It's About: Henry VIII and his first two wives, Katherine and Anne. The story is told in the third person from the POV of Thomas Cromwell, Henry's lawyer and accountant (I think). Basically, we have the Catholics against the Reformers and the abuse of those religions for the whims and purposes of the King. Henry tries to annul his first marriage with Katherine after twenty years. He removes her from his kingdom and pursues Anne. Anne is a wild child (well according to what is written), and never really stays faithful to Henry. She tries in vain to give Henry a son, but cannot carry a son to full term. In her lifetime, she is only able to give birth to Elizabeth. Henry is a big man and not the healthiest of men. There is some talk about his low libido. I think Anne was a very healthy young woman. I think she needed more than Henry was able to give and pursued that attention with vigor. Henry was not down with this. He begins to become jealous and decides that his marriage to Anne needs to be annulled and if that's not enough, he will not be happy until she is executed along with all of her boy toys. Enter Thomas Cromwell to take the Queen down for Henry. There it is in a nutshell.
My Thoughts: Whoof! I was partly intrigued and partly never so happy to finish a book in my life. First, this book should not be attempted without first reading Wolf Hall. Apparently Mantel is writing a trilogy (one more book to follow this one). I, so liking the idea of this book, made a wrong choice to start with this one. There are about 1 million characters. I read it on my Kindle. This means that the character list in the front of the book was not super handy. Big Mistake. I could not attach to the story because I was never absolutely certain which duke or earl was being referenced and never sure who each was related to or which side they were on. It turned out to be my main book joy killer. So, nope, it didn't do it for me.
Do I Recommend It? Yep. Just be sure to start with Wolf Hall because the first part of Thomas Cromwell's story is of utmost importance to understanding his choices and decisions that he makes in this story.
I did finish it myself but it was tough going.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's how I felt. Why do you think it was one of those best books of 2012 then? I'm a little amazed that it was.
DeleteGreat honest review. Thanks doll :)
ReplyDeleteLove you doll. Essentially, the book kicked my butt.
DeleteIt certainly helps if you read Wolf Hall first. Although the list of characters in that book is even longer, it gives more background on people like Uncle Norfolk and so on.
ReplyDeleteYes, the back story would have been most helpful.
DeleteInteresting that reading on the Kindle Fire got in the way of using the character list. I usually find that reading on the Kindle helps me with complicated reading (highlighting, notes, dictionary, search function, internet access) but I can see how in this case it could turn into a problem as flipping back to an index could be very awkward.
ReplyDeleteIt almost sounds like this was complex for complexity's sake which is not good.
Geez, Brian, you are so in the know. I had quite a bit of new words to look up and for that I was so happy to be reading my Kindle. But, yes, flipping back to the character pages was awkward because not only must I flip but then turn the pages through the character list. I don't know, it was like reading a paper book in this case.
DeleteI think the author admits to the complexity in the author's note.
DeleteLOL! I'm impressed you stuck with it even though you knew it was a sequel! Both Wolf Hall and this one are still on my TBR pile. I might get around to reading them in 2013.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the audio would be good? It was a great story just a little hard to follow.
DeleteI'm not sure about this one. I'm kind of tired of reading about Henry and Anne.
ReplyDeleteYes and if that's true, this one won't make it any better.
DeleteI have Wolf Hall on my TBR pile. I haven't seen many great reviews on this one. Why is it a Booker Prize then?
ReplyDeleteYou absolutely have to read Wolf Hall first. I don't know if the cast of characters grew so greatly in Bring Up The Bodies that it became more confusing for people to follow. I had trouble following the dialogue as it used the pronoun he often and Mantel had to follow up with "he, he, Tho mas Cromwell" frequently.
DeleteI have to say that I absolutey loved this book. :) I really enjoyed reading about this time period from Cromwell's point of view. I've read a zillion books about Henry and his shenanigans but never like this. I think "knowing" all of the characters and some of the history really helped me with this one..if that makes sense? And yep, I read Wolf Hall first!
ReplyDeleteYes, and I am of half a mind to go back and read this trilogy properly. I think it would make quite a bit of difference. I found myself wishing I was following more easily.
DeleteI liked Wolf Hall a LOT but there were some pronoun issues. Bring up the Bodies was a lot "easier" for me.
DeleteOkay, so I just want to say. After writing all of those college papers these last few years, I would not have been able to get away with that pronoun issue in my writing. I can almost hear my professors now...
DeleteThat is an excellent point! I wonder about the editing process on Wolf Hall ;)
DeleteFor what it's worth, that's exactly how I felt about Wolf Hall. It was fascinating and intelligent, but also a pain in the neck that just wouldn't end. I felt that it should have come with prerequisites...that if I'd known the history already, it would have been much more enjoyable. I may read this one if I ever find myself in a fury to know more about Henry VIII, but probably won't otherwise.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you say this. You are like my "better half" reader. You challenge me to read more closely and try harder to understand. I feel justified in my opinion now. When a really good book and writer disappoint me, sometimes I think I didn't try hard enough.
DeleteI get the impression that this series as a whole is better if you know more about the time period and players prior to reading it. Those English have sooo many different names/titles, not to mention that they all share first names quite a bit and that confuses me even more. I am curious to read this from a point of view other than Henry or his wives, so I'm sure I'll pick the series up somewhat soon.
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