William Boyd on how mortality shapes our existence. “I am convinced that what makes our species unique among the fauna of this small planet circling its insignificant star is that we know we are trapped in time, caught briefly between these two eternities of darkness, the prenatal darkness and the posthumous one.” And yet, the philosopher might reply, do we have any good idea whether time is real or an illusion? Either way, however, Boyd’s answer to what we should do in view of our mortality is not bad advice: love and be loved.