From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

A History of Loneliness

John Boyne

Start date: May 15, 2022

Finish date: June 15, 2022

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Nov 09, 2014 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebooks, around-the-world, read2014, reviewcopy, location-ireland

John Boyne takes a difficult subject - sexual abuse in the Catholic church - and reflects on it over several decades through the eyes of Odran, a Catholic priest from Dublin. I found it thoughtful and honest, and the author's note at the end tells that he spoke to quite a few Irish Catholic priests to build his characters.

I loved the dialogue with its Irishisms, "sure if I..." and "himself." Some of the moments are incredible cringeworthy moments, which of course speaks to Boyne's writing.

I lik ...more

15 likes · Like · see review

May 15, 2022 spoko rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club, fiction, philosophy-religion, crime, ireland

To my mind, this is nearly a perfect book. The story and characters are thoroughly absorbing, the tone is close to perfect throughout, the writing is masterful, and the book unfolds beautifully.

So, all that praise in mind, a few things worth noting:

- It is certainly a very dark book, with outcomes ranging from sad to tragic for almost every character. But as I said above, the tone of the book helps elevate it. Without losing a sense of the gravity of what’s happening, there is enough levity to k ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 18, 2022 Katy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy-religion, fiction, contemporary-issues

I very much liked this novel. It was shocking, compelling, provocative, infuriating, and ultimately very sad. The characters and the story were believable. The evasions of the Irish Catholic hierarchy were reprehensible. One wonders if anyone still remains Catholic in Ireland.
It is the story of the collapse of the Catholic Church in Ireland following the devastating scandals of the sexual abuse of young boys by priests, and clueless bishops trying to deal with the problem by transferring them ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 01, 2015 Linda rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

This is a powerful read about many things. But primarily it addresses the sexual abuses in the Catholic Church, those that knew and acted, those that knew and failed to act and those that knew but failed to acknowledge their culpability. Still digesting this story that I finished this morning.

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