The author of Armadillo, The Blue Afternoon and Brazzaville Beach--the novelist who has been called a "master storyteller" ("Chicago Tribune") and ...
read full description
reviews
Jan 11, 2012
James
rated it: 
I struggled to keep reading during the first part of the book. The character was such an annoying, self-centered, pompous prick. The vocabulary was so over the top. Usually the writing style of a book is the author's style (of course), rather than suggestive of the character's state of mind. As the book is presented as the main character's journal, clearly the latter style would be preferable. But at that moment, it wasn't evident that Boyd was going just that. I started to wonder about this boo
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Oct 27, 2011
Huw
rated it: 
If you can imagine Johnny English meeting Rolf Harris meeting Forrest Gump meeting Grahame Greene meeting Adrian Mole (just after Sue Townshend lost interest in him), then you're not a million miles away from how the plot in this novel is set up.
And although it does contain a lot of banality along with quite a few other weaknesses, this doesn't spoil too much what is a very, very special novel.
When I read something that moves me, or resonates very strongly with me, I turn More...
And although it does contain a lot of banality along with quite a few other weaknesses, this doesn't spoil too much what is a very, very special novel.
When I read something that moves me, or resonates very strongly with me, I turn More...
Nov 15, 2008
Sonya
rated it:
When you start out, you'll think you might not like this book. The main character is arrogant and, well, young. Brash. But keep going through this fictionalized journal that keeps track of seventy years of a man's life, including his heartbreaks and strongest loves. Other reviewers bash it for its "Forest Gumpness," yet to me it's not all that unbelievable that an upperclass intelligence officer might have contact with influential persons during one of the world's most tempestuous and
More...
2 comments
like
(8 people liked it)
Dec 07, 2007
Stefanie
rated it: 
Didn't really like it. It's written as a diary, and covers a good chunk of the 20th century. Logan, the diarist, didn't compel me in the slightest, he was flat. Although he experienced some exciting things in his life, from meeting Hemingway and Picasso, to being imprisoned as a spy, I found him boring. I did read it through, which is something.... I kept hoping to start caring about him. But I never did. Perhaps it's the diary form that disagreed with me--I think it may be the first of t
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Aug 06, 2011
I guess this book was written for the older generation. In my 30s or even 40s I would probably have dismissed it for its ramblings, its excessive length and its protagonist's arrogance and name-dropping. For some it would appear to be a sort of British equivalent of Forest Gump as its hero lives through almost the entire twentieth century meeting many of its great characters and being involved in many of its central events.
However, for us "wrinklies" I suspect, there is a great deal o More...
However, for us "wrinklies" I suspect, there is a great deal o More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 02, 2011
If you've ever had the experience of enjoying eating something you know you shouldn't like then you'll know how I felt about this novel. With plenty of sex, and gossip about famous people ranging from Picasso, the Duke of Windsor through to the Bader Meinhof gang, there are plenty of guilty pleasures to be had. But I just can't deal with a novel masquerading as the intimate journals of a minor English novelist as edited by an academic researcher. I felt very uncomfortable reading it. Some peopl
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 01, 2011
Written in diary style, this novel tells of one man’s life lived through the twentieth century and it’s tricky to write what it’s actually about since the story covers such a long period of time. It contains lots of name-dropping (Edward and Mrs Simpson, Ian Fleming, Ernest Hemingway, to name but a few…) which helps to add to the biographical feel of it.
The protagonist, Logan, is not really a very likeable person. He has few redeeming features, yet despite this I still found his story compelli More...
The protagonist, Logan, is not really a very likeable person. He has few redeeming features, yet despite this I still found his story compelli More...
Oct 05, 2011
Rochelle
rated it: 
I am 20 years old and found this book very intriguing, although i found it had ups and downs. On some reading sessions i struggled to get into the book and with others i struggled to put the book down. It is confusing in parts as there are alot of characters and alot going on, but when you stop and think about what has happend, you realise not alot has at all. It seemed like alot of unnecessary information.
on a positive note, it is interesting, and when i first started reading this b More...
on a positive note, it is interesting, and when i first started reading this b More...
Oct 03, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
The story is told through the journals of Logan Mountstuart and spans the majority of the 20th century. It starts with his time at school and Oxford, touches on the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and charts his movements through America, the UK, Spain, Africa and France. He mixes with the likes of Picasso, Virginia Woolf & Evelyn Waugh.
In some respects telling the story in the style of a journal worked quite well. It was very factual and to the point. I didn’t skip over More...
In some respects telling the story in the style of a journal worked quite well. It was very factual and to the point. I didn’t skip over More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 09, 2011
Laurie
rated it:
This is one of the books I had as part of my literary spa treatment my hubbie organised secretly because my bridesmaid was that good. The main reason that I picked this book was because the narrator is a writer. What's more, the blurb at the back presented him as a flawed, failing writer and rather mediocre family man. I felt some kinship there, indeed. I started reading this book when I was pregnant but gave up about a third in as it had become too depressing for me to carry on. A lot of that h
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 26, 2011
David
rated it:
This is not a book I would have chosen to read for many reasons, but it was a gift and I felt I should give it a go. One the whole I was glad I did... the colour of the characterisations, the narrative drive and overall quality of the writing was excellent, and it offers an interesting snapshot of the 20th century through a single lifeline woven through significant political and artistic events of that timeframe... without the whimsical, saccharine coated faux folk wisdom of a Forrest Gump or Be
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 27, 2011
Mooderino
rated it:
I know a number of people who consider this book a favourite so I was expecting a lot. Sadly I was disappointed.
