Man Booker Prize Winner #2 – Bring Up The Bodies, Hilary Mantel

Carrying on with my challenge to read at least five Man Booker Prize winners this year (the rest of my reading challenges can be seen here) I read Bring Up The Bodies.

Note that Bring Up The Bodies is the sequel to Wolf Hall, so if you would like to see what I thought about that book, you can see my review here. It carries on with the story of Thomas Cromwell but as I said in my first review, it is far from a run-of-the-mill historical fiction set in the reign of Henry VIII. I’m going to keep this review pretty short, as I don’t want there to be too much repetition between my review of this and Wolf Hall! Here is what I thought about it:

In a nutshell: I loved Wolf Hall a lot, but in my opinion this was even better.

Would you recommend this book? Absolutely. If you read Wolf Hall and enjoyed it, this is pretty much a no-brainer as it has everything that was great about the first book and more. I actually think it could be read as a stand-alone book, but I think reading Wolf Hall gives you a greater understanding of Thomas Cromwell, the main character, and explains his actions in this in a greater detail.

How quickly did you read it? I actually found this fairly easy to read so it didn’t take me very long, just over a week. The hardback edition I have has 407 pages. Honestly though, I really didn’t want this book to end and took ages reading the last few pages.

Why did you choose to read this book? Other than the fact I really enjoyed Wolf Hall and this also ticks off another aspect of my reading challenge, the BBC adaptation has started and I wanted to finish the series before the TV show caught up with me.

Favourite aspect of the book? Where to start? Seeing as I started this the day after finishing Wolf Hall, my expectations were ridiculously high. But this actually surpassed my expectations.
The writing is brilliant – I think even more so than the first book. It is less confusing in its style which was my only gripe with Wolf Hall as Hilary Mantel, instead of using just ‘he’, starts to use the phrase ‘he, Cromwell’ or ‘he, Henry’ to give clarity! But honestly there were so many parts where the writing was so great I actually wrote down some of the sentences in my journal or texted them or read them aloud to friends and family who have already read it. I don’t want to ruin anything but after the final page I just stopped and took it all in, it was the perfect way to end it.
Once again the book felt well researched, the dialogue was witty and it continued to give a fresh take on the period with the well-known story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn as the backdrop.

Anything you didn’t like? I would genuinely give this five stars, ten out of ten, whatever the top rating is!

Any additional thoughts? All I have left to say is that I cannot wait for the third book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light which (apparently) is coming out this year.

Deserving of the Man Booker Prize? Yes!

I will leave you with one of the parts that I stopped to read to someone:

"The things you think are the disasters in your life are not the disasters really. Almost anything can be turned around: out of every ditch, a path, if you can only see it."

Beth x

Man Booker Prize Winner #1 – Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel

One of my many reading challenges this year is to read at least five Man Booker Prize winners (the rest of the list can be viewed here). Continuing with my challenge, I decided to read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2009. As someone who absolutely loved historical fiction set in the Tudor period as a teenager, I have read so many different versions of the same story that I wasn't sure whether to read this for quite a while, thinking I knew the story inside out already and that it had got a bit tired. I decided to give it a go and here is what I thought about it:

In a nutshell: I really enjoyed Wolf Hall and will definitely be reading the sequel, Bring up the Bodies.

Would you recommend this book? I would recommend it to anybody who likes historical fiction or Tudor history (or both!). If you’re the sort of person who likes a quick read though, this might not be for you.

How quickly did you read it? It took me a couple of weeks to read. The writing style in particular took some getting used to. In saying that, once I was into the book, I read the last 350 pages in a day. My paperback edition has 651 pages if you’re interested in how long it is.

Why did you choose to read this book? I am a history lover and as this book and its sequel have both won the Booker Prize, I decided that this would be a good way to continue with my reading challenge and reacquaint me with the Tudor period in a fun way. Plus the BBC adaptation starts this Wednesday so I thought I should read it before I watch it!

