Bring Up the Bodies question

A late response to A.H: Using single quotes is the more common publication convention in Britain as opposed to the double quotes in American publication. (Often, you can take the British version of a novel and the American publication of the same novel and look at them side by side and see that the one uses single quotes and the other double.) In the past, it was very common for European writers to indicate dialogue by using the dash and not using quotation marks at all for dialogue. It's all convention.

As for the use of "he." This was a creative decision by Mantel, pure and simple, I think, as a way to immerse the reader in Cromwell's point of view. Though some readers found it distracting or confusing, once I realized what Mantel was doing, I really liked it. I thought it lent richness and depth to the book.

Finally: Like many of you, I read Bring Up the Bodies straight through, in about two days. Wolf Hall is one of my very favorite books, and Bring Up the Bodies did not disappoint for me as the next installment. I thought that the development of Cromwell's character was extraordinary as we watch him forced into increasingly difficult ethical decisions. It brings to the front the motives of loyalty and revenge as driving (and sometimes conflicting) forces in Cromwell's characters.

An earlier reader posted that some of the plot twists were "implausible." Well, Mantel is bound by her source material, and I think the historical record of Henry VIII and his wives is nothing if not strange and labyrinthine.

I think she does that screwy thing with the pronouns because she's immersing the reader entirely in Cromwell's perspective. It's a very effective way to do this, because Cromwell is always the essential and most important 'he' in the story, the default. Most of the time it works really well, but occasionally it's distracting.

I thought W.H. was a "deeper" novel, with more insights and themes woven throughout. The sequel isn't as thematically complex.

However, I loved that the author made the aging Cromwell reconsider Walter. (Maybe he beat me because I was a totally obnoxious boy.) Fiction is so malleable that way, which is why I love it so much.

I loved Bring up the Bodies. Like Carolyn, I couldn't put it down -- it is a total page turner. I can't wait for the next one in this trilogy. Had a look at samples of a couple of other Mantel titles on amazon but so far Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies are my favorites.

http://writingnorthidaho.blogspot.com...

You may find my review at the link above.

When is the third one coming out?

I still had a hard time with the writing style. I think I liked it a little better than Wolf Hall it made you see things in a different way.

They are both fantastic books. I grew up thinking Cromwell was just pure evil and I still suspect he wasn't the nicest guy but he was incredibly important and he was a better person than Henry.
It is a brilliant idea to write this period of English history from his perspective. Mantel has a strange writing style that takes some getting used to but these books are great.

I agree with Shaheen I prefered Wolf Hall.I did enjoy Bring Up The Bodies but I felt the endihg a little too rushed.I read both back to back & I loved being pulled into the Tudor era. Exciting news Daniel from Homelands to play Henry VII! In the tv drama to be made.

I hope the sequel's good, I've been let down by a lot of things lately.

Check out my webcomic, updates every Thursday: http://reddkaiman.blogspot.com/2013/0...

I enjoyed Wolf Hall once I got into the peculiar writing style that Hilary Mantel seems to favour!
But I loved this book a lot more,(The best book I read last year!) it didn't seem so confusing to read, (that or I got used to the style in which it was written with the first book!!) Like everyone else I look forward to the final instalment

I may be one of the few readers who was disappointed by this sequel. In my opinion, it did not match Wolf Hall, and relied largely on the real-life testimony vs. Queen Anne, with which a student of Tudor history would be largely familiar. I thought Wolf Hall was much more fresh, more poetic.

I love the nick names that were used for many of the characters.

I also think I liked it better than Wolf Hall, and yes, the pronoun thing is annoying and even when I was used to it still caught me off gaurd occasionally. I've read lot about this period, both fiction and non and these are the first books I'veread that really get into Cromwell, even though he was obviously a major figure. I'm really curious to see how she deals with his end in the final novel.

I am another one who loved this book even more so than Wolf Hall. Knowing your history really helps and i am looking forward to the final enstalment of this series. Even if we all know Thomas's outcome.

I have a brief review and a sample audiobook at http://www.scheherazade-thewritinglif...
I plan to run a giveaway of the complete audiobook next week, so stay tuned. I'll post here when it's up.

You may be interested in an interview Hilary Mantel gave to BBC Radio 4's Today, yesterday:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/...

Later.....
Congratulations to Hilary Mantel on winning the Man Booker for the second year running: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainme...

I loved this book just as much, if not more, than Wolf Hall. My pet peeve with the first one, and I know a lot of others feel the same way, was with the confusing pronoun use. I think she cleaned it up in the second book because I didn't feel confused, at all, as to who was speaking! I really hope there is going to be a third one!

I am listening to this now on audiobook

I did not like it nearly as well as WOLF HALL, which I think is a nearly perfect novel. I found Cromwell to be somewhat tedious in this book, and some of the plot twists to be implausible. I finished it, but I was ready for it to end before I reached the final page.

I can't wait til the third one though I am worried about Cromwell, lol. Henry VIII had him executed, you know. On the same day he married Catherine Howard!

My goodness! Sounds like I have to go out and read Wolf Hall!

I inhaled this book! I agree, it's better than Wolf Hall. I read it in 48 hours. . . and it's a big book.

I totally agree - I thought it was even better than Wolf Hall (if that is possible). I literally could not put it down until the end.

It's superb, it's wonderful, it's amazing - it's BETTER THAN WOLF HALL. I didn't think it could be done.

Why does HM only use single quotes like 'this' for conversation? Furthermore, why does she use "He" (instead of saying "Thomas" or "Cromwell" so much? Seems like these were notes from the outline that got transcribed into the text. Other than that, I enjoyed the book. I guess successful writers can do whatever they please.