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Original poster

Okay. So this is the THIRD time I've tried to read Wolf Hall ....

113 replies

FleetwoodRaincoat · 06/02/2021 10:25

I can't believe anyone has actually got all the way through it.

I'm equally bored, confused and fed up with too many men called Thomas.

Please tell me I'm not the only one .....

OP posts:
user1487194234 · 09/02/2021 07:05

Wolf Hall totally split my book group, it was actually quite interesting.
Some of the people who were most vocal about how well they read really struggled with it.
I really loved them, as pp said I actually felt really sad when I finished 'TMATL,they will stay with me forever,

But honestly if you are not enjoying WH then stop,life is too short

TonTonMacoute · 08/02/2021 22:41

Just finished The Mirror and the Light and I'm bereft Sad.

I get why people find them difficult, I found I just had to not think about the writing style and keep on reading. You assume that every time you read the word He, she's talking about Cromwell and you get into the swing of it. I am awestruck at her talent, I couldn't imagine ever writing something that clever, it is also very funny in parts which helps!

I loved A Place of Greater Safety too.

Having said all that I don't see any point in forcing it if you are not enjoying it.

DwangelaForever · 08/02/2021 20:10

Life's too short to read books you find boring!

Stonehopper · 08/02/2021 17:51

@rookiemere

On the basis of this thread I've bought BB for the Audible. I better not be disappointed Grin. Incidentally I listened to her French Revolution novel this way - I pick my Audible selection based on length so they are good value - and enjoyed it in a way I doubt I would have if reading the book.

Although I don't think The Mirror and The Light would work on Audible. I had to do a lot of flicking to and fro to try and figure out who the characters were.

A Place of Greater Safety is the one HM novel I absolutely cannot get on with. I am her biggest fan, but it makes me scream inwardly 'This needs a BRUTAL edit!'
unmarkedbythat · 08/02/2021 17:39

I can't get into it either and I really wish I could- the people who recommend it to me love it and are sure I would love it too. I'm not sure why it doesn't grab me. It just doesn't!

rookiemere · 08/02/2021 17:00

On the basis of this thread I've bought BB for the Audible. I better not be disappointed Grin.

Incidentally I listened to her French Revolution novel this way - I pick my Audible selection based on length so they are good value - and enjoyed it in a way I doubt I would have if reading the book.

Although I don't think The Mirror and The Light would work on Audible. I had to do a lot of flicking to and fro to try and figure out who the characters were.

Stonehopper · 08/02/2021 16:36

@pickingdaisies

So BB has just been rescued out of the destined-for-charity-shop bag! (The Testaments is staying in there though. So disappointing. I paid full price for it too)
I feel all empowered now, as if I personally picked Hilary Mantel out of a skip. Grin
pickingdaisies · 08/02/2021 16:31

So BB has just been rescued out of the destined-for-charity-shop bag! (The Testaments is staying in there though. So disappointing. I paid full price for it too)

Respectabitch · 08/02/2021 10:41

Yeah, I found BB arguably too good Grin the atmosphere was so thick and oppressive, and I don't like my novels to give me nightmares. So I stopped.

Stonehopper · 08/02/2021 09:51

I agree Beyond Black is brilliant, but it is very dark, and the unwanted, irritating apparitions of Princess Diana to Alison the medium and the way she's characterised are both brilliant and incredibly nasty.

Put it this way, what goes on in BB makes the machinations of the Tudor court under an increasingly maniacal (and homicidal) Henry VII look positively cosy!

But I can see why someone might find BB unpalatable. Agree with someone up the thread saying Hilary Mantel's earlier work had a particular kind of malevolent nastiness -- BB feels totally from that era in some ways, but done far better.

And yes, I've definitely been reading things I wouldn't usually read in lockdown. Maybe not cosier, necessarily, but I'm maybe skewing plottier and avoiding dark rereads?

pickingdaisies · 08/02/2021 09:23

Threeleaper maybe I should have persevered a little longer!
I hardly ever give up on a book even if I'm not enjoying it (Ulysses is one of the few, oh and A Brief History of Time - I discovered my intellectual limits with that one!)
There's something about reading in this lockdown though - I need soothing or intriguing, not difficult and/or grim)

Threeleaper · 07/02/2021 09:21

@pickingdaisies

I picked up Beyond Black and gave up after one chapter. Tedious. There's no way I'm going to try anything else she wrote especially anything really long and continued over three books. I absolutely loved Milkman although it took me a few pages to settle into the style.
I think BB is her best novel. It’s brilliantly nasty and frightening, though. I once taught it and had students outraged by its depiction of Princess Diana, and some others completely freaked out by it. One mature student living somewhere remote with her young children said she’d slept with the lights on after reading it.
GammyLeg · 07/02/2021 09:17

I really loved it. Vivid descriptions of the period, hilarious turns of phrase and some beautiful parts where he reflects on his dead daughter. I loved the Anne Boleyn parts too.

