Wolf Hall

I recently finished "Wolf Hall," the Man Booker Prize winner by Hilary Mantel focusing on Thomas Cromwell's rise under Henry VIII's reign. The book gave an interesting perspective from a man who has mainly been construed in history as power-hungry and incredibly manipulative.

Despite Mantel taking some liberties in her novel in order to gain readers' sympathy for Cromwell (such as making his blacksmith father a cruel and abusive man), I found her account through Cromwell's eyes very compelling. It was unheard of in those days for a man of his social class to rise up to become an earl and close counselor to the King of England. He had his hand in Henry's separation from Catherine of Aragon as well as his remarriage to Anne Boleyn, laying the groundwork for the king to become the head of the church as well as state.

Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was Mantel's writing style. It is very unique if a little hard to get used to at times. She continually uses the pronoun "he" without explaining which "he" she is referring to. Most of the time, Cromwell is speaking since he's the protagonist, but it can be confusing keeping track when Cromwell is conversing with other men.

If you're interested in reading a far better account of this book, here is a New Yorker article about "Wolf Hall" that I found quite good.

On to another topic, I just began watching the first season of "The Tudors" and am excited to now feel like I know somewhat of the characters in the show. It sort of throws me off how attractive everyone is (especially Henry himself, who in reality was good-looking but definitely no Jonathan Rhys Meyers). But I will press onward, at least until Cromwell makes an appearance.