekend then I will start, hopefully tomorrow night.

I would love to do audio, but my library didn't have it :(

[Jen K]

My library didn't have the audio either. I do love the accent. Luckily my good friend in DC is from County Cork so I hear it regularly.

I finished 4 parts and am about to start 1973. I'm so interested as to where Cyril will be in 1973.

[Meli]

Jen K wrote: "My library didn't have the audio either. I do love the accent. Luckily my good friend in DC is from County Cork so I hear it regularly.

I finished 4 parts and am about to start 1973. I'm so intere..."

Oh wow, that's pretty cool! So you could read it in their accent 😊

[Meli]

Pretty brutal right out of the gate, huh!
I started last night and only got through 20 pages, but I was so sad for Catherine :(

[Meli]

This book is so freakin huge and the text so small it takes me like 2x as long as normal to make progress, but I got to page 40 last night.

Wow, so brutal 😢 I don't think I will cry but this incident made my stomach turn and made me feel a deep sadness in my heart.

[Jen K]

Meli wrote: "This book is so freakin huge and the text so small it takes me like 2x as long as normal to make progress, but I got to page 40 last night.

Wow, so brutal 😢 I don't think I will cry but this inci..."

I didn't cry until the end. I was too angry at the start!! Truly awful happenings.

Also I was worried about the small font at first but it really reads quickly once you get into it (or at least that was the case for me).

[Meli]

Oh shit, you're done already!?

[Jen K]

Yes! I couldn't stop once I got to the last third. I still need to write my review though.

[Meli]

Nice! Well now that I am done with my other 2 book club books I should start to make better progress.

[NancyJ]

Meli wrote: "Pretty brutal right out of the gate, huh!
I started last night and only got through 20 pages, but I was so sad for Catherine :("

I read it a couple years ago and I loved this book. I must have listened to the audio because I cannot read small print.

Was Catherine the pregnant teenager who was literally kicked out of town. At least they didn't lock her up in the Magdalene Laundries. That really made me mad.

I started listening to Boyne's History of Loneliness (about an Irish priest) in my car today to get into the same world, but I couldn't concentrate on it.

[Shelly]

This one is in my all-time top 10. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did, or even a little less. That would still be very enjoyable.

[Meli]

Those are both very good endorsements!

I wish I could listen on audio but I couldn't find a free copy.
But I just finished my last book club book of this month so I can focus on just this one... but the print is so small! And it seems to take so long to make progress.

[Meli]

I made quite a bit of progress and HOLY SHIT! This book really picked up the pace suddenly and I couldn't stop reading.

I want good things for Cyril, but I suspect he (view spoiler)[left Alice pregnant and Julian might kill him if he ever sees him again! I assume this is what was so important to tell Cyril after the wedding? (hide spoiler)]

[Jen K]

Right? It really does move once you get into it. It's so good!!

[Meli]

Boyne does an amazing job of really conveying how lonely, isolating, and helpless it must've felt to be gay during this time.

When Cyril had that conversation with the 18 year old in the bathroom and he says "do you ever just want to kill yourself" it broke my heart.
And the fact that the only way he can have sexual encounters is in these dark, hidden places in the city devoid of any intimacy or warmth :(

I can't wait to find out what happens.

[Meli]

So tonight.... full on SOBBING!! I'm in the 80s and after the most tragic life event we get to survive (I think) a hate crime.

[Jen K]

Yup, that happened to me a few times. :( Such awfulness in the world.

[Jen K]

Meli wrote: "Boyne does an amazing job of really conveying how lonely, isolating, and helpless it must've felt to be gay during this time.

When Cyril had that conversation with the 18 year old in the bathroom..."

Truly!! I can't imagine having to live life in that way. Not tolerable or tolerant at all.