New drama series: Any Human Heart

One of my favourite books of all time has been adapted into a major tv drama series starting tomorrow night on Channel 4.

William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart, is being adapted into a four part drama series. The book tells the life story of Logan Mountstuart, who lives through every decade of the 20th Century.

We first meet Logan as a 6 year old boy, before following his life through boarding school, Oxford University, his career as a writer, a Second World War spy, and art dealer in 1960s New York, before spending his last days in retirement in France.

During his life he finds himself caught up in some of the most significant events of the 20th Century, as well as meeting a number of famous real life figures.

I never imagined the book would be turned into a film or series, as it was unlikely the story could be covered in enough depth, but clearly I was wrong.

I wrote in my last blog about the book One Day, that I like books where you get to know characters over a significant period of time.

In Any Human Heart you follow the life of a character from a small boy until he dies over 80 years later as an old man. You see a person's successes and failures, the relationships with different people, and all the emotional ups and downs of a person's life.

What I loved about the story is that it shows the mix of ordinary and extraordinary events that take place in anyone's life. You see how Logan's life is directly affected by some of the biggest events to occur during the 20th Century.

I'm looking forward to watching the series, and although it's going to be difficult, I'm going to try my best not to constantly compare it to the book.


Any Human Heart starts on Channel 4 tomorrow evening at 9:00