Favourite aspect of the book? Ah so so much to choose from! I love Thomas Cromwell’s one-liners. I love the descriptions of different areas of London. I love the references to Cicero, and I love the fact that it is the story that we have all heard in school history lessons, in period television dramas and in films, but told from a point of view of a different ‘player’ in the game – one, being honest, I didn't know a great deal about before reading.

I think what I love most about Wolf Hall is that this book feels incredibly well researched on Hilary Mantel’s part and backed up by historical sources. It doesn't feel like history ‘dumbed down’ as some books on the period feel – It shows the inner workings of the court of Henry VIII and its complexities in detail, including minor ‘players’, family histories and foreign ambassadors along the way.

Anything you didn't like?  If there was one thing that I didn't like about the book it was that sometimes, particularly at the beginning, I struggled with the writing style a bit. It relies heavily on the word ‘he’ and in some scenes where there are several men in the room it was difficult to work out who exactly was saying or doing what and quite a few times I had to go back a couple of paragraphs to try and work out what was going on. Somehow though, I really got used to the style and realised that, for the most part, ‘he’ is referring to Cromwell himself. I can appreciate that some people put the book down though due to it being a bit hard to follow at points.

Any additional thoughts? I won’t give anything away but I love that the book is called Wolf Hall. Unless you are really into Tudor history then its significance might not be clear right away but as you progress, all is revealed!

Deserving of the Man Booker Prize? I have only read two Man Booker Prize winners in addition to this (The Ghost Road by Pat Barker and Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro) but this seems to be deserving in my eyes and I will most definitely be reading Bring up the Bodies and the third in the Cromwell trilogy once it comes out. 

Reading Challenge: Read a ‘Bestseller’ I have never heard of

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

Brief Overview: The Alchemist is a novel written by Brazilian-born Paulo Coelho in 1988. It has been translated from Portuguese into 56 languages, and the front cover informs me that it has sold over 65 million copies worldwide, the record for the most translated book by any living author. I felt silly when seeing this, that I had never even heard of the book. I didn’t know anybody else that had read it, had no idea what the book was about and went in with absolutely no pre-conceptions. Having read reviews online I’m glad I went into it knowing nothing as Paulo Coelho seems to be an author who massively divides opinions and if I had read some of the criticisms of him I probably wouldn't have read the book at all! Anyway, I did and here is what I thought about it.

In a nutshell: I really didn't get on very well with this book.

Would you recommend this book? I know some people who would probably enjoy this book and value the moral lessons, but on the whole I wouldn't recommend this as I myself didn't like it.

How quickly did you read it? Only took a few hours. My edition has 161 pages and the text is huge!

Why did you choose to read this book? It was actually given to me as a present, and as it seems to be hugely popular, I decided that it must be something worth reading.

Favourite aspect of the book? I think there are some things the book highlights that were great, and I can see why some people would find it inspiring. The idea of not giving up on following your dreams in favour of settling into a ‘safe’ routine, and the importance of not being scared to fail, for example. Those aspects were good (though very repetitive). I also felt compelled, despite the fact I wasn't actually enjoying it, to read to the end to see what the treasure was and reveal the solution to the mystery. Partly, I wanted to see whether it changed my opinion of the rest of the book and partly because it had my curiosity.

Anything you didn't like? Being completely honest I didn't really like the story or the way it was written. Maybe this is unfair as the book is translated, but I found the prose simplistic and a bit boring. I felt like the book was seeking to have some profound effect on my life and being honest…it hasn't.

Any additional thoughts? I think the main gripe I have with this book is that it comes across as incredibly preachy. It is as if the author has gone about his writing with the intention of making every sentence ‘deep’, and as a result it took itself too seriously and nearly made me laugh at some points (and not in a good way). I also had quite an issue with some of the morals involved. Yes, there were some aspects which I agreed with, but some I found to be questionable. I won’t spoil what it is but I really didn't like what the treasure turned out to be in the end – I found it contradicted the rest of the book. The messages I did see as being valuable were not, in my opinion, anything new at all. These morals have been included in many works of literature and film before and in a far more subtle way.

