Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 236
 Eminently readable, but lacking somehow... March 14, 2010
C. Ball (Northampton, UK)
I can't make up my mind about this book. I did enjoy it, don't get me wrong - to a certain extent, I couldn't put it down - and yet, something was missing. It's a good book, but I can't quite see how it has garnered the reviews it has. It has four pages of rave reviews at the beginning, not to mention the fact that it won the Booker Prize. And to be my mind, I'm not sure it's deserving.
Perhaps it's just that I'm unaccustomed to reading 'literary' historical fiction. Sadly, most historical fiction these days involves romance, rather than politics and finance. Other than Sharon Penman, I would struggle to think of any novelists that I would rate particularly highly. And I do rate Hilary Mantel, her writing is wonderful. There's such a whimsical tone about this book that makes it very readable, and the subtle humour is delightful. I think she captures the twists and turns of life at court very well: the sense that all life is contingent on one man's mood, that fortunes and futures can be made and unmade with the roll of a dice, and that a kingdom relies on more than nobles and titles to run smoothly.
And yet I was disappointed in the end. I'd hoped for more. What exactly, I couldn't say, only that I finished this book feeling that perhaps I'd missed something along the way.
 boring March 13, 2010
Hambletta-Maud (somewhere in west europe)
Is this book really the great fiction that most people seem to think it is?
No.
Despite several attempts at reading much of this book I am left clueless as to what the author is trying to convey. Many, many sentences and paragraphs are written about incidents that, when considered after reading, one realises very little has been said. For example, the first few pages (in any novel these pages should pull in and capture the reader!) go on and on about the fact that someone has been kicked. And indeed, the whole novel continues in the same vein. To me, this indicates a lack of plot, padded out with prose which, in this case, turns out to be inadequately written. Every chapter was a chore to finish. I wasn't gripped, pulled in or captured. I hated it, and bailed out early after weeks of effort.
However, many (for example, the Richard and Judy Book Club) will enjoy such pretentiousness. They will enjoy the fact that this book is a fat 670 or so pages thick. To me, as I've said, this fat is padding - no substance.
Ultimately, I found it boring and I gave up trying to finish it.
P.S. The novels of Sharon Penman are fatter and far more substantial. Her words race along at breakneck speed and not a word is misinterpretable, out of place or smacking of pretentiousness, and yet she conveys the historical setting beautifully. Discerning viewers may wish to check her novels out. (I am affiliated to or employed by Ms Penman and this view is entirely my own.)
 Very disappointing March 13, 2010
John (Oxford, UK)
I enjoy reading historical novels and after seeing the publicity for this one, I was enthusiastically looking forward to it. However, I then ended up being very disappointed. Many people here have written extremely enthusiastic reviews and obviously liked it a lot; I was left thinking that they must have been reading a different book! While the author has obviously done a lot of research, I found the standard of writing extremely poor. Apart from the annoying difficulties in understanding who is speaking, the anachronisms and what I felt was the doubtful and shallow portayal of the historical characters, I found the actual writing style turgid and repetitive. Far from being a "page turner", I found that it required a lot of persistence to slog through to the end.
Unremittingly awful March 13, 2010
edmundo
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I may be being a bit unfair in lambasting this novel as I seem to have acquired the venusian version. I have read hundreds of books but I have never, ever, read anything as ugly, incoherent and unreadable as this.
 An excellent read from beginning to end...OH NO - it's ended!!! March 12, 2010
Booklover987 (Kent, England)
I too have lugged 'Wolf Hall' back and forth to work, putting up with the sideways glances from other commuters and their lightweight entertainment - paper or digital. `Wolf Hall' is one of those books you must read before you die. It's long and detailed because it has to be but the joy of it is the rich, clever and succinct dialogue, often hilarious and never dull. It is worth every minute and I hope the rumours about a follow-up are true. Come on Ms. Mantel - we want a sequel and we want it now! You can rewrite the whole of English history as far as I am concerned. The idea that Thos. Cromwell was a man with imagination and feelings, and that Thos. More was a mad religious fundamentalist, so goes against the grain of what most of us have probably been taught over the years that it's inspired. And as for the other brilliant characterisations... what are you waiting for? Go buy it!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 236
|
