Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Views were mixed. Some, with dark recollections of Wolf Hall still reverberating from a couple of years ago, had looked on the task of reading this book as a ordeal to be suffered rather than enjoyed, and I'm not sure any who felt like that found their preconceptions totally upended. One sceptic, not completing the book for the meeting, did resolve to persevere (and I, not a doubter, also hadn't finished despite having selected it – took me another week).

There were at least a couple of points of general agreement I think: that this was, on the whole, an easier and more involving book to read than the Wolf Hall. Some felt that her editors/publishers must have taken her to task and insisted that she sort out the style difficulty, widely reported and commented on in Wolf Hall, that meant readers struggled to work out exactly who was speaking and who was being spoken about. In this book it became clear early on that when Mantel spoke of 'he', she almost invariably meant Cromwell. Somehow this never really clicked in the first book. Similarly, she peppered her narrative with phrases like " he, Cromwell, looked over at…' – just to make sure.

So it was easier to consume. It was variously very interesting, or not as interesting as it could have been. 'Not a very interesting part of history', 'been done to death already'… 'You know how it ends'… but for others the 'camera on the shoulder' approach to a historical narrative was spell-binding and lent the period a very fresh perspective.

The book undoubtedly presented a thoroughly absorbing characterisation of Thomas Cromwell who was clearly so hugely influential in the politics of the time – and no-one has done this before. The parallel was drawn, somewhat tongue in cheek, with Tony Soprano – a kind of tragic hero, highly intelligent, totally obsessed with his role, the expansion of his influence and the fortunes of his own (what remained of them) – but also revelling in the ability to make or break others.

I think we all felt that at times there was a bit too much context, detail and innuendo being trowelled on. The line between accurate history and historical novel was constantly blurred, and for some this was an issue – do you believe in it (or doubt it) as an account of what actually happened, or do you suspend your disbelief, let Mantel guide you through her quite fruity interpretation of events and enjoy the journey?

For some this is a tremendous book – painting a vivid and utterly absorbing picture of a part of history of which we have no digital evidence, no photographs, no YouTube footage. She give you the tools to run the movie in your head, in Technicolour. Equally I don't think anyone felt this was a really awful book - or not as bad as perhaps was feared. Some wished Mantel had perhaps taken her historical 'responsibilities' a little more seriously and told us more about the direct influence that Cromwell had on the way the country was governed. Others just wished she'd get on with it and tell the story.

I'm not sure if HM has confirmed that a third part is to be published, though noises of the kind have been heard. Perhaps that is where we'll learn more about the way Cromwell worked when not managing the King's rather sad and desperate obsession with producing a healthy male heir. If it comes, I will read it, but perhaps will stop short of inflicting it on the assembled multitude!

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel

26^th August 2010

Can't find any group notes – this from Steve:

A long read for several reasons:

- It's a long book

- The sun shone on my holiday in Ireland, leaving me far less time in an armchair waiting for the rain to stop than usual

- Style: her curious present tense and 'third person from a first person standpoint' meant I had to read every word, sometimes twice, to get the sense. This made me cross early on but once I got used to the fact that 'he' almost always referred to Cromwell, it became easier. I'm not quite sure it was an entirely successful approach though.

- Difficult to remember who was who - too many Marys and Thomases, but she was dealing with real people so one can't really hold that against her. The cast list and family tree were useful, but even then it wasn't always clear who was being referred to.

But a great read because:

- I learned more about Henry VIII, the Tudors, the dissolution of the monasteries, the context of the Reformation, etc etc, along with several individuals who were familiar in name but not always in deed (More, Cranmer, Wolsey...) than any history book ever taught me (I failed O-level history, mind)

- Her approach allowed her to paint fascinatingly personal pictures of individuals, and I didn;t really care whether she was using literary licence

- I'm sure it was her intention to draw parallels with the modern world ('These days the news could be across Europe within a month...') and I think she did that successfully and interestingly

- I felt close to the times, the people and the events - the narrative rolled along as historical event followed historical event

- The research was awesome (though as she admits herself, not necessarily new - more like a different perspective on what we apparently already know) - I have to admire the achievement

So I was sorry to finish it and will be up for reading the sequel when it emerges. Proof that a good book doesn't have to be an easy read - an 8 from me.

From Neil:

If anything it underlined the elements that frustrated me about the book and I thought More' demise could have been completed in half the number of pages, highlights for me being pages 528-530 in the paperback edition. I also found Cromwell's depiction as a compassionate man in private became more and more incredible against the public figure who drew up legislation that saw so many subsequently put to death and in the absence of hard evidence to defend this belief it became somewhat ridiculous in my mind. Rather like the suggestion that Goebbels was secretly the sponsor of an orphanage for deprived kiddies and loved furry white pussycats. Similarly I couldn't help feeling there were other historical inaccuracies which suggested that many more important flaws might lie beneath the surface. She talks about dictionaries, but surely they didn't come about for many years after this time? The suggestion that Cromwell does Italian chess puzzles from a book sounded rather unlikely and on investigation it seems that the book she refers to was written as a treatise on chess but never published.

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