As the story of a man living through the major(ish) events of the 20th century, not as a main player or hero, but a fairly ordinary (if a little priviliged) man it was a neat premise. My problem with it I think can be best summed up by describing a key scene. During WW2 as an intelligence officer his family backgorund on his mother's side makes him the ideal candidate as a sp More...
As the story of a man living through the major(ish) events of the 20th century, not as a main player or hero, but a fairly ordinary (if a little priviliged) man it was a neat premise. My problem with it I think can be best summed up by describing a key scene. During WW2 as an intelligence officer his family backgorund on his mother's side makes him the ideal candidate as a sp More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 22, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 20, 2011
David
rated it:
What a wonderful book. The intimate journals of one Loagan Gonzago Mountstuart, this book follows one man's life across the 20th Century. Presented as edited entries from his personal journals, Boyd follows his protagonist from University, through his early career as a writer, the war, running an art gallery in New York to a final, quite moving old age in Britain and France.
Along the way Logan manages to rub shoulders with the great and the good (Hemingway, The Duke and Duchess of Yo More...
Along the way Logan manages to rub shoulders with the great and the good (Hemingway, The Duke and Duchess of Yo More...
Jul 05, 2011
Ethan
rated it:
The language isn't difficult, but this is one of those books that needs 100 pages of your patience, because it takes that long for the small devices of the voice to take effect. Once they do, the last 400 pages zip along.
It's presented as though it were a posthumously published series of diary entries--NOT a memoir. This matters because the central appeal is the voice of a writer (Logan Mountstuart) talking candidly to himself, rather than positioning his experiences for public view. More...
It's presented as though it were a posthumously published series of diary entries--NOT a memoir. This matters because the central appeal is the voice of a writer (Logan Mountstuart) talking candidly to himself, rather than positioning his experiences for public view. More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 13, 2011
David
rated it:
Somewhat disappointed by this one after enjoying 'An Ice Cream War' and 'Brazzaville Beach' from the same author. This is a sprawling novel that extends over 70 years, a fictional memoir in which we are constantly encountering famous real-life characters, from Picasso to Jackson Pollock, Ian Fleming (in his role as spy-recruiter) to Ernest Hemingway. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor are cast in a very shady light. It all sounds good fun, doesn't it, and there is fun to be had to a degree, and som
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 27, 2011
Sara
rated it:
Just folded this one up and I can't describe exactly why I enjoyed it so much.
I picked it up because Masterpiece Theatre this month is playing the screen version. We really didn't enjoy it much. I didn't think much of the character and found him arrogant and immature. I was slowly slogging along with the book version when I found that I was thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it. What intrigues me is that this book is one long journal, but it is fiction. However, it reads so More...
I picked it up because Masterpiece Theatre this month is playing the screen version. We really didn't enjoy it much. I didn't think much of the character and found him arrogant and immature. I was slowly slogging along with the book version when I found that I was thinking about the book when I wasn't reading it. What intrigues me is that this book is one long journal, but it is fiction. However, it reads so More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 24, 2011
Kathleen
rated it:
I decided to read this in parallel with the PBS series that is airing on Sunday nights. (Part 3 is this coming Sunday.) It is a novel written in the form of journal entries. In general I don't like this structure but it works well here. I haven't read enough to know how closely the life of the character, Lionel Mountstuart, parallels the life of the author, but he is a British everyman. He turns up in Paris and meets Hemingway. His closest friend is an art dealer who introduces him to Pica
More...
Aug 16, 2010
Anne
rated it:
This pseudo-autobiographical journal is fascinating in that it chronicles a century's history through the point of view of a fictional character. The journals of Logan Mountstuart feel real in their occasional disjointedness, footnotes, and various styles. Yet I disliked the protagonist so much (yes, I know he was supposed to be an anti-hero) that I had a hard time slogging through the man's life. If it hadn't been for a book group, I wouldn't have finished this tome.
Boyd is a master More...
Boyd is a master More...
Mar 31, 2011
Blair
rated it:
I'd been putting this off - or saving it. Either way I had intended to read it on holiday at the end of April, the reason being that I thought it would be a tough book to tackle; not difficult or unenjoyable, but the sort of thing I would need lots of time and proper concentration to really appreciate. However, a few days ago my Kindle broke and, with nothing else available while I wait for it to be replaced, I decided to get stuck in to Any Human Heart.
I soon realised that - as wit More...
I soon realised that - as wit More...
Feb 10, 2010
R.
rated it:
This is not my favorite book, this is not the most lofty book I've ever read, its not going to break into the top ten list (although I think it has become cemented into the top 20) However, It was a total page turner that kept me up late and wishing my subway rides would last longer but some how managed to feel important and slightly intellectual at the same time. It was amazing and I'm afraid to even recommend it because if you don't love it as much as I did it will break my heart.
