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Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel


willoyd

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I agree. I started this with some trepidation about the style (present tense, confusing use of he) but so far about 100 pages in I'm really enjoying it. I had been interested in this book since it was first published, but had been put off by the comments about the writing style. Only bought it as it was on offer at Waterstones before Christmas.

 

Now finished the book and really enjoyed it. I found I became used to her style very quickly and would highly recommend the book as a very different take on the Henry/Anne Boleyn story.

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Hello,

 

I'm a new member so I hope you don't mind me starting a thread.

I've just started reading Wolf Hall as part of one of my reading groups and well, I'm really not getting it. I've heard great things and of course it won the Man Book Prize in 2009 but it's really not working for me?

I'm only a couple of chapters in, does it get better?!

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I read it earlier in the year because a friend recommended it to me and I love the subject area but something just didn't work for me. I found the writing to be a bit confusing at times and other parts just plain boring. There were a few parts that gripped me but it wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book in my opinion.

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I don't think that I can add much to this thread, as most of it has already been said but....... I loved it. Loved everything about it, the best historical fiction ever [for me.]I didn't find it confusing, or heavy [well, the actual BOOK was heavy as I was given the gift in hardback!]It just made me want to keep on reading until I got to the end, and didn't skip anything as the actual writing was so good.

I want to re-read it now, but will buy it for my Kindle I think, as I  don't like hardbacks anymore.It is in paperback of course, now. I will read Bring Up The Bodies in due course.

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As it's such a long book, and I have so many others to read on my Kindle I won't be re-reading it for quite a while, but it really is excellent. Cuppycakes, do you like American History as much as British?As you are from USA you will know more about it than most

but there is a lot of history there, starting with The Pilgrim Fathers.

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Cuppycakes, do you like American History as much as British?As you are from USA you will know more about it than most.

:smile:

 I do like reading about American history as well; but I particularly enjoy reading about English history. Perhaps it's because many of my ancestors come from England.

 

 

but there is a lot of history there, starting with The Pilgrim Fathers.

I particularly like Native American history i.e. Pocahontas...I asked in another thread but was wondering if anyone knew of any definitive biographies about Pocahontas?

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I loved Wolf Hall so much.  I have read a lot of books about the Tudors but this is one of my favourites.  I agree about the "he" jarring at first but you do get used to it - I tried to think of it as using "he" instead of "I" so it was a bit like first-person - and "he" is generally Cromwell.

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On 26/09/2016 at 12:58 AM, J. A. Haag said:

I own this book but I'm really nervous to read it because of the mixed reviews I keep seeing of it. It's like if I choose not to try it out, I can still imagine that it will be great. Plus, I have the big soft cover so it looks really intimidating.

 

As a newcomer I'm late to this thread but did you read it? I love this book so much.

 

It rekindled my interest in history and the BBC adaptation made me fall a little bit in love with Cromwell the way Mark Rylance played him! Yet I know he was not a terribly nice chap...I have the Tracy Borman biography, it's excellent. Bring up the Bodies was also superb and I'm looking forward to the third, though not to Cromwell's demise. (Note to self: Mark Rylance is just an actor...)

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