October 7, 2009

Wolf Hall: Dare I Venture There?

Pictured here is Hilary Mantel’s Writer’s Room, and HARK! She won the Booker! Which is good news, because I love Hilary Mantel: may I recommend Giving Up the Ghost, Beyond Black, Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, Every Day is Mother’s Day, A Change of Climate. But, similar to Margaret Atwood’s forays into sci-fi, I really don’t have much to do with her many adventures in historical fiction. To be honest, I’d rather read sci-fi than hi-fi (can I call it that?). And for an excellent take on the problems with historical fiction, read Alex Good’s assessment here.

But now Hilary Mantel has won the Booker for Wolf Hall— dare I venture there? “Peeling back history to show us Tudor England”: ick. The premise does nothing for me, whatsoever. And didn’t I already read it all in A Man for All Seasons (and apparently find it completely forgettable?). But, however unbelievably, I am tempted. And I do love everything I’ve ever read by our ‘Ilary, and I am going to England next week where they’ll have the book in paperback. Oh, I have a feeling I’ll be buying another book. Except this is one I might hate. A wise decision? Stay tuned…