More...
Dec 23, 2011
Jim
rated it:
I hover between 2 and 3 stars for this hefty faux-memoir of Logan Gonzago Mountstuart, a somewhat insufferable writer who spanned the 20th century. I remember when it first appeared, but it always seemed a bit Masterpiece Theatry for my tastes. A couple weeks ago I had a cold and was in the mood for a thick comforting novel, which judging from this book's cover and plaudits it was.
Boyd seems to specialize in fictional biographies – at least I know of his The New Confessions, which re More...
Boyd seems to specialize in fictional biographies – at least I know of his The New Confessions, which re More...
Mar 07, 2011
Claire
rated it:
I must admit that I liked it very much. I don't think it got very good reviews - critics thought it was too "Forrest Gump-y" - but I actually like it. The story arc was really compelling and I didn't have to suspend too much disbelief that he'd actually met all these literary celebrities. It is, after all, entirely possible that someone of his class and educational background would have met many of these writers.
I thought the characterization was really strong, perhaps becau More...
I thought the characterization was really strong, perhaps becau More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 07, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
This is a novel written in the form of a personal journal by a writer who lived through every decade in the 20th century (1906-1991). He records his experiences as (1) a student at a prep school & at Oxford; (2) as a beginning writer; (3) as an intelligence officer during WWII (keeping track of the Duke & Duchess of Windson in the Caribbean & later as a prisoner for two years in Switzerland--a confusing story); (4) as an art dealer in New York City; & (5) as a retiree in London & later in southe
More...
Oct 10, 2011
F.R.
rated it:
I’ve never kept a diary myself, but do have admiration for those who do. It seems to me to require a level of dedication that even a humble scribbler of fiction like myself would find hard to maintain. I don’t write every single day, let alone every single evening, and besides I like to make stuff up. The fictional diary then perhaps offers the ideal halfway house for a novelist, allowing the form but without the chore of writing about every single day, no matter how little has actually happened
More...
6 comments
like
(9 people liked it)
Jun 19, 2011
Dougal
rated it:
What a fabulous book.
I discovered this purely by chance. A friend told me to catch a television serial and, soon afterwards, the novel popped up on another friend’s Goodreads with a five star rating. Until then, I had no idea that the serial was, in fact, a serialisation of William Boyd’s book. I must confess I was surprised. I thought the television adaptation was brilliant; but I had been underwhelmed by the only other book I had read of Boyd’s: Restless.
And this book More...
I discovered this purely by chance. A friend told me to catch a television serial and, soon afterwards, the novel popped up on another friend’s Goodreads with a five star rating. Until then, I had no idea that the serial was, in fact, a serialisation of William Boyd’s book. I must confess I was surprised. I thought the television adaptation was brilliant; but I had been underwhelmed by the only other book I had read of Boyd’s: Restless.
And this book More...
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 05, 2011
Emilie
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book in spite of my initial feelings towards it having read the back cover. Everyone else in the book club thought it sounded fantastic from the spiel but I thought it sounded lame and contrived. In any case, once it took off it was a surprisingly easy read and whilst I often did not agree with Mountstuart's actions (couldn't he just blooming keep his johnson in his trousers??), I did feel empathy towards him. I did think for a second that the name dropping was a little nau
More...
Aug 02, 2011
Jayne
rated it:
The best thing about William Boyd books IMO is that no matter how tedious the plot or characters may be, there will always be moments of brilliance, superb humour and observations that have me saying 'yep, he absolutely nailed that one'. So it was with this 'fictional memoir'. I wasn't gripped all the way through - anything to do with fine art tends to make my eyes glaze over, and the Nigerian section seemed a bit rushed - but there were also some superbly written sections, as well as a seismic
More...
Jan 16, 2011
Beth
rated it:
My husband and I have been watching the recently filmed production of this, and even though it is enjoyable -- and very well-done -- it is definitely one of those cases where the film cannot begin to compare to the novel! As the novel is attempting to take on the scope of a man's entire life, that is just way too much materical to be satisfyingly "shrunk" into four episodes.
One of the aspects the film emphasizes, though, is protagonist Logan Mountstuart's belief that life More...
One of the aspects the film emphasizes, though, is protagonist Logan Mountstuart's belief that life More...
Dec 17, 2010
Michael
rated it:
Terrific book... Boyd,s Logan Mountstuart is the definitive flawed soul.
Part of the attraction of the book is how shallow and selfish an
individual Logan is capable of being.
His serial affairs and habit of appearing to want whatever his
friends have, is one of the least endearing aspects of human nature.
Yet it is one to which we all can relate. Despite this, Logan has a
charm befitting a man born into his class and of his time.
More...
Part of the attraction of the book is how shallow and selfish an
individual Logan is capable of being.
His serial affairs and habit of appearing to want whatever his
friends have, is one of the least endearing aspects of human nature.
Yet it is one to which we all can relate. Despite this, Logan has a
charm befitting a man born into his class and of his time.
More...
