John Boyne

3.5 Stars

(Update) Re-read as it came up as a book club read in my group and can confirm this was a great discussion book even though 7/10 of the group found it very far fetched and quite farcical.

Ireland of the 50s 60s 70s 80s.
He who dares be different........... gets a slap
Thankfully we have moved on.......

I wish I could break this novel down into 3 parts and my rating would differ on all three. The first 200 pages I just could not connect with the characters or the book as I felt situations and conversations especially the conversation between the 7 year old boys and the confessional scene and the numerous over played comic scenes and ridiculous coincidences made me want to throw this book at a wall as it just bordered on the ridiculous (2 Stars) and yet something compelled me to stay with the novel and I was so glad I did as the next couple of hundred pages the novel seems to find it's rhythm and was a wonderful insight into Ireland of the 1940s to today WARTS and all. (4 stars) and the last 200 pages were just deeply affecting and heartbreaking and hypnotic. John Boyne at his best.(5 Stars).

I am a fan of John Boyne and have enjoyed most of his novels and this one without doubt shows of his masterful storytelling as he depicts an Ireland that was ruled by religion and prejudice. An Ireland that many many people suffered in the name of religion and their childhood memories were dominated by cruelty in some shape or form. And yet we have come a long in the last 20 years with some 62% of the Irish Republic electorate voting in favour of Gay marriage in 2015 and 2017 sees Leo Varadkar becoming Ireland's first gay prime minister which shows how much our little country has changed and for the better on so many other levels as well.

This is a book that is humorous (sometimes boarding on farcical) tender, heartbreaking shocking and powerful.
Beware there is quite a lot of profanity so don't say you weren't F***ING! warned.
I think this book would make a terrific book club discussion read as I dare you read it and not have an opinion or a meaniful discussion on it.

I was lucky to have a hard copy of this book and to listen to it on audible as well and both worked well for me.… (more)

A dark and compelling read, John Boye's latest novel introduces us to the despicable yet interesting character of Maurice an attractive young man who wants to be a famous writer and he uses and abuses his contacts and family to get exactly what he wants in life

After reading the blurb of this novel I wasn't too sure if I wanted to read this one or not as the story line just didn't appeal to me but John Boyne writing always lures me in and I just had to purchase a copy as I figured this one would be worth discussing even if the story didn't appeal to me.

I did enjoy the book and found the character of Maurice horrible but fascinating and so well written. Spanning three decades the story is told by different narrators which was entertaining in itself and the first section of the novel was my favourite. The age old question that writers keep getting asked ". Where do you get your ideas from is at the heart of this story and John Boyne takes the idea and has a little fun with it.
Having read quite a few of Boyne's novels A ladder to the sky while not my absolute favourite is certainly worth reading and a great story that I enjoyed from start to finish. There is suspense and dark humour in this one and I did enjoy the little mention of the character of Maud Avery from [bc:The Heart's Invisible Furies|33253215|The Heart's Invisible Furies|John Boyne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490803456s/33253215.jpg|51438471].

This is one that I think bookclubs would enjoy disecting as lots to discuss in this one.… (more)

I really enjoyed this novel and found it an emotional read. While reading this book I exclaimed out loud and cried and for me this is the basis on which I award 5 stars, I try to write a review on a novel as soon as I can after putting the book down as I like my review to express my feelings of the book when I closed the covers be that good bad or indifferent. The absolutist had me so emotionally charged that I was thinking about the story even when I was not reading it.

The Absolutist is a wartime story and deals with the relationship between two young soldiers Tristan and Will. The story is narrated by Tristan. I loved the characters in this novel and felt that they were very well written. I first came across the subject and storyline of this novel in a wonderful book called [bc:Private Peaceful|1033348|Private Peaceful|Michael Morpurgo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1180383975s/1033348.jpg|2454980][a:Michael Morpurgo|8080|Michael Morpurgo|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1260905000p2/8080.jpg] and have since been very interested in the subject. I love the flow of the Absolutist and think this is a very touching story very simply told I dont want to write too much about this story as I think its a book you have to read for yourself, I have read [bc:The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|39999|The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|John Boyne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366228171s/39999.jpg|1148702] by John boyne and it was for me just an ok read however his book[bc:The House of Special Purpose|6421824|The House of Special Purpose|John Boyne|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328385422s/6421824.jpg|6611043] I absolutely loved. For me this book was a real page turner and a great story.… (more)

3.5 Stars
A unique and imaginative story that held my attention from the very first chapter. I loved the construction of this novel, and John Boyne is a master in storytelling and but those last two chapters just didn’t fit with what went before and what was a 5 star read turned into a 3.5 star rating for me which means I enjoyed the read just not one for my favourites list.

A whistle stop tour of 50 countries through two thousand years that was epic in scope and quite a tale but what a well crafted story by Jonn Boyne. I loved how the principal characters remain with us through all the different countries but just little changes in names to suit the country the chapter it is set in. When I first read the premise for this novel I was intrigued if not a little daunted by the fact that this might be a novel that would be difficult to keep pace with. Therefore I had a kindle copy as well as the audio version and read and listened to the story. The story is so well constructed and it is not difficult for the reader to follow once you realise you are following the same set of characters.

The research that the author must have done in order to create a novel set in so many countries over 2 millenniums must have been incredible. The characters are well imagined and I loved moving from country to country with them. I enjoyed recognising characters from his past novels inserted within the story. The female characters really don't fare well and I did find that made for uncomfortable reading and yet I know it was pretty accurate to the history of women in the past.

Without going into detail I didn't like the the last two chapters of the book, it just didn't connect with the rest of the story (for me) and I finished the book a little underwhelmed with the conclusion. The story does lose a momentium about 50% through and I felt it a little repetitive.
Having said that I really did enjoy the story, its unique, extremely well written and researched and definably going to create a much needed reading stir in 2020.

The narration by Tim McInnerny was absolutely faultless and and really added to my enjoyment of the novel.… (more)