#71 The New Confessions, by William Boyd (Penguin Group)

I’ve come to know many characters this year, but none as vivid or as comprehensive as John James Todd, the ‘star’ of William Boyd’s The New Confessions. I say comprehensive because Boyd leaves nothing out in his depiction of a man who finds and loses fame with the same regularity as his friendships.

The scope of the book is extraordinary, ranging from the end of the 19th century through Edinburgh, the First World War, Hollywood and McCarthyism, with Todd all the while making decisions in an effort to prolong his fame and ensure he still ‘matters’ which gradually alienate him from his friends, family, colleagues and ultimately the world.

Todd isn’t a character with which you sympathise, mainly because there is no attempt to shield the reader from the nastier sides of his character. Indeed, he reveals most of it himself. But because he is the heartbeat of the novel, the reader becomes as bound in his adventures as he is himself. You revile him as much as you admire his pursuit of what he deems to be important at whatever stage of his life he has reached, and Boyd’s eye for historical detail brings his world alive, especially the post-war film world of Berlin.
All in all, it’s a real tour de force. My only issue was with its length and its relentlessness. It’s far from an ‘easy read’ and as much as the attention to detail and the setting of events in a historical context magnifies the emotions of the tale, rather than let the reader follow what appears to be a natural course, Boyd ties you to Todd and the narrative to such an extent that you start to resent him, and a story which steadfastly refuses to end.

So, rating time:

#71 The New Confessions, by William Boyd (Penguin Group) - 8/10

Next up: Money, by Martin Amis (Vintage)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating