Most of our readers found John Boyne's gift with the language to be extremely pleasurable even though the content was at times confronting. Our readers spoke of how Boyne's style was easy to read and of the book having an authenticity throughout. Readers spoke of returning to the cover blurb several times during reading, just to check that it was not a biograpy or a non-fiction as it had such a feel of reality and truth.
Many of our readers found Odran's naivete and innocence difficult to believe and comprehend. Some readers were quite frustrated with his interpretation of events. This provoked discussion how much public knowledge regarding child abuse has changed. There was much talk about having to consciously try to position ourselves in Ireland in the 1970's through to the present and how much attitudes to the Catholic Church and treatment of children have changed in that time. Children of the 1960s were not considered to be reliable witnesses and their complaints of abuse in any form were rarely given much credence. Children of that time were not taught to speak out either as adults and revered institutions were considered more infallible than today. So though there were observable behavioural changes in children, there was not the public knowledge or awareness of child sexual abuse to raise the alarm bells that would ring today. The Catholic Church in Ireland in particular was held in high esteem by the majority of the population. There was much discussion about the reader having to transport themselves into a different place and a different time when much information was considered very private and not for public consumption.
There was much discussion about Tom's character and the way his childhood experience of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of his father, followed by the repression of healthy sexual activity during his adolescent years at the seminary really set him up for dysfunctional behaviour as an adult. To add to this, he had no interest whatsoever in the priesthoood which was forced upon him by his father, thus creating a lifestyle for which he was unsuited in every way. Our readers sympathised with Tom's story but still found his behaviour unforgiveable. One reader had tried to find whether there were any statistics regarding the childhood experiences of Irish priests who had been accused of paedophilia, to see whether Tom's story was indicative, but had been unable to source relevant information. There was much discussion of the hidden, secretive nature of abuse and of its effect on future generations.
The novel's title evoked much talk about its aptness. Several readers spoke of their expectation that the origin of the novel's title be revealed in the book. Tom challenged Odran to see that he too had experienced 'A History of Loneliness' and there was much discussion as to how many priests experienced 'A History of Loneliness'.
Overall our readers rated John Boyne's novel between seven and nine out of ten, indicating how much they had appreciated his sensitive approach to a very difficult, emotive topic. He enabled readers to have a greater understanding of the causes of child abuse within the church and the extent of damage caused by both the deliberate and innocent ignorance of the issue. There are so many more victims than just those directly involved.
Overall our readers enjoyed and contributed to a very thought provoking discussion.
We will have a complete change of pace and genre for our next book club selection. More details on that to be found in the next post.
Keep on reading and keep those cogs moving!
