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JanB's Reviews > The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Heart's Invisible Furies
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by
JanB's review
bookshelves: book-of-the-month, buddy-read-with-marialyce-and-dana, 2019-reads
Feb 18, 2019
bookshelves: book-of-the-month, buddy-read-with-marialyce-and-dana, 2019-reads
4.5 stars
By now, no one needs a rehashing of the plot so I’ll simply say I loved this book and Cyril Avery is one of literature’s most delightful and compelling characters. The book is long with weighty topics and themes, but the author wisely added a surprising amount of charm, wit and humor, which is often laugh out loud funny.
I read in an author interview that Cyril represents Ireland, and through him we see the cosmic shifts in society’s attitudes over 70 years. Cyril isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes along the way, just as we all do, and this makes him all the more endearing and relatable. Although long, the book is so readable and captivating that the pages flip quickly. This is one of those rare books that feels shorter than it is.
The supporting characters can seem to be one extreme or the other: all good, or all bad. But if they exist to represent the differing attitudes of society, then it makes more sense. A bit more difficult to understand is that nearly everyone is obsessed with sex. I thought it was overdone and crass so if this offends you, be aware that it will be impossible to avoid it or skim. There are also a surprising number of times where coincidence and chance encounters are used to drive the plot forward. Cyril’s path implausibly crosses with significant people in his life over and over to the point of being ridiculous.
But no matter, even with these shortcomings, I enjoyed the book and recommend it. It made me laugh and it broke my heart. Most importantly, Cyril reminded me that the human spirit is resilient and that we all need love, acceptance, and a place to belong.
This was a buddy read with my good friends Marialyce and Dana, whose insight and discussion made this a most enjoyable experience. Thanks ladies!
By now, no one needs a rehashing of the plot so I’ll simply say I loved this book and Cyril Avery is one of literature’s most delightful and compelling characters. The book is long with weighty topics and themes, but the author wisely added a surprising amount of charm, wit and humor, which is often laugh out loud funny.
I read in an author interview that Cyril represents Ireland, and through him we see the cosmic shifts in society’s attitudes over 70 years. Cyril isn’t perfect. He makes mistakes along the way, just as we all do, and this makes him all the more endearing and relatable. Although long, the book is so readable and captivating that the pages flip quickly. This is one of those rare books that feels shorter than it is.
The supporting characters can seem to be one extreme or the other: all good, or all bad. But if they exist to represent the differing attitudes of society, then it makes more sense. A bit more difficult to understand is that nearly everyone is obsessed with sex. I thought it was overdone and crass so if this offends you, be aware that it will be impossible to avoid it or skim. There are also a surprising number of times where coincidence and chance encounters are used to drive the plot forward. Cyril’s path implausibly crosses with significant people in his life over and over to the point of being ridiculous.
But no matter, even with these shortcomings, I enjoyed the book and recommend it. It made me laugh and it broke my heart. Most importantly, Cyril reminded me that the human spirit is resilient and that we all need love, acceptance, and a place to belong.
This was a buddy read with my good friends Marialyce and Dana, whose insight and discussion made this a most enjoyable experience. Thanks ladies!
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Reading Progress
August 1, 2017
– Shelved
August 1, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
January 1, 2018
– Shelved as:
book-of-the-month
January 29, 2019
–
Started Reading
February 9, 2019
–
Finished Reading
February 18, 2019
– Shelved as:
buddy-read-with-marialyce-and-dana
April 8, 2019
– Shelved as:
2019-reads
Comments Showing 1-47 of 47 (47 new)
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Marialyce
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 18, 2019 09:03AM
I am overjoyed that you loved this book that I am constantly harping on.... It was truly one that moved me the two times I have read it. Wonderful review that hit all the right notes, Jan!
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So happy that you loved it Jan! My favorite of 2017! Fantastic review!
Lovely review, Jan! This one is still sitting on my TBR list, but I've heard so many wonderful things about it--I need to bump it up :). So glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful review, Jan!💕 It's the obsession with sex that has kept me from reading this one but seeing as you were still able to enjoy this as much as you did I will give it a try.
Fabulous review, ,Jan!
Such a lovely review, Jan! And a reminder that I need to make time for this SOON!
Glad you loved this Jan! Bye the way - Kindle readers - I noticed this novel is on sale today for $1.99
Beautiful and fairly balanced review, Jan! I am so glad this was an enjoyable group read for all three of you. :)
Marialyce wrote: "I am overjoyed that you loved this book that I am constantly harping on.... It was truly one that moved me the two times I have read it. Wonderful review that hit all the right notes, Jan!"Marilayce, thank you! it's quite a testament that you were willing to read it two times - and I'm so glad you did. Thanks for reading it with me and Dana. This was a terrific read for us📚
Karen wrote: "So happy that you loved it Jan! My favorite of 2017! Fantastic review!"Thanks Karen, it's on so many people's favorite's list, I don't know why I am so late to the party. But I'm glad I finally just decided to read it 💕
Nikki wrote: "Lovely review, Jan! This one is still sitting on my TBR list, but I've heard so many wonderful things about it--I need to bump it up :). So glad you enjoyed it!"Thanks Nikki, I was in the same boat - my advice is drop everything and read it. You won't be sorry :)
Michelle wrote: "Wonderful review, Jan!💕 It's the obsession with sex that has kept me from reading this one but seeing as you were still able to enjoy this as much as you did I will give it a try."Michelle, thanks! It was definitely overdone but I think he had his reasons and it is worth reading despite it. I hope you love it!
Debra wrote: "Fabulous review, ,Jan!"Thanks Debra! :)
Melissa wrote: "Such a lovely review, Jan! And a reminder that I need to make time for this SOON!"Melissa, thanks! So I guess I'm NOT the last person on GR to read this book, ha. Yes, make time for it!
Lisa wrote: "Glad you loved this Jan! Bye the way - Kindle readers - I noticed this novel is on sale today for $1.99"Lisa, thank! I saw that price and was tempted but I rarely re-read and I have the hard copy so what was I thinking, ha?! Such a great deal.
Jaline wrote: "Beautiful and fairly balanced review, Jan! I am so glad this was an enjoyable group read for all three of you. :)"Jaline, thanks so much 😊 It was a perfect book for a lively discussion.
Glad you loved it too, Jan! Wonderful review!
Excellent review! I don’t care to read sex scenes like those that you mentioned, and appreciate the “heads up”!
Although we diverge on our opinions of this book, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm an outlier here.
Meredith wrote: "Glad you loved it too, Jan! Wonderful review!"Thanks Meredith!
Jayme wrote: "Excellent review! I don’t care to read sex scenes like those that you mentioned, and appreciate the “heads up”!"Jayme, thank you! yes, yuck, right? Any other book would have lost a star.
Alecia wrote: "Although we diverge on our opinions of this book, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm an outlier here."Alecia, and I completely agree that the coincidences were ridiculous. I googled extensively looking for the author to explain why he added such implausibility to the story but found nothing, Still, I was absorbed from start to finish so in the end I rounded down for it.
Excellent review, Jan! I forgot to mention the obsession with sex in my review....but yes, I almost knocked off some for that. Surely Cyril could have had a few other interests. Loved reading this with you!
Dana wrote: "Excellent review, Jan! I forgot to mention the obsession with sex in my review....but yes, I almost knocked off some for that. Surely Cyril could have had a few other interests. Loved reading this ..."Dana, yes, haha...surely! I did round my rating down for the reasons I mentioned but it was still so well done and I enjoyed reading this with both of you!
I understand. If you love the book, you’re inclined to forgive certain things.
Great review Jan. This was an incredible read and one of those books that really stuck with me.
Alecia wrote: "I understand. If you love the book, you’re inclined to forgive certain things."Alecia, exactly. Sometimes I'm in a forgiving mood, other times not so much 😉
Tucker wrote: "Great review Jan. This was an incredible read and one of those books that really stuck with me."Thanks Tucker. I suspect this is one I won't forget either. Cyril is certainly a compelling character!
I can't wait to read this one and am not sure why I haven't yet! Wonderful review, Jan and it makes me want to pick it up sooner rather than later.
Stephanie wrote: "I can't wait to read this one and am not sure why I haven't yet! Wonderful review, Jan and it makes me want to pick it up sooner rather than later."Thank you Stephanie! It's daunting to pick up such a doorstopper but this is worth it and I actually read it faster than I thought I would, despite the length. If you enjoy audiobooks it's fantastic on audio. I hope it makes it to the top of the tbr soon 😊
JanB wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "I can't wait to read this one and am not sure why I haven't yet! Wonderful review, Jan and it makes me want to pick it up sooner rather than later."Thank you Stephanie! It's dau..."
