Wolf Hall

Azal gogorra

English hizkuntza

2009ko urt. 1a(e)an John Macrae/Henry Holt and Company(e)n argitaratua.

ISBN:: 978-0-8050-8068-1
OCLC zenbakia:: 1060973852

(berrikuspen 1)

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king's freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and creates a years-long power struggle between the Church and the Crown.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, both a charmer and a bully, an idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy. Cromwell is a consummate politician, hardened by years abroad and his personal losses. Implacable in his ambition and self-taught--it is …

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king's freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and creates a years-long power struggle between the Church and the Crown.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, both a charmer and a bully, an idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy. Cromwell is a consummate politician, hardened by years abroad and his personal losses. Implacable in his ambition and self-taught--it is said that he can recite the entire New Testament from memory, knows Europe's major languages, and speaks poetry freely--Cromwell soon becomes the country's most powerful figure after Henry. When Henry pursues his desire to marry Anne Boleyn, it is Cromwell who breaks the deadlock and allows the king his heart's desire. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition--Thomas More, "the man for all seasons", Katherine the queen; his daughter the princess Mary--but what will be the price of his triumph?

(front flap)

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 -- History -- Henry VIII, 1509-1547 -- Fiction