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cfurniss22's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
On the whole enjoyed this a lot. I felt like I really knew Logan through reading his diary entries and it was interesting seeing his progression from a schoolboy all the way to his eventual death as an old man.
I think my favourite thing about this book was the way Boyd integrated such an eclectic mix of literary and artistic figures and historic events into the narrative with such fluidity.
It dragged a bit in places and lost momentum which is why I gave it 3.5.
On the whole enjoyed this a lot. I felt like I really knew Logan through reading his diary entries and it was interesting seeing his progression from a schoolboy all the way to his eventual death as an old man.
I think my favourite thing about this book was the way Boyd integrated such an eclectic mix of literary and artistic figures and historic events into the narrative with such fluidity.
It dragged a bit in places and lost momentum which is why I gave it 3.5.
qwu's review
4.0
I'm 21 years old, as I'm writing this. I'll be turning 22 soon.
I'm about the age when Logan started his journal. It is an odd feeling for me to go through someone's life like that in a week of time. Yes, really odd.
I suppose he is right, you don't care what historical events happened. All you care is what you had for breakfast on the Monday two weeks ago, but I don't remember that. Somehow I think I even forgot what date it was that day. Life goes by and by, I haven't changed a bit. I have changed a lot.
I don't know how to put that feeling into words. I shall think of Logan pretty often though in the future days to come. I might even ask myself "what Logan would do in this, this and that situation." I read, because I yearn for a mentor to guide me through life. I can't do this on my own.
By far I've had more than one "life mentor", so to speak. I am grateful to them for the things they've been through and how appallingly honest they can be to their readers. Well, it's always the author's idea and writing, but let's not get into that yet. Let's put the cynicism aside for one moment, and listen, and believe. And live.
I've lived one more time through Logan. I'm truly honored, and I feel I'm no longer the person I was from yesterday already. Because I've lived one more time.
I'm about the age when Logan started his journal. It is an odd feeling for me to go through someone's life like that in a week of time. Yes, really odd.
I suppose he is right, you don't care what historical events happened. All you care is what you had for breakfast on the Monday two weeks ago, but I don't remember that. Somehow I think I even forgot what date it was that day. Life goes by and by, I haven't changed a bit. I have changed a lot.
I don't know how to put that feeling into words. I shall think of Logan pretty often though in the future days to come. I might even ask myself "what Logan would do in this, this and that situation." I read, because I yearn for a mentor to guide me through life. I can't do this on my own.
By far I've had more than one "life mentor", so to speak. I am grateful to them for the things they've been through and how appallingly honest they can be to their readers. Well, it's always the author's idea and writing, but let's not get into that yet. Let's put the cynicism aside for one moment, and listen, and believe. And live.
I've lived one more time through Logan. I'm truly honored, and I feel I'm no longer the person I was from yesterday already. Because I've lived one more time.
gillemb's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nailahreema's review
5.0
Any Human heart is immediately hilarious. The reader follows Logan Mounstuart (LMS) in his early years in Uruguay with his parents, through to boarding school, Oxford and adult life right up to his death. The book follows a diary entry format which I thought was very clever. I'm not sure every author could have pulled off this structure but it worked so well with the story. The books explores many themes, parental grief, war trauma, internment during war, depression, alcoholism, friendships, economic decline, poverty and an excess of riches.
There are lots of things I liked about Any Human Heart. Firstly, the diary entries read like the age LMS is. By the end of the book, I had almost forgotten than LMS started the diary as a child as the tone had shifted so much. I also liked that LMS is clearly an unreliable narrator. Which makes perfect sense, no one is fact checking their own diary entry. And the "author footnotes" to guide the reader along made me sometimes forget LMS was not a real person. There were so many characters, and sometimes long periods of time between diary entries, I was sometimes confused and couldn't figure out who was who, but again, it suited the writing style.
LMS is not a likeable person. He treats his first wife and son poorly, which is very sad compared to the doting husband and father he is with Freya and Stella. He has affairs to with his friend's wife twice. I wouldn't say he is just going where life takes him, but he is a good example of how life events force you to go down a certain path.
For example, he had to join the war effort, pursuing a writing career wasn't a priority as much because it didn't produce the income needed, he only travelled to places so he could write articles on them. He ends up returning in a south of France village because he just happens to have property there and there is nowhere else to go.
At the end, there is a line "We must quietly suffer the law of man's condition" which encapsulates this perfectly.