Some have mentioned CJ Samson, I couldn’t get into that at all but it’s always talked about on MN.

Eekay · 07/02/2021 09:10

I couldn't wait to read it.
I was somewhat disappointed. I found it
underwhelming. The sequel was a bit lacklustre. I haven't tackled the third book yet.
Just something about the style was too understated.
I don't think it can be faulted for detail and it felt "realistic". (I know, how would I possibly know that?!). The characters felt carefully and roundly developed. .
I think it was that I expected a more dynamic book, given the huge drama and peril it describes. The tone was a little flat.
On a more positive note I really do rate her collection "The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher".
I'm not the biggest fan of short stories but I really enjoyed these. Original and clever ideas.

Sometimesonly · 07/02/2021 09:02

I gave it up first time but (after reading lots of CJ Sansom and feeling very Tudory) I sailed through it and the next installment. I am plucking up the courage to read part 3 but it is seriously intimidating! I might rewatch the BBC series first to get in the mood.

Frequentflier · 07/02/2021 08:59

The Mirror and the Light was very funny in parts. In a dry sort of way.

I also love LOTR and have read it some ten times maybe. I like very long novels.

pickingdaisies · 07/02/2021 08:58

I picked up Beyond Black and gave up after one chapter. Tedious. There's no way I'm going to try anything else she wrote especially anything really long and continued over three books.
I absolutely loved Milkman although it took me a few pages to settle into the style.

Threeleaper · 07/02/2021 08:58

@rookiemere

I found Wolf Hall heavy going, but Bring up the Bodies definitely picked up the pace. The Mirror and the light was - for me - tedious beyond belief and felt as if the editor was so in thrall to the amazingness that is Hilary Mantel, that they couldn't do their job, book would have been much better with a few chapters taken out.
I think Hilary Mantel is a goddess, and I adore and have reread multiple times WH and BUTB, but I was much less impressed with TMatL and agree that her commitment to historical accuracy mars it as a novel — yes, the historical Cromwell was massively concerned with putting down the Pilgrimage of Grace, but as he’s never actually out of London or actually dealing with the rebels, the military action or the negotiations, a huge chunk of the novel felt as though it was being phoned in from the north of England.
Frequentflier · 07/02/2021 08:46

I loved it. I have read the whole trilogy. But each to her own...

Respectabitch · 07/02/2021 08:46

@Dontforgetyourbrolly

I think it seems boring because it is very factual. We've seen a trend of Tudor history being sexed up for tv . We just want to get to the bit where AB gets her head chopped off but the background is years of political back and forth .
That is what I loved about it. The particulars of a remarkable, brilliant, morally complex man working his way through a system stacked to the hilt against him. The texture of a life.

So yes, tbh, if you just want sex, blood and action, it's probably not your thing.

@Spudlet Sad it's ridiculous, but that is how involved I am/was. Even knowing from the start how it ends, and seeing him start to tip into arrogance, I want him to see the traps and avoid them. I want him to get up.

tanstaafl · 07/02/2021 08:45

Two books I’ve given up on as they were just ‘slogs’ for me, Ulysses by James Joyce and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

Tried to be ‘better read’ but back-fired.

Sometimes I think I’d like to have another look , with the wisdom of years behind me, but there’s too much other stuff to read and what is it I’m proving to myself ?

MsTSwift · 07/02/2021 08:45

Dh and I call it the “go back test”. If you go to read the book and your heart sinks abit the book has failed the go back test!

borntobequiet · 07/02/2021 08:43

One of the few books I read straight through and then immediately read again because I really couldn’t bear to put it down. However I did pick up a lot I’d missed on the first reading, it’s not an easy read. Same for BUTB.
The Mirror and the Light I found much harder going. I think Mantel found it much more difficult to write.

MsTSwift · 07/02/2021 08:43

Also depends what mood you are in or the time of year. Winter I am up for Tudor books. Summer I’m not. Will read a few light detective type books then want something deeper. Don’t force it though.

Also enjoyed LoTR as a teen wouldn’t read now.

NeedToKnow101 · 07/02/2021 08:41

I found her writing style hard-going at first, but I got into it and ended up loving the book.

Loads of books and genres I can't / won't read. Don't force yourself!