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kumipaul's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I absolutely enjoyed the flow and pacing of the writing. It was beautifully descriptive without ever being flowery. I also enjoyed the story arc, moving with Logan through his life, going from life event to life event. Sometimes he was a big success, sometimes a failure. Sometimes he was rich and sometimes he was poor, and this allowed the author to give Logan a full and sometimes exciting life. The crazy thing for me though was that I never connected with or really cared much about Logan as a human being. And I can say the same thing about his friends, family and multitude of lovers. It's an unusual disconnect to enjoy reading a well crafted book with that takes me to all sorts of interesting places, and to be so dispassionate about most of the characters. Logan did a lot of annoying name dropping as he met with Picasso, Hemingway, Virginia Wolff, the Prince of Wales, and others, and the stories of their interactions made for compelling reading. But I found Logan himself to me a third class misogynist and mostly a person who pretended his way through his 85 years, falling into occasional success.
pannika's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute 5-star read. This felt like real-life; it was so immersive, as if I was living the protagonist's life alongside him. Could not have been one little iota better than it was.
maggieshalloe's review against another edition
5.0
What a life Logan Gonzago Mountstuart lived.
The book begins early in Logan’s life, and you find yourself in an intense proximity to his most intimate thoughts via its journal entry style. Logan is not perfect, in fact he acts appallingly often. However Boyd has an incredible ability, in his writing, to make you fond of him. He is deeply flawed, his arrogance and sense of self arguably hinders his career as a writer. He alienates most around him at times. He is a bit of a creepy (old) man at times. On the other hand, he experiences terrible loss. He is clearly traumatized at his experiences during the war, and his time in Switzerland. He rubs shoulders with some of the most famous artists and writers of the time. He somehow manages an impressive string of different careers. In the end you feel like you’ve lived his whole life alongside him. I can’t say I’ll be forgetting this one any time soon.
leweeza's review against another edition
5.0
Unexpectedly loved it…. hard time understanding where the book was going at the start, but found myself slowing down on the last few pages just to stay with LMS that little bit longer.
pained_creations's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Writing style was great, but sadly I had trouble connecting to the main character, who is not very likeable. It is narrated like a biograph of a writer, who kept journals from his childhood through death. He saw many changed in his life and in the world (death, war, love, loss, etc), and in the end he was reflective. Ultimately it is a portrait of godless man, searching for meaning, and finding nothing fulfilling.
normalgirlreads's review
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bart_gunn's review against another edition
2.0
I gave up a 1/3 of the way through. It's readable enough, but the characters are not particularly likeable nor interesting, and the diary format isn't particularly enthralling either. Only thoughts of self flagellation for giving up another book kept me going. But that I ended up spending so much thought time considering whether I should persist with this book or not in the end gave me the answer to stop. Life is too short and there are too many books in the world.
burkeester's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
Diary of a life spanning the important events of the twentieth century
I have been meaning to read this for years, I remember seeing the adaptation on television quite a while ago. It was only upon seeing it mentioned and recommended in A Diary of a Bookseller that I was prompted to download a library audio copy. This worked very well on audio, being a diary format.
Interspersed among diary entries ranging from student days up to old age, a narrator tells us that this is the life of Logan Mountstuart, and gives us extra information outside of his own timeline.
The voice changes gradually over time from a young man to seasoned writer, all the way to a very old and jaded man worn down by life. I checked when I finished, and listened back to various points in time - very nicely narrated.
Logan is a privileged young man, at a boarding school at the time of great change. He wants to be a writer, he has adolescence to work through, education to survive. Then there is a civil war, a world war, great social changes, as Logan traverses love, countries, careers and plays his role in key events of the period.
He's hard to dislike, though Logan is a philanderer, he runs away from responsibilities. He manages almost to 'stumble' into writing, he stumbles into marriage. His life intersects with important people at important times (Ian Fleming, Picasso). It's social history through the eyes of one man.
There are some very poignant sections, a very dark war for Logan with drastic consequences I haven't seen before, I had a large lump in my throat after this. And I found his old age hugely moving as Logan's fortunes change, he gets caught up in some rather dramatic events and his monetary situation becomes rather alarming.
A life chronicling a century of changes, a bit of an anti-hero in a well-born man whose luck and connections bring reward and heartache. His love life, career and fortunes take varying directions and my sympathies stayed with him. As his end drew inevitably nearer, I felt sad to leave him, to see what his 'end' would be.
A very worthwhile read, a poignant tale of a life, a few insights into major events of the century, and a sad look at ageing and old age.
I have been meaning to read this for years, I remember seeing the adaptation on television quite a while ago. It was only upon seeing it mentioned and recommended in A Diary of a Bookseller that I was prompted to download a library audio copy. This worked very well on audio, being a diary format.
Interspersed among diary entries ranging from student days up to old age, a narrator tells us that this is the life of Logan Mountstuart, and gives us extra information outside of his own timeline.
The voice changes gradually over time from a young man to seasoned writer, all the way to a very old and jaded man worn down by life. I checked when I finished, and listened back to various points in time - very nicely narrated.
Logan is a privileged young man, at a boarding school at the time of great change. He wants to be a writer, he has adolescence to work through, education to survive. Then there is a civil war, a world war, great social changes, as Logan traverses love, countries, careers and plays his role in key events of the period.
He's hard to dislike, though Logan is a philanderer, he runs away from responsibilities. He manages almost to 'stumble' into writing, he stumbles into marriage. His life intersects with important people at important times (Ian Fleming, Picasso). It's social history through the eyes of one man.
There are some very poignant sections, a very dark war for Logan with drastic consequences I haven't seen before, I had a large lump in my throat after this. And I found his old age hugely moving as Logan's fortunes change, he gets caught up in some rather dramatic events and his monetary situation becomes rather alarming.
A life chronicling a century of changes, a bit of an anti-hero in a well-born man whose luck and connections bring reward and heartache. His love life, career and fortunes take varying directions and my sympathies stayed with him. As his end drew inevitably nearer, I felt sad to leave him, to see what his 'end' would be.
A very worthwhile read, a poignant tale of a life, a few insights into major events of the century, and a sad look at ageing and old age.
hayley_nz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
A complex and deep book. So much to unpack, would definitely love to read again - but at times, I found the multitude of characters extremely difficult to wrap my head around and remember their impact. I do love this type of story as a change - follows a journal approach and it is very rare you experience the narrator’s life from school-age to old-age.