Salamander, Jan 26th 2012 (a double header with 'What I Loved'!).
Innocent Traitor everyone enjoyed the writing style in modern language
and in the first person. This moved the story along at a good pace and
was easy to follow; no ye olde English words or phrases. It made a good
comparison with our recent read of Wolf Hall. Apart from Jane, who had
a pretty terrible short life at the hands of her parents and the power
brokers of the day, the only sympathy was for her mother at the end when
she realised how bad she had been to her daughter, using her as a pawn
in their game to reap riches and power. The discussion was also mixed
about Guilford; was he just a brute to Jane or was he too an “innocent”
and how strong was the historical evidence? The issue here was about the
exchanged looks/tears between Jane and Guilford on his way to the
scaffold. Those present made no admission of any tears at the end, but
it is the BBBC! Many liked the portrayal of the executioner, but then
he was as innocent as Jane. Most admitted that they did not enjoy
history at school, but now in middle age it is time for us to catch up
on what we have all missed. Perhaps O level history was badly taught
and had the wrong syllabus. Present teaching/syllabus is probably more
engaging and relevant. (From my perspective, I want to know why
something happened as well as what happened.)
Notes nobly supplied by Ras once again.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment