Book 18 - Waytta Fuck Up Generations Upon Generations, Catholicism: A Tale

Title: The Heart's Invisible Furies Author: John Boyne Genre: Epic biofic

This book is an experience.

It's long. Spanning the years 1945 to 2015, this book follows the life of a gay Irish man trying not only to figure himself out and get his shit in line, but having to do so in a time and place where those very things could get him killed. UGHHH. Why does the Catholic church have to suck so. fucking. MUCH. If it doesn't hurt anybody, just let people do their thing! If your "god" condemns people on the grounds of preferences around sexual organs and/or arbitrary gender constructs, you need to check yoself.

Anyways.

Boyne's writing is rich and so, so entertaining. Every sentence is gold, even when (especially when) it's so Irish I can barely understand what the heck is going on. It can also be really vulgar, like spit-out-your-drink-in-shock hilarious. Like why-am-I-laughing-this-is-terrible amazing. A part of me is horribly offended, and the other part is fucking losing it.

Besides being hilarious and snappy, the protagonist takes us through his story with heartrenching vulnerability. Some extremely shitty stuff happens to this poor man, and to other characters in the story, and while it would have been easy to toil in the absolute filth of humanity instead the heavy material is offset by the character's vibrancy and desire to live.

All that being said, there were a few times where the author's opinions came through miiiighty hard as paragraphs upon paragraphs of dialogue, soliloquies, and monologues, to the point where I was jarred out of the story. However, the writing is so energetic and the plot so engrossing that even after these moments, a few pages later I was right back in there with Cyril, living and breathing his story alongside him.

Rating: 👶👦👱👴/5