Customer Reviews
Decently written, but overlong and focussed on over exposed period of history - By: BookWorm, 05 Sep 2010 
A very surprising winner of the Booker Prize, Wolf Hall is a historical novel of epic length. It charts the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful courtierin the time of Henry VIII. It's not the type of novel that usually wins the Booker - not especially 'literary', fairly conventionalin its subject matter & style. That's not to say it's unworthy or badly written - it isn't - but it doesn't fit the usual profile of novels that win this accolade.
For me, I'm a little baffled by a lot of the extravagent praise heaped on by reviewers. People describe it as 'dazzling' or 'brilliant' - neither are terms I would apply to even parts of this novel. My preferred terms would be 'decent' & 'adequate'. It's a good enough read, not badly written, mildly interesting, occasional humourous scenes or particularly nicely phrased paragraphs jumping out at you. But there's nothing remotely 'dazzling' about it.
It feels as though the whole Catherine of Aragon/Anne Boleyn story has been covered a great dealin recent years, with Philippa Gregory's 'Other Boleyn Girl' & the BBC serial 'The Tudors'. I did find it rather boring to read through it all again knowing exactly what would happen, especially as this is a very detailed & lengthy rehashing of this famous spellin history. Whilst the character of Cromwell brings a fresh perspective, it's not enough to get rid of the staleness around this over familiar subject.
I do feel that the novel is overly long & occasionally descends into real tedium - I did skip & skim passages. The character of Cromwell is well constructed & portrayed - I found him both fascinating & sympathetic, & I did actually care about his fate, which kept me going through the endless descriptions of the legal wrangling around Henry's first divorce - the outcome of which we all know only too well. The dialogue is generally well written but poorly attributed, so it is often hard to tell who is saying what - something that is both annoying & confusing, & really unnecessaryin a book of this pedigree. There are a plethora of characters, often with similar names, or several names each, & complex inter-relationships with the other characters. Despite the 'dramatis personae' & family tree at the start of the book, it's not easy to keep track.
As mentioned above, the plot is going to harbour no surprises for anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of British history. The pacing is on the slow side, yet the ending is very abrupt & the whole thing feels truncated. Even though we are told a sequel is on its way, this book could have been tied up a bit more elegantly than it is. As for whether I'll read the sequel... I'm sure it will be readable enough, but I'm not sure whether I really want to invest such a big chunk of my precious reading timein another hefty chunk of Tudor history. It's not like I'm going to get any surprises - Boleyn gets beheaded, Henry marries Jane Seymour, she diesin childbirth, Henry marries Anne of Cleves, Cromwell gets beheaded. I'd have to be convinced it's worth spinning that out into another 600 page plus novel.
Good story but hard work - By: Mr. Varinder K. Duggal, 05 Sep 2010 
I enjoyed this book however it was hard going at times. It was not a book that you could just read while half-concentrating, you need to be very focused. So at the end of it, I was glad I read it, but it was hard work.
Heavy going but beguiling! - By: Name Withheld, 01 Sep 2010 Reading this book has been a tough slog but I have thoroughly enjoyed the history about which I knew a bit already. Some of the writing is very good & evocative of the period but the use of 'he' for the main character is sometimes awkward. I am pleased that I finished the book & I shall now, most likely, be getting the sequel despite not liking the writing style! It's the total immersionin the period that I enjoyed but I found the sheer number of characters difficult (though there is plenty of help with thatin the first few pages of the book to which I did have to refer a lot).
A good book, but not a must - By: Discerning Reader, 30 Aug 2010 If you want to read for pleasure & inspiration, you do not need to select a book that is over 650 pages long. To an ordinary reader it seems as if there is some sort of competition amongst writers & publishers to have their books longer & longer. There are some long books that I found difficult to put down, but I do not think that Hilary Mantel's book needed to have been so long. In fact, for me, it would have been more appealing if it had been shorter.
As I started reading the book it was gripping & I could see it was going to be difficult not to read it. However, the initial attraction fizzled out & the only way to finish the book, & then go on to other better reading, was to skip sentences & paragraphs. One problem I found was that there was so much detail that the thrust of the main story was sometimes forgotten.
The other reason why the book was not so appealing was that there were some gaps. For instance, the reader would have liked to have understood how Cromwell managed to get to the very powerful position that he did, when initially he was potentially out of favour as he supported Cardinal Wolsey. Another example is that there ought to have been a little more about the significance of Wolfe Hall & why the ending of the book is regarded by many as being what made the book so great. It was assuming more knowledge about the historical background than many readers would have.
One must, however, comment of the amount of research Hilary mantel must have done to produce the detailin the book, & her ability to write so much, so well.
A beautiful book - By: Mr. R. F. W. Freeman, 29 Aug 2010 
I loved 'A Place of Greater Safety' & I loved this book even more. Impeccably researched, beautifully written & utterly credible. Hilary Mantel brings Thomas Cromwell to life. This is a book to treasure & to re-read, probably several times. I can hardly wait for the sequel. A truly well deserved Booker prize win.