There are many well known names in this book from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (every retelling of the Duke makes him out to be a little shit and AHH is no exception) to Virginia Woolfe (apparently not very nice) and Ian Flemming (definitely not as important as he thinks he is). Any Human Heart is a great slice of life into this time period from the perspective of a relatively normal person. Time/society had changed so drastically from LMS's birth to his death. I thought seeing this from the perspective of someone who had lived through this changes whilst experiencing normal human life was very effective.
Final thoughts; a great book to get stuck into and something different to read.
There are lots of things I liked about Any Human Heart. Firstly, the diary entries read like the age LMS is. By the end of the book, I had almost forgotten than LMS started the diary as a child as the tone had shifted so much. I also liked that LMS is clearly an unreliable narrator. Which makes perfect sense, no one is fact checking their own diary entry. And the "author footnotes" to guide the reader along made me sometimes forget LMS was not a real person. There were so many characters, and sometimes long periods of time between diary entries, I was sometimes confused and couldn't figure out who was who, but again, it suited the writing style.
LMS is not a likeable person. He treats his first wife and son poorly, which is very sad compared to the doting husband and father he is with Freya and Stella. He has affairs to with his friend's wife twice. I wouldn't say he is just going where life takes him, but he is a good example of how life events force you to go down a certain path.
For example, he had to join the war effort, pursuing a writing career wasn't a priority as much because it didn't produce the income needed, he only travelled to places so he could write articles on them. He ends up returning in a south of France village because he just happens to have property there and there is nowhere else to go.
At the end, there is a line "We must quietly suffer the law of man's condition" which encapsulates this perfectly.
There are many well known names in this book from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (every retelling of the Duke makes him out to be a little shit and AHH is no exception) to Virginia Woolfe (apparently not very nice) and Ian Flemming (definitely not as important as he thinks he is). Any Human Heart is a great slice of life into this time period from the perspective of a relatively normal person. Time/society had changed so drastically from LMS's birth to his death. I thought seeing this from the perspective of someone who had lived through this changes whilst experiencing normal human life was very effective.
Final thoughts; a great book to get stuck into and something different to read.
feebbzz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pllylzbth's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War
Minor: Cancer
bleadenreads's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I went into this with high expectations after loving the TV adaptation in 2010 which starred Matthew McFayden, Sam Claflin and Jim Broadbent as Logan. It exceeded expectations!
Don't get me wrong, Logan is at times a complete fuck boi but your heart also absolutely breaks with his at times. The V2 bombing will stay with me forever. This is the best bildungsroman I've ever read as it goes from his school days to his death. It was like Forrest Gump in the way Logan interacted with the big names of the 20th C, including Virginia Woolf, Hemingway, Ian Fleming and Picasso, as well as his own involvement in the Spanish Civil War and WW2. The global scope of this novel still allowed all the little human details of everyday life.
I thought Boyd captured both the mundane and dramas of humanity beautifully. It really felt like someone's diary that had been made into a memoir especially with the little retrospective notes. The format meant I could really savour each year of his life, laugh at his failures, cry at his losses and feel invested in his sheer determination to keep going.
So yes, Logan is not a likeable character but he is a loveable one. I could read this & appreciate the wonderful writing without feeling like it was overwritten or trying too hard to do something clever. It kept it human and for that I loved it - I highly recommend
Turns out I love novels about messy men - Gentleman in Moscow and Still Life, now this
Don't get me wrong, Logan is at times a complete fuck boi but your heart also absolutely breaks with his at times. The V2 bombing will stay with me forever. This is the best bildungsroman I've ever read as it goes from his school days to his death. It was like Forrest Gump in the way Logan interacted with the big names of the 20th C, including Virginia Woolf, Hemingway, Ian Fleming and Picasso, as well as his own involvement in the Spanish Civil War and WW2. The global scope of this novel still allowed all the little human details of everyday life.
I thought Boyd captured both the mundane and dramas of humanity beautifully. It really felt like someone's diary that had been made into a memoir especially with the little retrospective notes. The format meant I could really savour each year of his life, laugh at his failures, cry at his losses and feel invested in his sheer determination to keep going.
So yes, Logan is not a likeable character but he is a loveable one. I could read this & appreciate the wonderful writing without feeling like it was overwritten or trying too hard to do something clever. It kept it human and for that I loved it - I highly recommend
Turns out I love novels about messy men - Gentleman in Moscow and Still Life, now this
roseanne80's review
I enjoyed this book, especially the last diaries. My takeaway: guy who is a colossal asshole is able to leave behind his substance abuse and self-destructive behavior once he no longer has to write for a living. A lesson for us all.
chloeburgess9's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5