Anyone else reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel? This is the recent Booker Prize winner about Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, through the story of Thomas Cromwell.

I've read other books by Mantel and have barely begun this one but would love to be able to discuss it as I wander through. Anyone else?

Jill

Mensagem editada pelo autor, Out 26, 2009, 2:54pm.

I have just started Wolf Hall and am enjoying it very much.

Great! I peeked at your recent reads and it looks like we have quite a few in common. I'm very interested in Rohinton Mistry (read most of his books) but that's a lot of money for 48 pp as it has to be imported.

Anyway--I'm having a bit of a problem following the way Mantel over-uses "he" in Wolf Hall, but I'm so interested in the topic and the way the story is unfolding, I'll press on.

Mensagem editada pelo autor, Out 27, 2009, 10:45pm.

I agree with you about the "he" pronoun and who it refers to- but I love the characters- the cardinal,( I keep on picturing Sam Neill who played him in the CBC series "The Tudors" -fun very bad history by the way) and Thomas More. I find that Henry is still a mystery -I'm half way through. I do like the portrayal of Anne Boleyn and her sister, Mary.

I finished it a couple of weeks or so ago and loved it. I'm hoping to read more by Mantel.

How are you liking it so far, BCCJillister?

Oops. Edited to write that I just saw your post #3. I await your future updates!

Mensagem editada pelo autor, Out 27, 2009, 6:09pm.

I'm enjoying it and trying to get used to the 'he' thing--assuming it's Cromwell unless otherwise indicated but it is driving me nuts. If a sentence begins with another male name, as the subject, then one would expect the 'he' in the same sentence to agree...but nooooo.

I've read one or two others by Hilary Mantel and they were shockingly different--modern and a very clear style. One was Beyond Black and I'm blanking on the other.

I loved it too and even loved the "he" thing! I have her An Experiment in Love out of the library at the moment but haven't got into it yet.

I love all books by Hilary Mantel that I've read! I really enjoyed Wolf Hall, though I am one who did not like the "he" thing. Can't wait for the sequel :-)

Still enjoying Wolf Hall but have to interrupt the journey to read A Town Like Alice set in the Japanese death march in Malaya for my online book group deadline.

But, I'll be back to it asap

If a sentence begins with another male name, as the subject, then one would expect the 'he' in the same sentence to agree...but nooooo.

Well, that's going to annoy me! That's just grammatically incorrect . . . what you're describing is a pronoun-antecedent agreement error. Grammar teachers around the world should revolt and boycott this book! ;-)

> 10 - it is annoying, but the book is worth making it through. I think as a rule of thumb, when in doubt, just assume "he" refers to Cromwell!

I just started reading Wolf Hall last night and could not put it down. Although the excessive, unclear use of the pronoun "he" causes some pause in my reading, Mantel otherwise creates vivid imagery that draws me back to both the story and the character development. At this point, keeping up with all of the characters causes more interuption in my reading because I have to keep referring to the character list and family trees at the beginning of the book. I am anxious to get back to reading Wolf Hall this evening.

I'm looking forward to reading this book, but the gripes about this "he" pronoun misuse is a bit offsetting.

I'm also uneasy about the apparent positive light it throws on Cromwell. Ever since watching A Man for All Seasons as a kid, I've always considered Cromwell a devious, odious worm.

Oh, and the fact that I'm Irish means that the name Cromwell comes loaded (some would say overloaded) with very negative connotations anyway! :)

>3

It actually becomes part of the fascination of the book at one point :)

I intend to get this when it comes out in papeback, but am a bit put off by the fact that it's written in the present tense (at least the bits I've looked at in shops).

The book was published in trade paperback format in Canada- very thick(could double as a doorstopper) paperback.

The mass-market paperback is out (the one that is officially published in March 2010 by Fourth Estate in UK - at least I managed to buy it from an airport in Asia 2 weeks ago). It's a 650 pages mass-market sized book (it does not say mass market (no such thing in UK) - it says First Export Paperback edition or something like this but it is the size of a paperback or slightly bigger - will check tonight) with kinda smallish letters but still readable.

>15
I hate present tense in books. And the book would have worked in past tense. But nevertheless - I still like it...

I just finished this, and thought it was one of the best books I've read in years. All the complaints about "he" and present tense seem trivial compared to the beauty of the writing and the complexity of the character of Cromwell. Mantel is apparently planning/writing a sequel; I have mixed feelings about that since it will be hard to see the sympathetic character she has created become embroiled in the ugliness of the destruction of the monasteries and Anne Boleyn's execution, not to mention his own fall from grace.

I listened to this on audio and really enjoyed it. Simon Slater was the narrator and he did a wonderful job. I particularly liked his voice for Wolsey, Cranmer and especially More. More's characterization was with this sneery kind of voice, perfect for the depiction of him in the book. Cromwell's inner thoughts were right on the money and some of his sides made me laugh out loud. I liked the book, but I didn't think it deserves all the buzz surrounding it, but it still had many little gems in it and it made me like Cromwell.

#18 Kathy, I agree and it's proabbly my #1 book this year (unless some miracle happens and I start and finish something amazing in the next 14 days!)

Anyone concerned about Cromwell being presented in a positive light is going to faint dead away when they get to Thomas More. He is represented as a self-righteous, intolerant prig. Cromwell, on the other hand, could give Dorothy Dunnett's Francis Crawford a run for his money; is there nothing this man cannot do, no language that he cannot speak?

The characters are wonderfully realised, largely through their own use of language. The Duke of Norfolk leaps off the page a dead ringer for the current Duke of Edinburgh.

This is a winderful book. The "he" thing that people complain about takes a little getting used to, but it is a signifier that the speaker, or thinker, is Cromwell himself. The whole story is told as a stream of consciousness from inside his head. No editorialising by the author at all.

>21
They got to More... a few times? :)

Actually I like the way Cromwell is presented - it is much more closer to what I am thinking about him than most of the history books. He is no saint but in some ways he is not exactly the black sheep that history makes of him sometimes...

I started it the other night and was put off by the use (or, rather, overuse) of "he" as well as by the present tense. Kept throwing me right out of the story and became so irritating I put the novel down and haven't picked it back up yet ~ and am not sure that I will. I got to Chapter 3, and it took more effort than it seemed to be worth. What is most bothersome is that those literary devices appear to be completely unnecessary.

Okay, tirade over. After reading what everyone has said about the novel, I will give it another few chapters to see if I can overcome my initial dislike.