The comfort of an unsurprising read
I do always enjoy reading Boyd, an author who relishes words, knows how to craft a tale, creates complex and believable characters and often, in his books, explores cultural times and places, as he takes his central characters though their lifetimes. His central characters are frequently connected with the arts and culture generally. His historical period is often around the end of the nineteenth and earlier part of the twentieth century
Stunningly good versions of this include Any Human Heart and The New Confessions. Also central, generally, is some kind of obsessional love affair, often going wrong, and leaving unhealed wounds
With the title Love Is Blind the Boyd Reader knows we are in for pretty much the same journey.
Central character here is Brodie Moncur (Boyd generally manages wonderful names). Moncur, who has an uneasy relationship with his domineering, irascible clergyman father, is a gentler soul. He is blessed with perfect pitch. The art he is associated with, therefore, music. Moncur is not however a musical virtuoso himself. A good musician, but not enough so to achieve status sufficient to earn a living from performance. His skill is in his ear, and his craftsman hands. Almost by chance, he stumbles into his profession – piano tuning, and at a time, and in connection with, a piano making business out to rival the highest quality, most prestigious of instrument makers for those virtuosi.
Chance and opportunity send him to Paris. There he meets the Boyd femme fatale. Lika Blum, a beautiful (of course) , passionate (of course), soulful and creative woman of intelligence, complex emotions, and somewhat fluid morality (of course) is a young and vibrant Russian soprano. She also comes trailing clouds of glorious prior entanglements.
Louis Anquetin – Inside Bruant’s Mirliton, 1886-1887
It didn’t matter how well you thought you knew someone, he realised. You saw what you wanted to see or your saw what that other person wanted you to see. People were opaque, another person was a mystery
I love the fact that these kinds of travelling-across-cultures-and-inching-through-history Boyd novels are always thoroughly immersive………….however…..(and it felt mean spirited to be thinking this) I did think he was deepening a groove of ‘this is the pattern of a Boyd novel. Even down to how his imaginary characters might tangentially brush past real characters, and we, as readers, surrender to a kind of game Boyd might be playing. So, what I missed was a kind of surprise of new realisation.
Hence like, very much indeed, and a reading experience willingly surrendered into, very comfortably. But I was not unsettled by it, and at the end of the day, probably do want a book to niggle at me, usefully, once finished
I received this as a digital copy, for review, via NetGalley
Love is Blind UK
Love is Blind USA
Statesiders may have to wait till October for publication
Lady Fancifull 
I’ve never read any Boyd but do have Ordinary Thunderstorms in the 746. I’ve heard he can be a bit hit or miss, but this sounds really good.
I still think any Human Heart and The New Confessions are my best of Boyds
Brazzaville Beach…
Hmm… I know what you mean about them sometimes following a groove. Quite often after a while I can’t quite match the stories to the titles and the characters – they sort of merge into one Boydness. However I have this coming up soon, so I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to put it on your blog…
He never fails to be an enjoyable read on several levels, but. as a writer is not (hopefully) a robot, sometimes they will surpass themselves, leading, inevitably, to a good book being somewhat disappointing because they have raised the reader’s expectations by their own better novel
I’ve not read any Boyd so maybe this is not the best place to start. And I get what you say – there’s the risk of any author slipping into a groove after a number of novels…
Though I do also think that if this had been my FIRST Boyd I would have been more delighted
I’ve only just discovered this author and have loved everything he has written so far! I don’t mind a comfort read, although when you know an author is capable of so much more I can see how it would be disappointing.
Inevitably, we DO make comparisons of an author’s works – and it must be frustrating for the author when the reader, effectively gives a B+, you could do better!
Even worse, for another author, a B plus might be as good as it gets!
First, I must say that my electric keyboard struggles to sound as rich as a Bosendorfer. Don’t you think that many authors continue to explore the same territory throughout their books? Or do you think Boyd’s groove is particularly worn?
Well yes, you raise a good point re to some extent authors do explore the same territory. Certainly Boyd writes more than one kind of book, and I generally, as here, like what he does. And in fact rather adore the sweep of history across the century in the company of some kind of artist central character (as here, plus those other two I referenced, Any Human Heart and The New Confessions. I think as my third of this kind, I was more clearly aware of the groove, and found the other two more satisfying, with the groove perhaps covering a wider territory I’m a tad less likely to think I might re-read this in a few years
I’m returning here to see what you’ve been up to. I hope you are well and that your respite from your blog is only temporary. Happy Holidays!
Dearest Jilanne, how lovely to find your comment. It’s been a rather hectic year – Some good, but also a lot of challenges too. I seem to have time to read OR blog. I WILL indeed, must get back to blogging, out of fairness to the ARCs in return for reviews. But it may well be more intermittent. I am also partially involved as consultant (giggles) on a book connected with my professional area of expertise, and doing a little writing on it as well. It won’t be one which I’ll be reviewing, nor even revealing, but it’s very interesting getting a bit of an insight into publishing, or how some aspects of it work. But having had to spend too much time on the pc, with lots of emails – us consultants (hah!) get questioned on many minutiae, there’s a lot of deadlines to meet – means the writing of a review can feel like a chore, hence its best to wait for excitement to rise again, and proceed at those points. All the very best, jilanne, to you and your family
I have found European readers much more interested in these travelling-across-cultures-and-inching-through-history than American readers that want a problem solved quickly.