Our book of the month for April is Any Human Heart by William Boyd. We give you our Big Review below.
***Our Big Reviews are written from the point of view that you have read the book. If this is not yet you, bookmark the page and come back once you have***
Any Human Heart – the blurb
Every life is both ordinary and extraordinary, and Logan Mountstuart’s – stretching across the twentieth century – is a rich tapestry 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 men and women who shape 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.
Three Weeks
Three Weeks! That is how long it took me to read Any Human Heart, a woman who normal knocks at least two out a week. The book was long (490 pages) but not that long. The print was small but not that small and the plot whilst slow was not that slow. So why did it take me so long to read?
I’m not really sure. The reader follows the fascinating life of Logan Mountstuart who takes in and knows virtually everyone and everything of importance in the 20th century. The name dropping did become slightly eye roll and felt at times characters were included simply because they were of note in that decade. Boyd did however chose moments in time I genuinely didn’t know much about – What exactly did happen to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor after he abdicated? There was sadness, a lot of alcohol and even a bizarre section where a prostitute urinates on our protagonist but the book didn’t enthral me, nor evoke any real emotion. I found myself comparing Mountstuart to the wonderful Count Rostov and whilst this surely is a compliment to Boyd’s writing, Logan was no Count.
Any Human Heart is a interesting read that despite the above I did enjoy. I just wish the foot had hit the gas a little more, and one or two encounters hadn’t happened (don’t get me started on the terrorist link).
Get Involved
If you would like to get involved with our Book Of The Month try answering our Book Club questions published every month. Just search in our footnotes section for the ‘Get Involved’ articles. We review a new book every month so keep your eyes peeled for the Lowdown on May’s book of the month soon.
