First of all, just to say the main thing, it's a really good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me laugh a lot at the beginning (especially in the school years) & then gradually it made me sadder & sadder. At the end I cried a bit.

What was most poignant for me in the book was the relationship with Freya & Stella, and how there can be this moment / time of happiness in someone's life, only for it sometimes to end ever so soon. It was absolutely devastating when Freya & Stella died, & it wasn't made easier by the fact that so many people died in the 2nd world war. It still seemed tragic to me. I have to say, after that the book depicted Logan's life as going from disaster to disaster, just going downhill really. Especially the bit where he was living in London & was completely broke & living on dogfood... oh my god, that was so so sad especially after he had lived those happy years with Freya. I did think at that point in the book that this was quite disappointing; Logan went from an initially promising life, to a peak when he met Freya, to everything going downhill after that. And yet at the end Boyle actually 'saved' the whole thing, with Logan's last few years in France, which actually felt like a very good ending to a long & turbulent life.

The one thing that left me a bit puzzled- I didn't know what do with it!- was the fact that Logan kept bumping into famous people: Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, Virginia Woolf, the prince of England & many others. That particular strategy felt a bit 'gimmicky' and Forest-Gumpy to me... but I guess the book was (among other things) trying to document what happened during the 20th century & not just Logan's life, so in that sense it made sense as a strategy.

Anyway, in general- very well written, very enjoyable. ( )

Excellent. Wonderful. ( )

Is it clever: yes it is. Although I am not sure that it is any more clever than Winnie and the Wolf. Is it well written: yes it is. It did keep me going and I didn't have to keep going back to make sure that I understood (as I did with Winnie and the Wolf). It does carry you through one view of the 20th Century. Did I like it: no I didn't! Frankly I didn't care very much for either the main characters or the celebrated literary figures. I would not want to read any more books by this author yet I can see why some people would really enjoy it. ( )

The journal of Logan Montstuart from his school days between the wars until just before his death in 1991. The fictional Logan was a spy in WWII, an art dealer in NY in the fifties, an art critic, a novelist...... Entertaining and highly recommended. ( )

William Boyd is an amazingly good story teller. In this novel, we follow the life of Logan Mountstuart from his school days to his death which covers most of the 20th century. A writer and art dealer, his life touches on most of the great writers and painters of the age as he moves between London, Paris and New York. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a fictional character because Boyd creates a character of such depth and dimension. I was sorry when the book ended. ( )