Scan barcode
A review by bleadenreads
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
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