Any Human Heart

Logan Gonzago Mountstuart, writer, was born in 1906, and died of a heart attack on October 5, 1991, aged 85. Any Human Heart is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome chronicling "my personal rollercoaster"--or rather, "not so much a rollercoaster", but a yo-yo, "a jerking spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child". From his early childhood in Montevideo, son of an English corned beef executive and his Uraguayan secretary, through his years at a Norfolk public school and Oxford, Mountstuart traces his haphazard development as a writer. Early and easy success is succeeded by a long half-century of mediocrity, disappointments and setbacks, both personal and professional, leading him to multiple failed marriages, internment, alcoholism and abject poverty.

Mountstuart's sorry tale is also the story of a British way of life in inexorable decline, as his journey takes in the Bloomsbury set, the General Strike, the Spanish Civil War, 1930s Americans in Paris, wartime espionage, New York avant garde art, even the Baader-Meinhof gang--all with a stellar supporting cast. The most sustained and best moment comes mid-book, as Mountstuart gets caught up in one of Britain's murkier wartime secrets, in the company of the here truly despicable Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Elsewhere author William Boyd occasionally misplaces his tongue too obviously in his cheek--the Wall Street Crash is trailed with truly crashing inelegance--but overall Any Human Heart is a witty, inventive and ultimately moving novel. Boyd succeeds in conjuring not only a compelling 20th century but also, in the hapless Logan Mountstuart, an anti-hero who achieves something approaching passive greatness. --Alan Stewart

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The Funky Art Cafe Varkala Kerala India Babu - Rated
I had the misfortune of reading this book whilst sitting in this bar in India,the staff were busy spiking drinks and dragging semi conscious western women to the 'chill out room' for some non consensual fun,so I warn all who see this entry not to go there at any cost, there is an air of malevolent discontent that is disturbing and pungent,...... avoid,avoid avoid,......... you have been warned.

Truly a modern classic - Rated
A rare wordsmith at his best. Irresistible. Not least a gentle insight into 20th century history. Empathy to, and subtlety of human life is laid bare with remarkable skill. You will not be disappointed.

Disappointing - Rated
It looks like the author used his knowledge of 20th century history, people and events for name-dropping and the hanging of much of his writing on pegs of history without much depth to the writing; as if he wrote the book using the equivalent of a painting-by-numbers kit.

Easily Boyd's best - Rated
This is in a different class to many of Boyd's other novels, most of which I have read. It captures almost painfully the reality of the human condition: a life of memories, occasional brushes with celebrity and too many lost chances, and it's over in a flash. Poignant, even distressing at times, but always entertaining. Highly recommended if you like the more serious elements of earlier novels like The New Confessions, The Blue Afternoon etc

the twentieth century seen via a minor writer's diary - Rated
The protagonist is a minor writer, who also lives an eventful life including reporting on the Spanish Civil War, conducting a spying mission in Switzerland and becoming an art dealer. The novel tackles such issues as the nature of human happiness, love, the vicissitudes of life and growing old. My only irritation with this book is that in spite of all the name-dropping - the privileged writer meets figures such as Evelyn Waugh, Picasso and the abdicated Edward VIII - there is no mention of George Orwell in spite of the obvious parallels with Homage to Catalonia during the Spanish sequence.