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Unsentimental Journey
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23258 |
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Section : |
BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
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8 / 2003 |
2,315 Words |
| Author
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Joseph Sullivan
Joseph Sullivan teaches British literature at Marietta
College. He is working on a book examining the role of
contingency in Shakespeare. |
ANY HUMAN HEART
William Boyd
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003
498 pp., $24.95
There are two distinct title pages for Any Human Heart. The first that reveals itself to the reader identifies the book as a novel by William Boyd. The second title page, the one that lies closest to the work itself, proclaims the text to be the intimate journal of Logan Mountstuart. The word intimate rings true in a couple of ways. For instance, Boyd often returns during interviews to the adjective intimate when describing his new novel. On these occasions he is referring to the book's inmost, intrinsic portrayal of Mountstuart: readers see the central character for the hedonistic, egocentric philanderer that he is. Looked at another way, the term intimate in its theatrical denotation equally applies to Any Human Heart. In this context, intimate refers to a performer's attempt to forge a close, favorable relationship with an audience.
Because of the stylish charm and genuine wit of the journal, one cannot easily condemn Mountstuart, even during intensely judgmental fits. Boyd reveals ugly truths about his hero that we do not want to know; nevertheless, he simultaneously wants the reader to enjoy the read and maybe even to respect Mountstuart in the morning. So long as the reader approaches the novel with an adventurous spirit and an appropriate set of expectations, Any Human Heart succeeds on both counts. It entertains even as it offends, offends even as it entertains.
Logan Mountstuart entered our world as "Logan Mountstewart" in Boyd's 1997 collection The Destiny of Nathalie X and Other Stories. "Hotel des Voyageurs" foreshadows Any Human Heart's extemporaneous narrative feel: both works are presented as journals. It has been reported that the redolent (Boyd's most frequently employed descriptor) specter of once-fashionable but now long-forgotten British author Cyril Connolly inspired Boyd to create Mountstuart. The fact that "Hotel des Voyageurs" begins with a passage from Connolly's own journal seems to support that possibility. Incidentally, Connolly actually existed. When dealing with the assertions of Boyd, it is prudent to trust but verify. If that suggestion strikes you as paranoid, I direct you to his 1998 bogus biography Nat Tate, An American Artist: 1928--1960. Brainchild of Boyd and friend David Bowie, Nat Tate claims to reintroduce the art world to the work of one of Jackson Pollock's least appreciated contemporaries. Boyd mentions early on that the biography is based almost entirely upon Logan
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