Título: Any Human Heart

Escrito por William Boyd

DESCRIPCIÓN Y/O SINOPSIS DE ESTE EBOOK

Any Human Heart is William’s Boyd’s classic, bestselling novel – now a major Channel 4 drama.

Every 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.

BREVE FICHA TÉCNICA DEL LIBRO

Formato del ebook: Kindle PDF EPUB MOBI
Tamaño del archivo: 778 KB
Longitud de impresión: 512 páginas
Editorial/Editado por: Penguin; Edición: Re-issue (6 de marzo de 2003)
Idioma: Español

OPINIONES:

Boyd is one of the world’s greatest living story teller
Once again William Boyd has produced a jewel. His ability to bring true history into a novel is totally unmatched. But even Boyd has outdone his last few publications with «Any Human Heart,» not since «Brazzaville Beach» has he written such a page turner. This book flows effortlessly from cracking good tale to tragic reflection. His creation of this heroic character Logan Mountstuart left me crying at certain points in the book, and I can assure you I have never done that while reading a book before. Boyd uses a diary as a vehicle to detail the facts and emotions of Logan’s life, and this adds to the drama, suspense and pain of his story.
If you have the time and you are looking for a summer assignment, go to the book store and purchase William Boyd’s library. Read them in any order you like. But if you are looking for one excellent example of this writer’s genius, then Any Human Heart is a great place to start. I cannot recommend any book more highly.

Culmination of Boyd’s awesome career
This novel is so brilliant, so swiftly paced and poetically composed, i can hardly do it justice. i have read (and taught in university courses) Boyd’s books over and over again down the years (a fav is The New Confessions) and Any Human Heart rates right up there with the best work he’s done. there’s a real melancholia evident here–so those who are looking for the hilarity of such early works as A Good Man in Africa or On the Yankee Station are gonna be puzzled a tad. Logan Mountstuart is a great creation…so pleased, especially as i didn’t like Armadillo and The Blue Afternoon–despite the fact that, with Ian McEwan, Wm Boyd is my favorite contemporary novelist. get this as soon as you can…

Intermittently brilliant, but overall a mixed bag
A good, sometimes brilliant, effort by William Boyd: a fictional diary spanning the bulk of the 20th centry «written» by a minor British literary figure. I found sections of this novel extremely compelling: the World War Two diaries, the New York diary, and parts of the diaries devoted to his life and education at Oxford in the 1920s. Other sections I found rather ponderous, particularly the latter sections set in Nigeria and France. Since this book is structured in the form of a diary, it lacks the forward narrative drive of a good novel. This isn’t necessarily problematic but, to this reader anyway, the book drags toward the end where a novel should be building to its dramatic peak. Still, however, Boyd succeeds in conveying the sense of disillusionment and sadness of growing old and wondering «is that all there is?»
Perhaps Boyd’s greatest success here is the way he manages to recreate time and place. These «diaries» feel very real and each page comes alive with authenticity.
If you’re looking for an introduction to William Boyd, better start with an earlier novel of his «The Ice Cream War.» For all its merits, «Any Human Heart» is an acquired taste. It requires patience in long stretches, but overall, the effort does reap some rewards.