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A review by edwardhabib
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories by Hilary Mantel
3.0
7/10. When it's good, its great. But overall, a bit of a mixed bag of dark short stories peeling the varnish off everyday life. Here is my ranking and brief reaction to each story:
GREAT
The School of English - Mantel's mastery of English language, metaphors, and witty word play are at their peak here.
Winter Break - My jaw dropped when I read that final line. I'm undecided on whether I think this story gave us just enough or not.
The Heart Fails Without Warning - An incredibly grim portrayal of a young girl with an eating disorder. However, beyond the surface, this is a broad exploration of a family's decay.
GOOD
Terminus - At first I really thought this was filler, but right at the end Mantel won me over. Don't think of this as a story. Instead, it is much more a musing on what it means to be alive, to be real, and the phenomenon of being lonely in a crowded place.
How Shall I Know You? - This one was a slow burn and a genre-bender. The best stories in this collection end in such a way that you rethink everything you just read, and this is definitely on display here. The journey to get there wasn't quite as interesting though. This one may be most worthy of a re-read.
The Long QT - The first of these stories to start off fairly mundane and predictable, but end with a dramatic, dare I say, shattering conclusion.
Comma - Probably the median in terms of the quality on display in this volume.
DISAPPOINTING
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher - Really disappointed with the title story. I was hoping for more of a thriller here. In the Wolf Hall trilogy, Mantel excelled at giving voice to a politically-divisive figure, but that is not what this story is about at all.
Offenses Against the Person - This story is shares a good bit of DNA with The Long QT, but with way less impact. It's a story you've definitely heard, read, and seen a thousand times.
Sorry to Disturb - Among the weakest entries here. Certainly claustrophobic, but not much else to see here.
Harley Street - Nothing in this story stuck with me at all. If I had to pick "the boring one" in this volume, this would be it.
GREAT
The School of English - Mantel's mastery of English language, metaphors, and witty word play are at their peak here.
Winter Break - My jaw dropped when I read that final line. I'm undecided on whether I think this story gave us just enough or not.
The Heart Fails Without Warning - An incredibly grim portrayal of a young girl with an eating disorder. However, beyond the surface, this is a broad exploration of a family's decay.
GOOD
Terminus - At first I really thought this was filler, but right at the end Mantel won me over. Don't think of this as a story. Instead, it is much more a musing on what it means to be alive, to be real, and the phenomenon of being lonely in a crowded place.
How Shall I Know You? - This one was a slow burn and a genre-bender. The best stories in this collection end in such a way that you rethink everything you just read, and this is definitely on display here. The journey to get there wasn't quite as interesting though. This one may be most worthy of a re-read.
The Long QT - The first of these stories to start off fairly mundane and predictable, but end with a dramatic, dare I say, shattering conclusion.
Comma - Probably the median in terms of the quality on display in this volume.
DISAPPOINTING
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher - Really disappointed with the title story. I was hoping for more of a thriller here. In the Wolf Hall trilogy, Mantel excelled at giving voice to a politically-divisive figure, but that is not what this story is about at all.
Offenses Against the Person - This story is shares a good bit of DNA with The Long QT, but with way less impact. It's a story you've definitely heard, read, and seen a thousand times.
Sorry to Disturb - Among the weakest entries here. Certainly claustrophobic, but not much else to see here.
Harley Street - Nothing in this story stuck with me at all. If I had to pick "the boring one" in this volume, this would be it.