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Loading... A Ladder to the Skyby John Boyne***NO SPOILERS*** A Ladder to the Sky is the story of villain Maurice Swift, a writer desperate to achieve literary fame but lacking the necessary skill. For others in a similar situation the dream would remain a dream forever, but Maurice is different. Where he is skilled is in conning people, and he wields his charm and cunning to attain his heart’s desire: his life is punctuated by carefully orchestrated encounters with famous writers that he can potentially seduce. John Boyne placed readers inside this disturbing man’s mind in some sections; in others, he placed them in the mind of Maurice's _targets (or would-be _targets). These varied perspectives show specifically how this dishonest character operates as he ages from twenty-two at the beginning to sixty-something by the end. This is a bleak story. Readers spend 362 pages immersed in the world of Maurice, and a few other minor (but just as unscrupulous) villains play their parts too. All of these characters cause unspeakable harm to their victim(s), cementing this as a book with a very cynical view of humankind. This isn’t a criticism, though; Boyne wanted to write about the dark side of humanity and he achieved what he set out to do. The result is an engaging read that surprises and piques curiosity throughout. He especially deserves praise for making his main character a villain. Because readers are naturally biased against villainous characters, centering an entire story on one is bold, and a thorough fleshing-out and a detailed backstory is necessary to humanize them. Maurice as he presents himself to the world is well fleshed out. As he interacts with others, his swagger comes through vividly, as does his confidence in his good looks. Dialogue is natural, so he’s easy to hear too. He's slick, and how he can cast a spell on people is obvious. However, he’s a simple villain, coolly psychopathic, with no guilt, regret, doubt, or even an ounce of fear to inhibit him. Boyne spent a lot of time on the portrayal, mostly in showing how Maurice works hard to con all kinds of people, but he neglected to explore what truly compels this character to crave fame so much that he’ll engage people in long, elaborate cons. There was no probing of the character’s inner life so readers could appreciate the context for the evil behavior, or sympathize with him on some level. This would have been a fuller story with some of this background--or, if he was born that way, what his childhood looked like. Maybe Boyne intended for his villain to really be this simple, but when all is said and done, Maurice seems like a caricature. Despite this flaw, A Ladder to the Sky as a whole does have dimension and complexity. What drives it is obviously the interesting philosophical question that’s no doubt been debated since books were first written and published: To what extent do writers own stories? Also confronted is the subject of morality. Most of the underhanded behavior in this story (whether from Maurice or others) is inarguably immoral, but some behavior raises the question of whether youthful impulsiveness or a noble end goal can exempt the culprit. The book pushes readers to ponder these things--but via an intense, tragic story that can be emotionally draining. A Ladder to the Sky is superbly written and smartly organized, but reading about an unapologetically abhorrent person and the pain he causes others is just hard. To say this book is enjoyable doesn’t sound right. It’s more like it’s captivating to see just how far the main character will go in each new situation with new characters. It’s definitely not a book for everyone and not one many readers will care to revisit. Book 228 Loaned to me by John Baldwin. Lesley Baldwin tell him I absolutely loved it. A ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (boy in striped pyjamas). The book starts in 1988 and spans maybe 30 yrs. My favourite character was the homosexual Erich and I loved the description of him watching his naked friend swimming (afraid his "desire would be all too visible"). As time moves on the main character Maurice develops and so does the language and plot. Recommend to Janet Elizabeth Conway Leslie Moffitt Hey Anne Boyce any of you readers! 10/10 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. Maurice Swift has always wanted to be an acclaimed author. He is obsessed with it. He can write well. The only problem is that his books are boring. He has trouble coming up with ideas. What to do? This is not a book for anyone looking for a likeable protagonist. We spend a lot of time in the head of a narcissist. We also get the perspective of Swift’s wife and an acclaimed author he met early in his career. The perspectives are chosen to gradually reveal Swift’s character and schemes. I am quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. In addition to an entertaining story, albeit dark and disturbing in parts, it is also a clever send-up of the world of book prizes. It is hard to say too much without spoiling. It is well-written, well-crafted, the characters are deeply drawn, and the execution is brilliant! Very unusual book. It was a fairly slow-moving story that I was tempted to give up on at times, but I stuck with it, though it was painful at times due mostly to the behavior of the protagonist, Maurice. Maurice is first introduced as a secondary character, a waiter who is noticed by the first character, an older man who is a known author. Maurice later introduces himself as a reader who admires this man's works and the man is flattered, but also obviously interested in the young man for extra-curricular activities. Maurice seems like a nice young man who is interested in becoming a writer, and he seems to be taken advantage of by this and other older men who like his looks. He seems fairly honest and eager to learn. But his true nature is very gradually revealed in bits at a time, and we start to see an ambitious young man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals with no regard to the consequences or feelings of others. Since most of the story is from his point of view, it often seems uncertain as to what his true nature and intentions are. But as the story progresses, there is less and less doubt that he is a bit of a psychopath. Some of the results of his actions are very hard to read about, and we begin to hope he gets what's coming to him, and soon. He seems to lose in the end, but