Wolf Hall... struggling...

I've ordered it from the library for autumn nights.....

There is still A LOT of book left!

Just about to start Part 4 - about 280 pages in.

I'm getting bored of it now, especially of Anne B. Don't know if I'll carry on with it.

the vast number of characters is a bit confusing, but makes it more real. however, 'he' does sometimes refer to people by their title rather than name, which can be confusing given how much people rose & fell politically.

what was it with calling everyone thomas back then?

the odd pacing made it feel very plausible to me. It's the opposite of those romantic fiction books where the text keeps swooping up for an overview. None of the 'and she felt in her bones this was a momentous day' omniscient narration crap.

It was very matter of fact and gappy, which made it dry to start with, but then I really got absorbed and convinced by the minutae of the challenges faced by the protagonist - especially given it was such dramatic period of history.

I loved it but I read it on holiday, I don't think it's a book that lends itself to dribs and drabs reading. There's no way I would have managed it at home, you need to get really stuck into it

Brilliant brilliant brilliant.

Anyone who doesn't agree has to go to that extra long standing up popey mass in a field somewhere.

The end.

I was a bit disappointed that we never actually made it to Wolf Hall. I suppose that might happen in the sequel.

I liked the humour about the (Holbein? It's a while since I read it now) portrait and Cromwell being disappointed at quite how ugly he was. It is a spectacularly ugly portrait.

Wolf Hall is the family home of Jane Seymour. I also think it refers to the predatory atmosphere of the court and the wolfish behaviour of some of the characters.

I don't agree that it's 'sly' that Thomas Cromwell doesn't know who Jane Seymour is when he first meets her. Why would he know who she is the first time he sees her? She's just a girl at that point.

I agree the plot can't drive things along, since the reader knows (or can know) what happens. For me it's the characterisations and relationships that make it compelling.

i'm reading this for my book club this month. i started reading it just as i went down with a combination of infections, resulting in high temp & not completely lucid - it didn't help with working out who 'he' was & i'm so glad other people have said it as i thought it was just my fever-addled brain not working very well.

still not enjoying it, particularly as i know what happens (spoiler - ann boleyn marries henry - eventually). i think NOT knowing what happens would be better - at least there would be a motive to read it. as it is, i know the ending (wiki has a much easier summary of the period if you want to look), don't enjoy the writing style & have no great attachment to the characters or period. also not keen on the 'sly' references to some of the famous characters, like him not knowing who jane seymour was at first.

also, far too long & wordy.

oh, and why is it called wolf hall?

If you are thinking of giving it a try and you have an iphone you can download an app of the book for free that has the first chapter or two.

I have downloaded the free app and will now go to bed and try it.

Am still going with it and still quite liking bits of it.

Present tense is bothering me a bit though and I'm finding the jumps in time a bit irksome, as I never know which bit I'm meant to be in when!

Agree it is too heavy - especially for cosy bathtime reading.

ooh interesting. I too am trying to read this after the rave reviews it got.

I find myself really interested in some bits (Thomas's family, Anne Boleyn, Henry) and I think brilliant brilliant, but then I stumble on another bit (usually the Cardinal) and think oh snore.

Though I am trying to read it immediately after finishing 'The Help', which was bloody brilliant, so it has a lot to live up to.

I really liked it, rather to my surprise, normally I'd avoid anything about the Tudors or the monarchy, not my subjects of choice.

I'm rather hoping there will be a sequel.

It was too heavy though, I had the hardback, it gave me armache.

Have just read the first 50 odd pages in the bath.

Am quite enjoying it so far, although agree that it is overly wordy in places.

I didn't like it

I gave up after the first couple of chapters

I just couldn't identify with any of the characters

I don't usually choose historical novels, tbh, I prefer contemporary fiction but thought I would give it a go

fuschiagroan - I really am a history geek and know the period well, yet it still didn't do it for me!

I abandoned it half way through as it really seemed to demand intense concentration to keep up with it and life is too short! Should have known better because like another poster, I didn't enjoy 'Beyond Black'

I wasn't at all sure about Wolf Hall at first, but didn't want it to finish by the end. Read A Place of Greater Safety afterwards and felt the same about that one.

I think part of your problem with it is, in fact, thinking of it as a 'historical novel'. It doesn't really fit into that genre, I'd say; I thought of it as a very tense, densely worked novel that was set at a particular period of history. And I thought it was bloody brilliant, personally (despite not being a Mantel fan usually) - but frankly, if you're not enjoying it, go and read something else.

I nearly started the same thread last week as also struggling - enjoyed the first chapter, then abandoned on Chap 3. And I normally love anything Tudorish.

So I went onto the new Joanne Harris - Blue Eyed Boy and getting bogged down in that too, although about a third of the way through.

Maybe my brain cells can't cope with complexity any more.

Sometimes it's worth persisting though - Captain Correlli and Time Traveller's Wife were a struggle at first but I loved both of them.