China has million migrant workersthe largest migration in human history. Boyd spent 30 months reading hundreds of books, including the complete works of william gerhardie, a renowned 1920s author who. The intimate journals of logan mountstuart is a 2002 novel by william boyd. Any human heart is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome chronicling my personal rollercoasteror rather, not so much a rollercoaster, but a yoyo, a jerking spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child. Nov 05, 2010 i wrote the novel any human heart over four years from 1998 to 2002. In 1926, as an oxford student, he is keen to race his friends peter and ben to losing their virginity. Logan mountstuart has three distinct faces in director michael samuels fourpart adaptation. Any human heart is one of the finest books i have ever read along with compton mackenzies sinister street. Logan mountstuart, this books main protagonist, is a writer whereas john james todd from the new confessions is a cinematographer, but both share that personality that is a mix of ironic british detachment and a carefree optimism. Any human heart at its core is a fictionalized journal of a fictitious character, logan mountstuart. William boyds masterful new novel tells, in a series of intimate journals, the story of logan mountstuartwriter, lover, art dealer, spyas he makes his often precarious way through the twentieth century. I really enjoy karen dietrichs memoir, the girl factory. The girl factory, a salacious novel about prostitutes which is poorly.
In fact, for a good part of the book, he doesnt seem to have to really try too hard. The introduction, discussion questions and suggested reading list that follow are intended to enhance your groups reading of any human heart, by william boyd, author of armadillo, the blue afternoon, and brazzaville beach. An american artist 19281960 although in this case the reader is fully aware that it is fiction. From his early childhood in montevideo, son of an english. The four films follow logan from his time in oxford. William boyd explains the origins of any human hearts logan mountstuart, and why the journal form of his novel was the natural choice. Jan 17, 2019 logan mountstuart has three distinct faces in director michael samuels fourpart adaptation. It is written in a style that has you almost believing this person actually existed, with details such as footnotes, a bibliography of mountstuarts supposed books and an index. William boyds latest novel, any human heart, is probably the one that best capitalizes on the authors own peripatetic lifeone that took him from ghana to nice and glasgow.
Unsurprisingly, any human heart required a great deal of research. Noted as a ya book, i found the story of roshen, a sixteen year old uyghur girl, to be an interesting and easy read. Sent to work in a sewing factory in china for a year, roshen seems to me to be similar to young girls in this country, new york particularly, the difference being that those n. I had the pleasure of seeing karen do a public reading of this book, and it was a delight. Logan gonzago mountstuart, writer, was born in 1906, and died of a heart attack on october 5, 1991, aged 85. Factory girl is a 2006 american biographical film directed by george hickenlooper. Logan mountstuart is born in uruguay, but hes essentially english and the journals that make up this novel begin in 1923, with mountstuart at school. The girl factory details the life of karen dietrich as she maneuvers her way through various friendships and a complicated mother daughter bond. William boyd explains the origins of any human hearts logan. Any human heart dvd, 2011, 2disc set for sale online ebay. Any human heart, william boyds 2002 novel, took thirty months to research.
A book of global significance that provides new insight into china, factory girls demonstrates how the mass movement from rural villages to cities is remaking individual lives and transforming chinese society, much as immigration to americas shores remade our own country a century ago. Any human heart william boyd read online free books. Apr 16, 2012 this novel is the diary of the half english, half uruguayan, logan mountstuart, and it follows his life from 1923 as a 17yearold schoolboy to 1991 as a 85 year old man. William boyd explains the origins of any human hearts logan mountstuart, and why the journal form of his novel was the. Boyd spent 30 months reading hundreds of books, including the.
The factory girl 1814, by sarah savage commonplace. My fundamental aim was to write the complete story of one life. The journals are kept intermittently, there are often large gaps in time, and some are only loosely dated just right to allow boyd to fit his. Surely one of the most beguiling books of this season, this rich, sophisticated, often hilarious and disarming novel is the autobiography of a. The book begins with karen as a very young girl, and describes life with two parents as factory workers, and follows her through her teenage years into college. Ant mcpartlin masks identity in planning application to. Logans journal is not a meticulous one, written instead in fits and starts. Helma packed up his apartment under his instructions, sold his furniture, crated up his. Factory girl rails testing, a testing framework for ruby on rails. In 1914 foleys decided to concentrate on its meatprocessing factories in australia, new zealand and rhodesia, and the uruguayan business was sold to an argentine firm, the.