You're welcome, Jan! I don't really mind the size, but I've been so used to reading books on my Kindle the past few years that I've honestly gotten unused to reading physical books, lol. If it had been on my Kindle, I'd have already read it. That's such a sad excuse, lol. But I've been making myself pick up neglected books on my bookshelf lately and am starting to love the feel of a book in my hand again-so much so that I asked for physical books for my birthday this year to the shock of my family when I've insisted on Kindle versions for at least the past 5 years! I'm iffy with audiobooks...they take me forever to listen to and I read so much faster, but I may try both at the same time since that sometimes works well--thx! Yes, I'll be reading this as soon as I get through my sea of spring ARCS that I'm drowning in!
So glad you enjoyed this book, Jan! Superb review!
Stephanie wrote: "JanB wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "I can't wait to read this one and am not sure why I haven't yet! Wonderful review, Jan and it makes me want to pick it up sooner rather than later."Thank you Stepha..."
Stephanie, I totally understand and I am the same way. I love my kindle, It's portable and I can read it in bed with the lights out, it's easy to take on vacation or to appts and waiting rooms, plus for beach reading nothing can compare.....and as my eyes get older I appreciate the ability to increase the font (lol)....but there is something about the experience and look and feel of a paper book that can't compare.
Re audiobooks I almost always increase the speed to x1.5. Slow narrators drive me bonkers. But I cannot imagine walking my dogs, driving, cleaning, cooking...really doing anything without listening to a book or podcast. I do love to switch between print and audio. Whispersync is awesome.
I understand drowning in ARCs too, lol. My ARCs are being neglected 😬
Paula wrote: "So glad you enjoyed this book, Jan! Superb review!"Thanks so much Paula! 😊
Nicola wrote: "There must be something in the air Jan! The last three reviews I’ve read everyone has said that the book was obsessed by sex! 😂 Wonderful review Jan! If my brain can ever concentrate for long enou..."
Nicola, that is hilarious! Different books work for different seasons of our lives. I do hope you get a chance to read this one day
It's about dang time, Jan!! Great review 💖
Felicia wrote: "It's about dang time, Jan!! Great review 💖"Felicia, no kidding! I hate being so late to the party but at least I showed up! 😂
What a fun buddy read you had ! Glad this book was such a winner for you.
Jaidee wrote: "What a fun buddy read you had ! Glad this book was such a winner for you."Thanks Jaidee, it was the perfect book to read in group, large or small. It just begs discussion :)
Great review, Jan. Your review pretty much sums up my feelings towards this novel.
Bianca wrote: "Great review, Jan. Your review pretty much sums up my feelings towards this novel."Thanks Bianca! It's pretty much a universally loved novel isn't it. Glad we both enjoyed. I may have been late to the party but at least I showed up :)
Incredible review of a marvelous book, Jan! Thank you for adding the information from the interview about Cyril representing Ireland. That is interesting! 😃
Kimber wrote: "Incredible review of a marvelous book, Jan! Thank you for adding the information from the interview about Cyril representing Ireland. That is interesting! 😃"Thanks Kimber. I'm glad you enjoyed that tidbit too. It really made me view parts of the story completely differently.
Insightful, thought-provoking and simply phenomenal review Jan! I love how well you interpret this book! It also broke my heart and make me laugh quite hysterically. I loved Cyril Avery with my whole heart and yet, I found his actions to be incredulous and hurtful at times (towards Alice mostly). I was amazed how John Boyne could make us love someone so much who wasn't always the kindest most careful person with other peoples feelings!
Susanne wrote: "Insightful, thought-provoking and simply phenomenal review Jan! I love how well you interpret this book! It also broke my heart and make me laugh quite hysterically. I loved Cyril Avery with my who..."Thanks Susanne. That's such a great point. He truly wasn't the kindest person and made many mistakes along the way but we still cared about him. What a masterful author to pull that one off! Thanks for a great comment,
I just finished this book and your review captures my experience exactly. Well done.
This is the review I was looking for. I loved the book. I'm not a prude and curse fluently, but for a country who is so prude-ish about sex, they sure seemed to openly talk about it a lot and in mixed company. I found that unbelievable, but then again I'm not an Irish male. The coincidence and chance encounters didn't bother me so much. That's why I like fiction and suspending reality is part of the fun of reading. Good review. Thanks for voicing what I was thinking about the obsession with sex.
