I have not always enjoyed the Man Booker Prize winning novels.
But I enjoyed Wolf Hall despite its maybe excessive length and I am enjoying now more, much more "Bring Up The Bodies".
I got to the point where Henry VIII's riding accident at a tournament is described:
absolute, breathtaking vividness of details.
But at every page the word the comes to mind is "immediacy".
Details bouncing up and out towards you in an instantaneous, unique way.
Somebody said that poetry doesn't tell or describe but it happens.
This can be valid also for this kind of fiction which is poetry too.
5 comments:
Hi, thanks for this. I gave up on Wolf Hall when it came out, not because of anything about it, but because for one reason or another I put it down for too long and then couldn't get back on track - old age has such memory problems! I am now reading it again -- and will certainly follow it with Bring up the Bodies. (What a great title!)
I didn't particularly like Wolf Hall, I found her style of writing tiresome.
Dear Juliet, myself too found Wolf Hall a bit tiresome to be sincere. I think it's a right adjective, tiresome, but I enjoyed it very much all the same. Sometimes I have a strange persistence, friends and my wife used to tell me I could read books nobody else could.
Anyway maybe you wouldn't find "Bring Up The Bodies" so tiresome, also because it's shorter..but it's actually "nimble" too.
I was thinking about earth and you and your blog writing a poem on this terrible Sunday of high water and Sirocco in Venice...
Dear Dave, yes "Bring Up The Bodies" is a great title, the whole language of the book vibrates.
If you are looking for light entertainment in a book, this might not be your cup o' tea. However, if you are captivated by historical figures and want to imagine what their private lives and interactions might have been during an era fraught with political intrigue, dangerous alliances and mercurial fortunes this is your book. Would highly recommend reading Wolf Hall first.
One of my enjoyments of both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies was the subtle reference of the titles. Can't wait for book three!
Marlene Detierro (Gold Beach Oregon Fishing)
I waited two years for this book and it was worth the wait. If Mantel can sustain this dark, haunted, illuminating, ironic time-travel for a third book, I will be astounded - but perhaps, not surprised.
Highly recommended Bear Viewing vacations
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