false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255571695m/6520929.jpg 6101138 13 'Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning,' says Thomas More, 'and when you come back that night he'll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks' tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money.' England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages. From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage. 6278354 book 5 5 2009 Wolf Hall total:197|5:74|4:86|3:21|2:12|1:4| 197 805 1870 123 5 1 false false Tue Jun 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 00:52:53 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 00:54:30 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu Nov 19 11:21:56 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 11:35:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Nov 04 12:26:41 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 13:10:55 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Oct 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 20:14:40 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 20:14:40 -0700 2009 Hilary Mantel's sweeping novel begins with Thomas Cromwell as a pre-teen on the ground, being beaten by his drunkard father. He thinks he will die, but instead, he gets up, dusts himself off, and lives to see another day. This describes Cromwell throughout the novel- tenacious and...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 09:57:09 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 10:04:12 -0700 2009
Admittedly I am fas...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 08 09:13:36 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 05:32:34 -0800 2009
I knew this book had won the Man Book prize this year and I did have high hopes. I was glad to see that they came through. There is nothing I love more than excellent writing, beautiful writing, an author that proud can call herself an author. Mantel manages this. She has a certain sort ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 07:48:28 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 15:55:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Nov 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Oct 31 08:13:03 -0700 2009 Wed Nov 04 11:29:11 -0800 2009
I normally don't read literary novels. Mostly they bore me to tears. This one didn't in part because it is about things I'm interested in: history and ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Nov 05 12:11:53 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 12:45:57 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 09:08:31 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 13:59:37 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 20:54:05 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 20:49:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 26 22:14:12 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 12:31:09 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 26 22:14:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 01:31:25 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 01:43:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 09 01:41:35 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 01:56:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 06:02:55 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 06:38:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 09:24:39 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 05:34:14 -0700 2009
I think one of the reasons for this book’s success (and the success of other historical novels) is that it directly rel...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 15:40:57 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 10:36:04 -0700 2009
Mantel expects a lot of her readers. Her prose is oblique, the dialogues are...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Oct 17 07:43:58 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 06:48:36 -0700 2009 Wolf Hall is a fantastic historical novel, as good as Graves's I, Claudius</i> and Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur. The characterization is stunning; Mantel's portrayal of the pragmatic, scheming, yet goodhearted Cromwell is more lively and convincing than almost anything I've read in contem...more...]]> 4 8 false false Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 29 07:54:03 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 07:53:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 13:39:08 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 13:42:29 -0700 2009
I needn't have worried. Wolf ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=6520929