Wolf Hall

Azal biguna

English hizkuntza

2009ko urt. 1a(e)an Fourth Estate(e)n argitaratua.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-729241-7
OCLC zenbakia:: 762057928

(berrikuspen 1)

'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 …

'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. (back cover)

11 edizio

Aaron (e)k Hilary Mantel(r)en Wolf Hall liburuaren kritika egin du

5 izar

I don't read a ton of fiction that takes actual historical figures as their characters. I'm not even sure why I made an exception for Wolf Hall, other than the fact that has been so widely acclaimed and since I'm not a historian of the UK, Mantel could write pretty much anything and I would believe it. The achievement here is significant -- Mantel juggles an enormous cast of characters, and the book consists almost entirely of dialogue among them. Cromwell is "he" throughout the course of the book, and with him there are rapid-fire shifts from exterior to interior dialogue. Does this book comport with "what happened"? I can't say -- but it was a powerful read and I enjoyed it immensely.

Gaiak

Cromwell, Thomas, -- Earl of Essex, -- 1485?-1540 -- Fiction
Great Britain -- Court and courtiers -- Fiction
Great Britain -- History -- Henry VIII, 1509-1547 -- Fiction