The Mirror and the Road Review: A Fascinating Insight into the Mind of William Boyd

During a recent episode Between the blanketsIn a BBC Two book club program hosted by Sarah Cox, one of the novels discussed was from William Boyd’s extensive catalogue. Every human heartPublished in 2002, the 500-page epic chronicles the life and times of wandering Englishman Logan Mountstuart during the tumultuous events of the 20th century.

Discussion of the series sparked a collective excitement that not only showed how popular Boyd’s ninth novel is, but may also partly explain why this latest Boyd-related installment The Mirror and the Street – Conversations with William BoydDoes it even exist: The writer is highly valued here, so let’s do him a favor.

Still, it’s wonderful: a 330-page Q&A session, moderated by writer and superfan Alistair Owen, that explores Boyd’s entire journey through seventeen novels, five short story collections, twelve films, five television series and three plays. games.

This means that this is not essentially a biography, and although we learn that the 71-year-old writer was born in Scotland and lived in Africa, America, France and England, we learn little else: he has one woman named Susan; He never learned to drive a car. Instead, attention is paid to whether he writes his books in the first or third person and in what tense.

If this seems like an unnecessary artifact to even the most ardent readers, that’s because it is, but it’s also a truly fascinating insight into the creative process. Anyone who has ever wondered what makes a successful writer will find the answer here.

Boyd has long made the life of a writer enviable. For years he was portrayed as a writer with a leather bag slung over his shoulder, as if that was all he needed to continue traveling the world as he researched novels such as The Booker Shortlist. Ice War (1982), Stars and bars (1984) and Sweet caress (2015). Although he admits that he writes most of his work “between lunch and cocktails,” he is extremely prolific, with another book or screenplay on the way.

He always knew exactly what he was doing. His then-agent immediately suggested he rewrite his 1981 novel. Good man in Africa, he quickly ignored the advice. “Any reasonable suggestions would be greatly appreciated,” he tells Owen, “but unless they are particularly clever, I will ignore them.”

And although war, death and tragedy are present in many of his works, especially in the four novels from life. Every human heart is a standard; he essentially considers himself a comic book writer: “I see the world in all its cruelty and injustice through a kind of comic lens.” stars, what you wrote will resonate.”

Towards the end he admits that now that he is in his seventies, he sometimes fears that he will suffer the same fate as many other aging novelists – being dismissed as “a man, pale and stale” – but this seems unlikely.

Boyd has never gone out of style because he remains an extremely interesting writer. And in this fascinating book he turns out to be not only a fascinating conversationalist, but also a literary figure.