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A review by clay1st
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
5.0
Beautiful language and a great story.
Personally I didn't find the use of present tense disturbing at all - I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I would say that this book is a little challenging to get into (the writing could be described as "dense" - but beautifully so in my opinion). I would also say it's quite hard to get into without a little understand of the historical context.
I got something like 50 pages in, resorted to watching a short documentary about Thomas Cromwell then started reading again and enjoyed it much better this time.
The depiction of Henry VIII is fascinating, I have no idea of its accuracy but it certainly adds a different perspective to a man often characterized as an unscrupulous, megalomaniac psychopath.
I found it slightly lacking in emotional connection and poignance but this is a story of a man on the up - perhaps more will come in the next book.
Personally I didn't find the use of present tense disturbing at all - I don't know what all the fuss is about.
I would say that this book is a little challenging to get into (the writing could be described as "dense" - but beautifully so in my opinion). I would also say it's quite hard to get into without a little understand of the historical context.
I got something like 50 pages in, resorted to watching a short documentary about Thomas Cromwell then started reading again and enjoyed it much better this time.
The depiction of Henry VIII is fascinating, I have no idea of its accuracy but it certainly adds a different perspective to a man often characterized as an unscrupulous, megalomaniac psychopath.
I found it slightly lacking in emotional connection and poignance but this is a story of a man on the up - perhaps more will come in the next book.