I decided to read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall again, I rarely re-read books but in my mind this is a book that I remembered loving, imagine my surprise when I looked back on my 2012 thoughts on it and discovered I wasn’t that enthralled with it. You can see what I thought of Wolf Hall here. I suspect that when I watched the TV series with all the sumptuous costumes, settings and good acting I was enamoured.
Anyway, this time around I did really enjoy it. As it happens I discovered that late at night on TV Wolf Hall was being shown again, so I ended up watching it at the same time I was reading the book and realised that all of the dialogue is exactly as it was in the book.
Wolf Hall begins in 1500 and ends in 1535, but does slip back to the 1520s for a few chapters early on. It was definitely interesting times. I very much doubt that a neglected and abused child in the 20th or 21st century could have risen to the heights that Thomas Cromwell did, which is quite depressing really. Cromwell was definitely a flawed human being (which of us isn’t?!) but especially within his family and personal life, he comes across as being a good guy with really likeable traits.
You can read Jack’s thoughts on the book here.
Wolf Hall was a thrilling read. And I liked Bringing up the Bodies (is my title a bit off?) even better. I am so sorry that Mantel died at such a young age–only 70! She surely had more great books in her, I’m sure. We both loved the television production of Wolf Hall.
Judith,
Close, it’s Bring Up the Bodies. I’ve just finished reading that one. It was a shock to hear that she died so suddenly, although I know that she suffered from bad health for most of her life. That’s what I thought, she must have had plans for more great books. So many well-known people are dying – Jeff Beck today, but it almost seems like one or two famous people are dying every day – and some of them are younger than me!
Katrina,
Yes! Ken and I have been staggered (a bit) by the authors, artists, and celebrities who have died recently. We were quite taken aback by the death of Christie McVie. (I notice all the obits list her first name as Christine, but I don’t recall her ever being called Christine.) Loved her voice, all the songs that she sang. Such a shock.
Judith,
Yes she was always known as Christine here, there are Fleetwood Mac interviews/documentaries on TV now and again, definitely worth watching.
We are thinking every day – who next?!
I found the book enthralling but exhausting. I couldn’t put it down and couldn’t rush it either – and talk about a visual writer. Even people without the imagination to envision the 16th century (although those might not read it in the first place) should have little difficulty picturing the scenes Mantel created. And I thought the miniseries was very well done, Rylance, and Claire Foy, and wasn’t it Damian Lewis as Henry. It made me remember falling in love with the Six Wives of Henry VIII, which is what made me an English history major.
I did not like the second book as much; I guess because I was not looking forward to his downfall. I have avoided the third book for that reason.
Constance,
Yes it was Damien Lewis, not someone I would have thought of as Henry but he was really good. I loved the Six Wives too.
I’ve just finished Bring Up the Bodies which I enjoyed although not as much as the first one.
I agree about her descriptions, that part where the merchants are showing Henry their goods and they have what we would now call shot silk, the way it changes colour as it’s moved. I can just imagine the whole scene. I had waited so impatiently for the third book so I bought it as soon as it came out. Of course it’s even longer, and probably could have been doing with being edited, but I can see that it’s so long (850 pages) because Mantel herself couldn’t stand the thought of Cromwell’s end. I’m sure I read in an interview that she was in a supermarket when she started crying as she realised that she had to write his execution and she didn’t want to be without him.