Just finished "Any Human Heart" by William Boyd, as recommended in one of the regular book threads on here. It's a fictional diary of a man who is born in 1906, an dies in 1991. A better synopsis and review than I can write is here : [URL]http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0141009284/026-1582484-3603601[/URL] I found it a wonderful combination of page-turner, keen to know what happened next, with insightful writing of a comtemplative nature. The diary style allows a degree of introspection on the part of the protagonist which would seem foolish in a more normal structure. The world events of the 20th century are woven into a life both normal and extraordinary. Dealing as it does with a whole life, the whole thing has is shot through with a sense of mortality, but manages not to be depressing at all; I did find it very moving in places.