Any human heart by michael samuels jim broadbent, matthew. This novel is the diary of the half english, half uruguayan, logan mountstuart, and it follows his life from 1923 as a 17yearold schoolboy to 1991 as a 85 year old man. And so i conceived of this man, whom i called logan mountstuart, and had him. And so i conceived of this man, whom i called logan mountstuart. May 2008 beth harrington fiction girl factory by jim krusoe as a hero in everyday life i am a public menace, reads the epigraph to jim krusoes novel girl factory, quoting peter handkes my year in the nomansbay. There is only so much enthusiasm one can have for adolescent boys as they discover girls. Logan mountstuart is the fictitious british writer whose story is told in the 2002 novel any human heart by william boyd. Sarah savage, the factory girl 1814 1 the factory girl 1814, by sarah savage todays readers may find the factory girl confusing in its lack of industrial details. Logan follows a serious book with the girl factory, based on his experiences with prostitutes, and many of the friends who have seen him as a serious writer are puzzled by his creating a popular. Although, karen is a precocious child and highly intelligent, she struggles after elementary. I can see the frigorificoa vast white factory with its stone jetty and towering chimney stack. William boyds novel any human heart is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome chronicling my personal rollercoasteror rather, not so much a rollercoaster, but a yoyo, a jerking spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child. The narrative then moves forward in time to such events as. The journal takes everything that life throws at you as significant.
I wrote the novel any human heart over four years from 1998 to 2002. Logan mountstuart spent the next few months in london trying to sort out, at a distance, the settling of his affairs in new york. With jim broadbent, conor nealon, matthew macfadyen, sam claflin. An eyeopening and previously untold story, factory girls is the first look into the everyday lives of the migrant factory population in china.
Although, karen is a precocious child and highly intelligent, she struggles after elementary school with building and maintaining relationships. Begun in english public school, they reveal logan as an eloquent schoolboy outsider who grows into an observant, engaging, peripatetic journalist. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the. William boyd explains the origins of any human hearts.
Sam claflin my cousin rachel, the pillars of the earth is logan as a freshfaced oxford student, enthused by the prospect of becoming a famous author in the early 20th century. It is the intimate journal of the writer logan mountstuart and is written in the style of a autobiography but is actually pure fiction the same device the author used in the new confessions and nat tate. Logan mountstuart, this book s main protagonist, is a writer whereas john james todd from the new confessions is a cinematographer, but both share that personality that is a mix of ironic british detachment and a carefree optimism. The intimate journals of logan mountstuart, this bbc miniseries follows the tumultuous and colorful experiences of the title character, an english belletrist. The book s title, as the epigraph points out, comes from novelist henry james. Dec 14, 2010 any human heart is one of the finest books i have ever read along with compton mackenzies sinister street. Upon finishing the book, i was inclined to believe that a better characterization of jonathan, its thirtynothing, consistently single protagonist could not be. Helma packed up his apartment under his instructions, sold his furniture, crated up his possessions and had them shipped to london. Factory girl, a song by the pretty reckless on their album light me up. I really enjoyed reading the diary of logan mountstuart, a most fascinating. Jan 01, 20 the girl factory details the life of karen dietrich as she maneuvers her way through various friendships and a complicated mother daughter bond.
Adapted from william boyds 2002 novel any human heart. The elderly logan mountstuart recalls his life as recorded in his many journals. The book is a fictitious autobiography if that is not a misnomer, narrating the life story of logan mountstuart from his upbringing in uruguay, through his time at oxford and on to his extraordinary adventures across the world. The program begins with octogenarian logan jim broadbent rebuilding his life in the wake of a nearlyfatal heart attack. William boyd explains the origins of any human hearts logan mountstuart, and why the journal form of his novel was the natural choice william boyd sat 4 nov 2006 18. The intimate journals of logan mountstuart is a 2002 novel by william boyd, a british writer. He faithfully keeps it, except when he cant bear to, until his death at 85. However, his chosen girl, the feisty socialist land fothergill seeks only his intellectual companionship.
Willow and thatch every human being is a collection of selves we never stay just one person. It is written as a lifelong series of journals kept by the fictional character mountstuart, a writer whose life 19061991 spanned the defining episodes of the 20th century, crossed several continents and included a convoluted sequence of relationships and literary endeavours. Does boyd want his readers to assume that despite the private revelations of the diary form, we still cannot know the last word about logan mountstuart. Below, kailey rhone looks deeper into any human heart. However, his chosen girl, the feisty socialist land fothergill seeks only his intellectual. It was made into a channel 4 drama in 2010 with matthew macfadyen as the. Never say you know the last word about any human heart. Any human heart william boyd page 38 read online free books. His novel, girl factory, on the other hand, does unexpectedly well despite. William boyd, who has been called a master storyteller chicago tribune and one of the most skillful and appealing writers at work today the. Logan gonzago mountstuart, writer, was born in 1906, and died of. There are a few moments when the factorys material environment appearsmarys work is reeling cotton.
226 383 821 479 1259 32 583 988 1087 353 1522 944 1347 417 1453 1264 274 720 8 1586 1157 1513 792 1193 1367 18 1001 1020 936 527 797 319 1196 1346 1072 1481 631 986 808 111 836 526