THe Elements
By John Boyne ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10 ""Around us, gurneys pass by while outside, in the waiting room, people sit with broken arms, sprained ankles, knife wounds, all the injuries that human beings suffer on a daily basis, because our skin..."
By John Boyne
★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
447 pages
What’s it about?
In these four interrelated stories that center on sexual abuse, John Boyne writes from the perspective of the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim. Each segment stands on its own, but together they form a novel with a strong impact.
What did it make me think about?
Sexual abuse.
Should I read it?
As I have often said, I seem to be drawn to Irish authors, and John Boyne is no exception. It was so easy to turn the pages in this novel, but it was hard to read. John Boyne does an exemplary job of demonstrating the many ways sexual abuse lingers long after the crime. This is a hard subject, but if you are able to read it, I recommend this book.
A passage I marked
"Around us, gurneys pass by while outside, in the waiting room, people sit with broken arms, sprained ankles, knife wounds, all the injuries that human beings suffer on a daily basis, because our skin is only so thick and our bones only so resilient and from the moment we arrive on the planet the universe is against us, conspiring to drown us, set us on fire, bury us in the earth, our spirits floating off into the atmosphere.