Sorry for the negative review but I want to record everything I read, even if I don’t like it at all. Looking around this seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of book, and I really can see why some people loved it if the issues dealt with are things they haven’t necessarily thought of before. Myself, I am going to be moving on to a new book pretty quickly and won’t be re-reading this.

I would be really interested to hear what other people have to say about this book, particularly if you are someone who really enjoyed it. I would love to know what others thought about the ending.

Beth x

Pulitzer Prize Winner #1 – Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

One of my many reading challenges this year is to read at least five Pulitzer Prize winners. See the post below to have a look at some of the other reading challenges I have set myself.

Getting on with it, I decided to read Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003.

In a nutshell: I absolutely loved it.

Would you recommend this book? Yes, definitely – in fact I have done already to several friends.

How quickly did you read it? I won’t lie it took me longer than I usually take to get through a book but I was never bored. The edition I have is 529 pages, in case that is of interest to anyone.

Why did you choose to read this book? It was recommended to me by friends and I found it for a really good price when browsing in my favourite bookshop. A word of advice: don’t choose the book based on the title – this definitely isn't a book about the county in England.

Favourite aspect of the book? Having subsequently read a couple of reviews on Goodreads etc, a few people really didn't like that the story went back a couple of generations and traced the Stephanides family history. I actually think these were my favourite parts of the book. By the time it got to the life of the protagonist, I felt a real connection to the family. I also really liked the snippets on the history of Smyrna and Detroit that came alongside the family history. I loved the references to Greek epic throughout too (though this may just be my inner classicist).

Anything you didn't like? I’m not sure there was anything in particular I actively disliked. If I could change anything, I would have actually liked some of the scenes towards the end to be a bit longer so we could have had more development of the main character. I’m trying to keep this spoiler free!

Any additional thoughts? Since finishing the book I can’t stop looking up reviews and researching things from the book. The history of Smyrna after the First World War for example, was not really something I knew much about but is definitely something I have read into since. The amount of research that Eugenides must have gone into to write this book is absolutely amazing. The only thing I would love is to be able to discuss the book with someone who has had personal experience with some of the topics dealt with in this novel. Maybe if I ever get any readers on this blog someone could direct me to a discussion place for this novel, I would absolutely love to know what other people think about some parts.

Deserving of the Pultizer Prize? While I haven’t read very many Pulitzer Prize winning books, my opinion right now is yes. Well written, funny, sad, and above all, interesting. Definitely one for to-read lists.

Beth x

The Reading Challenge

Having studied History and Classics at university, I haven’t really had time to read many recently written novels in the last few years (note that as a history student, anything written during or after the 20^th century counts as recently written!). So, now that I can read whatever I want to and not feel guilty about it, I have set myself a few reading challenges to try and complete. Some of these will be to read books I have been meaning to for a really long time and some will be designed to make me go outside of my comfort zone and read things I have never heard of or a genre I have never really tried before.

Anyway, cutting to the chase here are some of the ones I have thought of so far:

1. Read at least 5 Booker Prize winners
2. Read at least 5 Pulitzer Prize winners
3. Read a at least 5 ‘Classic’ books
4. Read at least 5 non-fiction books
5. Read a graphic novel
6. Re-read a book I have forgotten most of the plot of!
7. Read a book released this year
8. Read a book series
9. Read a book that came out in the year I was born
10. Read about a period of history I know little about
11. Read a piece of Childrens’ Literature I never got round to reading
12. Read a Sci-Fi novel
13. Read a YA novel
14. Read a ‘Bestseller’ I have never heard of

So there we go! I have actually already started on the list by reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which I will hopefully post about soon.

What are your reading goals? Do you have any or do you just read whatever you are feeling like at the time? I feel like my categories are broad enough for me to be able to do that anyway really, at least at this early stage.

If anyone is reading this and has any suggestions of reading goals I could add to my list, or books I should read to help me complete the goals, then let me know :)

Beth x