Any Human Heart

As a treat for finishing my dissertation (well, at least until my supervisor reads and critiques it), I re-watched Channel 4's wonderful mini-series, Any Human Heart, which first aired in late 2010. Based on William Boyd's 2002 novel of the same name, it is both a very individual tale of one man and a complete history of the twentieth century. I've never found anything else that so perfectly combines so many of my interests: identity construction and reconstruction, self and history, writing and memory, artistic and literary history... all that plus romance, action, humour and an incredible cast.

We are an anthology, a composite of many selves - William Boyd

Over four episodes (about an hour and a quarter each), we are introduced to the many sides of Logan Mountstuart, from young and earnest aspiring writer through to serene octogenarian. It is not just age that changes Logan but the multitude of ordinary and extraordinary experiences that make up his long life. Living from 1906 to 1991, Logan not only witnesses, but actively participates in, the events which so drastically changed our world over the course of the twentieth century. From the Spanish Civil War and World War II to left-wing terrorism and Thatcherism, Logan writes about it all alongside banal details of everyday life. It's not just politics that graces Logan's journal either, but, as you'd expect from a 'man of letters', the vagaries of art and literary fashion. From Hemingway to Prince/King/Duke Edward, Logan fortuitously interacts with many of the most famous names of the twentieth century.

Jim Broadbent, Matthew Macfayden and Sam Clafin
as the three ages of Logan Mountstuart

At the same time, Any Human Heart is deeply personal. Each stage of Logan's journey through the twentieth century is marked by one of his many women, yet his love for one particular woman lasts his whole life and outweighs everything else. This is my favourite part of the story, beautiful and heartbreaking. Logan's philosophy is that "It's all luck in the end: good luck and bad luck". He is a man who experiences plenty of both and carries on regardless.

I know the novel has even more to offer that couldn't fit into five hours of TV, and so look forward to reading it soon. I particularly like how Boyd tries to pass it off as a real diary, with an editors preface, footnotes, list of works by Logan Mountstuart, and all the other trappings you would expect of an edited volume. Boyd had previously written a biography of a fictional artist, Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960 (1998) which had been so realistic it had fooled many art critics. His blurring of the lines between fiction and reality is just another reason why I'm so fascinated by his work.

Any Human Heart is available to watch on 4oD. You can buy the book on Amazon here