Fantastic read, absolutely knocked my socks off. The portion that is told from the point of view of Edith was really intense, it felt like I was holding my breath for the whole chapter. I love what the author did with the characters, the plot, the writing, every bit of it worked for me. Highly recommend. ( )

It took me a long time to get into this book, in part because of all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but also in part because I just did not care for it at first. Had it not been written by John Boyne, whose “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” was among my favorite books of 2017, I might have simply abandoned it. But after the holidays, I sat down with it, determined to see it through to the end. I am glad I did. Brilliant writing and storytelling and well worth my time. If I have any criticism at all it would be that, in my view, Mr. Boyne broke a cardinal rule of writing: grab your readers from the beginning. Had this been his first novel and I had not loved the first book of his I read, I might have abandoned this, given the now immense to-read pile that has amassed during the last several months as we dealt with family matters. I suppose successful writers can get away with breaking the rules though, and the payoff in the end was nothing short of masterful. The main character, Maurice Swift, is one of the most despicable, fully-developed characters, I have ever encountered in literature - a train wreck of a human being from whom I could not divert my eyes. I might have given it less than five stars because of how I was not grabbed at the start, but four stars was too low, so five it is. ( )

This is a circular plot which you can work out once you have started to read the book, with the journey as the unknown for at least half the book.

Maurice Swift is a good writer but has no ideas, no plots or characters. His solution is to befriend a 66 year old professor who is a homosexual but has never had a relationship after being traumatised by a clumsy approach to his best friend when he was young. Maurice is a waiter in a restaurant in Berlin where Erich is eating on his book tour, having won a prestigious literary prize. Erich falls hopelessly in love with him and offers him a job as a secretary whilst he is on his prize tour. Maurice mines the relationship, teasing Erich the whole time, eliciting Erich's deepest secret which he then writes as a novel. This has disastrous consequences for Erich.

Never mind. Maurice moves onto another author, then gets married and manages to steal another story, and it is at this point that the tension really ratchets up. We know more than the narrator and are begging her to leave him as she excuses his behaviour. From here on, because we know the outcome of the relationships he forms, the tension remains. Just before the end, in a very symmetrical move, he meets a young person who wants to interview him and because he is now on his own and an alcoholic, he depends upon this young man for company and understanding. The consequences are just and finally he does have a story to write.

A ladder to the sky is about ambition, reaching for the stars with the help of a ladder, and Maurice is one true climber willing to do anything to become a writer - well-known not obscure. The trouble is the ladder never ends and the fall is a very long one when it comes.

As each character is introduced, they narrate their own section which I enjoyed and helped to reveal the sociopathic nature of Swift's character slowly. By the time we get to Edith and his marriage, we as the reader, are clued in. One of the best sections was when Maurice and Dash stayed at Gore Vidal's house. Vidal realises what Maurice is doing and refuses to have any part to play in it. The dialogue is witty and viciously sharp and also proves to be a turning point in the book. Before meeting Vidal, Swift was a user of people, after meeting him he became something much worse.

The part I didn't really understand is why Maurice wanted a child unless it was a person with more of an emotional attachment to the antihero, Swift. The child is necessary for the ending and perhaps that is why he is included so that the ending can be satisfactory. I am not really sure that either of those two possibilities is the real answer, though. Perhaps it is more to do with the depths of depravity that Swift will sink to to become famous. ( )

The Heart's Invisible Furies was one of my favorite books I've read so far this year, and I enjoyed this one just as much!

The story is about a writer who can craft a great sentence, but has a hard time coming up with good plot ideas. He is extraordinarily good looking and pretty ingratiating, so he is able to use these talents to help fill this gap in his writing skill set. This book tells his story.

Maurice Swift, our protagonist, is the type of villain that readers can love to hate. Boyne cleverly reveals the story of Swift using different perspectives, and by doing so, he surprisingly is able to create quite a few well rounded supporting characters too. This book echoed others for me such as American Psychopath, Lolita, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, but in a more subtle way that was more engaging and fun to read as opposed to leaving the reader filled with disgust. The icing on the cake is this book is about ruthlessness in the literary world so it feels like an insider peek into the industry. It might be a tad fantastical at the end, but to be honest, after reading true crime stories about sociopaths like Ted Bundy, I actually felt that Swift was believably drawn.

Boyne is an incredible talent. This book is completely different than the one prior, but just as riveting. ( )

I waded my way through the first third of the book and grew bored. Just not my cup of tea! ( )