A quarter of the way through John Boyne’s novel A History of Loneliness,
we find the book’s narrator and main character looking for a seat on
the train. Fr. Odran Yates is a young Irish priest on his way to visit a
friend. The packed train confronts him with the dismaying possibility
of having to stand for the next two and a half hours, but he quickly
sees the advantage and disadvantage of being a priest in Ireland in
1980.
The advantage is the deference his collar summons: several passengers, including a pregnant woman, offer him their seats, and one man insists on buying him lunch. The disadvantage is unwelcome attention: he’s not hungry, and watching eyes keep him from speaking freely with the woman across from him.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/history-loneliness
The advantage is the deference his collar summons: several passengers, including a pregnant woman, offer him their seats, and one man insists on buying him lunch. The disadvantage is unwelcome attention: he’s not hungry, and watching eyes keep him from speaking freely with the woman across from him.
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/history-loneliness