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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
The French Revolution is bafflingly complicated, with its different periods, each with its own leaders, styles, approaches to murder. Meanwhile, France is at war with half of Europe.
This book is bafflingly complicated, 800 pages, jumping POVs, tenses, styles. It attempts to paint a portrait of three towering figures: Robespierre, Danton, and Camille Desmoulins. At this it succeeds. But it is incoherent as a book. All drawing rooms and bedchambers, more about who is sleeping with whom, than the price of bread or marching in the streets. The what, but much less often, the why. But in those drawing rooms and bedchambers Mantel sometimes sparkles.
And of course it ends with a lesson that chills to this day: once due process is gone, power is the only thing that matters. Once association is guilt, everyone is guilty by induction.
This book is bafflingly complicated, 800 pages, jumping POVs, tenses, styles. It attempts to paint a portrait of three towering figures: Robespierre, Danton, and Camille Desmoulins. At this it succeeds. But it is incoherent as a book. All drawing rooms and bedchambers, more about who is sleeping with whom, than the price of bread or marching in the streets. The what, but much less often, the why. But in those drawing rooms and bedchambers Mantel sometimes sparkles.
And of course it ends with a lesson that chills to this day: once due process is gone, power is the only thing that matters. Once association is guilt, everyone is guilty by induction.
I read this the first time about a year ago and at that time I think I compared it to much to Hilary Mantel, Cornwall series and for that I was disappointed. But this time I didn't do that. Went in with a clear mind that even if its by the same author it's a completely different series. Had a much better reading experience this time and enjoyed it enough to continue on with the series
Historical fiction of breathtaking scale.
It’s long, you have to commit to it in terms of length but also of style and content. But making it through you are rewarded with an intricate character-driven novel that conveys the intensity, sacrifice, and combat of political conviction in the midst of revolution.
It’s long, you have to commit to it in terms of length but also of style and content. But making it through you are rewarded with an intricate character-driven novel that conveys the intensity, sacrifice, and combat of political conviction in the midst of revolution.
How to even describe this book, the dialogue, the amount of detail? It is a difficult book to read, but that is precisely why it is worth taking the time.
I certainly have a predilection for French history that will color my feelings on the book. You can certainly see the shades of what will later evolve into Mantel's immaculate style used for Wolf Hall and its sequels. It seems after APoGS, she realized she needed to turn the history down about 20% and add about 20% more novelization to hit upon a magic elixir. Camille as the principal character is an inspired choice and watching how his life intertwines with those of Danton and Robespierre brings the epic story of terror and blood and revolution to a human core.
I haven’t been reading enough fiction of late, and picking up a novel this long as one of my first forays back in might not have been advisable.
Nonetheless, Mantel’s depiction of the French Revolution from the ancien régime to the purge of the Dantonists is a triumph. For those with a passing knowledge of the series of events (in my case from Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast), Mantel’s fictionalisation adds so much colour and life to the cast of historical characters.
My only qualms might be how the novel felt at time like more a series of vignettes rather than a consistent story, and the length, but neither of these prevent me from giving it a perfect score.
Nonetheless, Mantel’s depiction of the French Revolution from the ancien régime to the purge of the Dantonists is a triumph. For those with a passing knowledge of the series of events (in my case from Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcast), Mantel’s fictionalisation adds so much colour and life to the cast of historical characters.
My only qualms might be how the novel felt at time like more a series of vignettes rather than a consistent story, and the length, but neither of these prevent me from giving it a perfect score.
A marvellous, heart-wrenching, witty novel with dialogues that you want to learn by heart, cleverly shown multiple perspectives on the same events and just the right balance of interestingly exposed history and succinct, vivid prose.
Overall I can say that it was an enjoyable read. Danton is absolutely captured as a larger than life man (figurative and literal), who dominates to every conversation, debate and issue. But despite this domineering trait, comes across as jovial and heroic. Robespierre is throughly presented as a great idealist with a rigid sense of duty only he can see. And Desmoulins is perhaps the most complicated, emotional and relatable character I've read in a long time. The intrigue behind them is accurate, although some additional embellishments might have made for a more entertaining novel.
However, I cannot dismiss its treatment of the women in this story. The women of this story are completely devoid of any agency and without any rationalizing outside of perhaps Lucille Desmoulins and Manon Roland. Women are concerned only with the men around them and never seem to have desires outside of their own relationship to the three. And it is certainly not lost on me the derision the book presents women with when a deciding moment is a result of a woman lying about her rape. The lack of care in which it's presented seems to suggest women are incapable of anything but treachery - and I was ultimately left with a bad taste in my mouth for what is otherwise a great book.
However, I cannot dismiss its treatment of the women in this story. The women of this story are completely devoid of any agency and without any rationalizing outside of perhaps Lucille Desmoulins and Manon Roland. Women are concerned only with the men around them and never seem to have desires outside of their own relationship to the three. And it is certainly not lost on me the derision the book presents women with when a deciding moment is a result of a woman lying about her rape. The lack of care in which it's presented seems to suggest women are incapable of anything but treachery - and I was ultimately left with a bad taste in my mouth for what is otherwise a great book.
Mantel is an excellent writer of tremendous imagination and skill. Pulling off the feat of this book as she does is a superb achievement. She offers wonderful insights into the minds and hearts of the main players beyond what you read in history books.