Any Human Heart
Registered by MrsDanvers of Aldeburgh, Suffolk United Kingdom on 4/14/2006
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Amazon.co.uk Review
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.
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.
One man's life and loves reflecting the 20th century. Our hero is not enormously likeable, but is arguably more interesting for that. The epistolatory style of the novel makes it easy to read, but Logan Mountstuart's life is not always easy. As a writer and later an art dealer he brushes against 20th Century culture and history and it touches him in sometimes tragic ways.
The writer "shows off" a little, including a character he created in an infamous art spoof - Nat Tate.
The writer "shows off" a little, including a character he created in an infamous art spoof - Nat Tate.
Journal Entry 3 by MrsDanvers at St Elizabeth Hospice Shop in Aldeburgh, Suffolk United Kingdom on Saturday, March 7, 2015
Released 9 yrs ago (3/7/2015 UTC) at St Elizabeth Hospice Shop in Aldeburgh, Suffolk United Kingdom
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It would really be appreciated if you would make a comment about the book, where you found it and what you thought of it.
The book is now yours to read, keep, or pass it on. We'd like to know where it travels to, and if you don't want to join you can do this anonymously.
If you would like to know what happens to the book after you have passed it on please join. It doesn't cost anything, it's private and it's interesting to travel by proxy around the world.
If you do join, I hope you'll put my name down - mrsdanvers - as your referring member.
