Any Human Heart
Compelling
Timeless
Shallow

Any Human Heart

William Boyd2009
Any Human Heart is William's Boyd's classic, bestselling novel - now a major Channel 4 dramaEvery life is both ordinary and extraordinary, but Logan Mountstuart's - lived from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century - contains more than its fair share of both. As a writer who finds inspiration with Hemingway in Paris and Virginia Woolf in London, as a spy recruited by Ian Fleming and betrayed in the war and as an art-dealer in '60s New York, Logan mixes with the movers and shakers of his times. But as a son, friend, lover and husband, he makes the same mistakes we all do in our search for happiness. Here, then, is the story of a life lived to the full - and a journey deep into a very human heart.Any Human Heart will be enjoyed by readers of Sebastian Faulks, Nick Hornby and Hilary Mantel, as well as lovers of the finest British and historical fiction around the world. It was recently adapted for a major Channel 4 four-part drama series scripted by William Boyd and starring Kim Cattrall, Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent and Tom Hollander.'Astonishing, touching, extremely funny. A brilliant evocation of a past era and an immensely readable story' Sunday Telegraph'Superb, wonderful, enjoyable' Guardian'A terrific journey through the twentieth century. Thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable' Jeremy PaxmanWilliam Boyd was born in Ghana, where his father was a doctor, and was educated there and in Scotland. His first novel A Good Man in Africa won both the Whitbread First Novel and Somerset Maugham Prizes, and his subsequent novels have gone onto win many awards. His books include: On the Yankee Station and Other Stories, An Ice-Cream War, Stars and Bars, School Ties, The New Confessions, Brazzaville Beach, The Blue Afternoon, The Destiny of Natalie 'X' and Other Stories, Armadillo, Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960, Any Human Heart, Restless, The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth, Ordinary Thunderstorms, Fascination, Bamboo and Waiting for Sunrise. He divides his time between London and south-west France.
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Reviews

Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina
2.5 stars
Apr 1, 2023

Somehow I expected more. Like a lot more. Like more than a white dude from a well-off family with lots of luck, friends in high places, complaining constantly.

This review contains a spoiler
+2
Photo of Melody Izard
Melody Izard@mizard
4 stars
Jan 10, 2022

Any Human Heart is fictional journal that feels very real. There’s an unidentified editor who plugs in footnotes and other notes such as why there might be gaps in the timeline, or what was happening with Logan’s family or the books that he had written. The footnotes mostly identify the actual writer, or historian, or wartime event, or city, or artist our man, Logan Mountstuart, happens to mention in his account of his life. All the footnotes that I checked are accurate. It’s very easy to be swept up in a feeling that you are being allowed to read someone’s personal journal rather than just a fictional depiction of one. We’re taken from 1923 until his death in 1991 and the reader experiences, through Logan’s memories, his rollercoaster life of intense love, lust and loss as well as the many changes that happened during this portion of the 20th century. This man, (and even though I know that it’s really Boyd who has created this character – he still feels real to me) who is not a perfect man, but who knows his faults, knows his weaknesses, and sometimes overlooks his strengths, reveals his life in a very compelling fashion. This is a delight to read.

Photo of I.m. ruzz
I.m. ruzz@ruzz
2 stars
Jul 29, 2021

I got about half way through and wondered why I was making other books I really wanted to read wait while I trudged on through page after page of what seemed a fairly average story. I wasn't engaged in the characters, and must have missed it if there was a plot; so i decided to put it down.

Photo of Mark Phillips
Mark Phillips@mp
5 stars
Jun 1, 2024
+3
Photo of Madelyn
Madelyn@mad09
3 stars
Jul 10, 2024
Photo of Yasmin
Yasmin@yasamarante
4 stars
Jan 12, 2024
Photo of Steve Parks
Steve Parks@steveparks
5 stars
Dec 26, 2023
Photo of Will Vunderink
Will Vunderink@willvunderink
3 stars
Dec 18, 2023
Photo of Daniel Gynn
Daniel Gynn@danielgynn
4 stars
Jul 11, 2023
Photo of Juliana
Juliana@soundly
2 stars
Jun 14, 2023
Photo of Lola
Lola@readmyselfintopeace
4 stars
Jan 22, 2023
Photo of Elizabeth Clement
Elizabeth Clement@lizziethebadger
5 stars
Dec 31, 2022
Photo of Charles McNeilll
Charles McNeilll@charlesmcneill
3 stars
Nov 28, 2022
Photo of Patrick Baumann
Patrick Baumann@pbaumann
4 stars
Aug 17, 2022
Photo of Sonja H
Sonja H@sonjah
4 stars
Aug 12, 2022
Photo of Claire Knight
Claire Knight@krider2010
5 stars
May 23, 2022
Photo of Liz Prinz
Liz Prinz@prinzy
3 stars
Apr 4, 2022
Photo of Destiny Martino
Destiny Martino@destinymartino
4 stars
Mar 3, 2022
Photo of Helen Goldsmith
Helen Goldsmith@helly
5 stars
Feb 20, 2022
Photo of Robyn Campbell
Robyn Campbell@robyncampbell
4 stars
Feb 9, 2022
Photo of Deborah Meades
Deborah Meades@debeth
4 stars
Jan 1, 2022
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Esme@esme_grace
5 stars
Dec 5, 2021
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Valentina@valtheblonde
3 stars
Oct 11, 2021
Photo of Doug Clinton
Doug Clinton@dclinton
5 stars
Sep 14, 2021

Highlights

Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

That's all your life amounts to in the end: the aggregate of all the good luck and the bad luck you experience. Everything is explained by that simple formula.

Page 460
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

I'm humbled by the uncomplicated welcome I've received here and I wonder would an elderly Frenchman be the recipient of similar friendliness should he decide to retire to Wiltshire or Yorkshire or Morayshire? Perhaps. Perhaps people are kinder everywhere than maps of the world would lead you to believe.

Page 457
This highlight contains a spoiler
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

Well, look at me, I said, beginning to list my misfortunes. Who gives a shit about you? she said. You'll be fine, you always have been. It's me I'm worried about.

Page 380
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

Is that a good definition of marking the ageing watershed? That moment when you realize - quite rationally, quite unemotionally - that the world in the not-so-far-distant future will not contain you: that the trees you planted will continue growing but you will not be there to see them.

Page 203
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sina (she/her) @sina

Why do politicians love uniforms? - all these funny little men in Europe in their pantomime costumes.

Page 144
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

Are our lives just the aggregate of the lies we've told? ('Lives' - the 'v' is silent.) Is it possible to live reasonably without lying? Do lies form the natural foundation of all human relationships, the thread that stitches our individual selves together?

Page 45
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

The Christmas tree must surely be the saddest and most vulgar object invented by mankind.

Page 16
Photo of sina (she/her)
sina (she/her) @sina

Are there aspects of our lives things we do, feel and think - that we daren't confess, even to ourselves, even in the absolute privacy of our private record?

Page 6

Yes.