does he really? It's hard to know with the surprising ending. Normally, I very much like the books of John Boyne, but this one fell flat. One dimensional characters with a story line that somehow never delivered the story of Maurice Swift, a con who develops relationships with authors, and then not only copies the story line, but outlines secrets in the life of the author. In one case, leading to the tragedy of a well-known author when his life is splayed and copied. Moving on, Swift finds another author to copy and ruin. Only two stars for this one. Maurice Swift has two desires to accomplish with his life. He wants to become a world-renowned writer and become a father. Maurice goes about these endeavours meticulously and unscrupulously. He is a very good-looking man and uses that to attach himself to some very important people. Uses them and then drops them. Does he climb that ladder to the sky? Rapidly becomes cartoonish and implausible. Boyne has a knack for structure and dialogue, but here he is unable to create more than one-dimensional characters (who for the most part are naive and clueless) in service to a silly plot line. Swift is fashioned as perhaps the most unbelievable sociopath in modern fiction. If this is typical of what is considered serious literature these days, I may have to stick with the classics I haven't read yet. (Also, I was disgusted at the conceit that he could put words in the mouth of Gore Vidal as part of this enterprise.) There’s no doubt this is a fascinating story of a murderous narcissist but I couldn’t stand the stereotype of the ageing queen who falls at the feet of the beautiful young man, completely beholden to his beauty & full of internalised homophobia, self loathing and hatred. There I go again, writing the same thing with three different words Wow! This was my 2nd John Boyne book and following The Hearts Invisible Furies, I had high expectations. This book was totally different and the storytelling was just truly impressive. This story follows Maurice Swift and his rise to fame as an "author". Maurice is introduced as a handsome young man who wants nothing more than to be a famous and celebrated writer. “I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. He's an operator, that's for sure.” ― John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky Maurice is actually not a likable guy and he does "whatever it takes" to get the story. But this book keeps you hooked through its dark humor and that this story brought to life through the people that guided (and assisted) Maurice along his way. This story was truly unique and kept me on my toes. The middle lagged for me a bit but the ending was satisfying and I enjoyed when the tables were turned. A big thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for gifting me a copy of this book, all opinions are my own. Boyne does it again with a book that is immensely readable with a story that features a successful psychopath who gains fame from other people’s stories and writing. This book examines the utter void of a moral conscience of that character and his drive for fame and success at any cost and the complex, twisted life of deception he leads. Highly recommended. (43) I have read and loved ' The Heart's Invisible Furies,' and also enjoyed 'The Thief of Time'- I don't think I realized he has written quite a few others and this came across to me in a library suggestion - and I am glad it did. An author, Maurice Swift, is depicted at different stages of his life and career. From a young waiter aspiring to be a writer, to marriage with one successful book under his belt, to middle age - a father and owner of a literary journal, and finally to a sad old age. Sounds boring, right? Not so fast - it turns out Maurice is an abominable sociopath. Or is is that an exaggeration? - perhaps he is just doing what any successful artist needs to do. Where do our ideas for stories come from? Isn't everything derivative? I find Boyne's writing to be so engaging - its not necessarily an edge of your seat mystery but I never want to put his novels down. The style is wry, direct, and unadorned but somehow the whole is nuanced. I didn't like this as much as 'Hearts,' the characters were not as memorable nor heart-breaking. Instead, I did not have mixed feelings about Maurice and did not relate or root for him as some of the book jackets comments suggested. I also felt that the underlying theme of the duplicity of artists/authors was catty. I'd rather not know that about the authors I admire. But it is just fiction, right? Anyway, I will definitely read more by this author. At some point he should be at least long listed (in Maurice parlance) for one of his works. He is quite talented. A Ladder to the Sky is the first John Boyne book I have read and was unsure what to expect. At the start, I almost put the book down thinking that somehow I picked up a gay romance novel. It is not and turned into an engaging story. Maurice Swift is a man of great ambition and little talent but aspires to be a novelist. He leaches on to talented people and tosses them away when he is finished. Swift builds his career and lives on the creativity of others. There is no real action of excitement in the book, but it flows seamlessly cover to cover. Maurice is cold and calculating, and although it is told by several points of view, it reads like a confession. A Ladder to the Sky is a book that is difficult to put down and hard to classify. Sociopaths- unshackled from the weight of empathy, they're emboldened, they're sexually commanding, they're impishly sly, but they're often pretty dense. They've probably been around since the dawn of time- to stir things up a bit, and we've finally figured them out. Now we can script them and fling in and out of life. One does what one can. I'll keep it short, it's a good book, written with a modern, uncomplicated style that facilitates our addiction to the dark manipulative exploits on offer. For me it had that feel of a story that although has predictability, is no less enjoyable for being led down the garden path. I thought it was a bit daft at times, more like a modern day folk tale than your sinister phycopathy novel, but that's not necessarily a negative. As a bonus you even get to spend some time with Gore Vidal half way through. Highly readable, but keep up the good fight John, I'll certainly read you further |
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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. ( )