sadietoo Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Has anyone read this yet??.... I am half way through and absolutely loving it...(but then I am already a Hilary Mantel fan...An Experiment in Love was my best ever book a couple of years ago...)...if only she had been writing when I was doing history A level all those years ago I might actually have enjoyed it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 No, I like recommendations though! Are you on the Omlet book club group? If not, get on there and recommend it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Collecting a copy from my sister this weekend (it was her Christmas present, now it's my turn!). I love Hilary Mantel, and I think 'A Place of Greater Safety' is brilliant although it's a rather weighty book - all about the French Revolution. Her lighter books are quite funny, as well. I can't wait to read Wolf Hall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Hi Sadie I started this a couple of months back but really just couldnt get into the swing of it- I kept getting a bit lost and having to re read bits so gave it away! (silly really as I should have hung on to it to try again later ) I usually love reading all things set in the Tudor period though, fact & fiction. Glad you are enjoying - there's certainly a lot of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted March 29, 2010 Author Share Posted March 29, 2010 I agree Laura, it is quite confusing at times, certainly to start with, as it is often not clear who is talking to whom in the dialogue...but that does sort itself out as you read on since the characters develop their own very separate voices. If you would like a second bite of the cherry I am very happy to send you my copy when I have finished with it...!!Won't be too long to wait!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A chickychickychick-ENN!! Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Hated it. Was so looking forward to it, but found that while the research to create an imagined narrative was impressive, the narrative itself was bland. Nothing happens, and it takes forever to not happen. And her prose tics of switching who the 'he' she is talking about is within the same massively subclausal sentence - gaaaaah!!! Infuriating and pretentious style. No need for it at all. Took me forever to finish because I couldn't bear to finish it but had got so far, I couldn't bear to NOT finish it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 It is taking me forever to understand what you have just written A Chicky! Will stick to Meg & Mog books I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaJC Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 I loved Beyond Black which was my first Mantel book. I've never managed to finish A Place of Greater Safety and I fear Wolf Hall is going the same way. It's the writing style which is killing me. In Beyond Black I could live with it as the plot was so gritty, but with Greater Safety and this, I just can't deal with it - the delivery is so boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A chickychickychick-ENN!! Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 It is taking me forever to understand what you have just written A Chicky! Will stick to Meg & Mog books I think. Ok. I'm saying GAAAAAH! Don't go there. Meg and Mog however, ROCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margalot Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Asked for this for xmas from my Mum.and got what I wished for I also found it brilliant, took ages to finish and yep i also had to re-read paragraphs / pages as the narrative is a little confusing. (did feel a little dim at these points) sometimes I would get to the bottom of the page and think .......what??? I loved it though and so glad I saw it through to the end.......... wow you just dont want it to end there though do you? needs the follow on now. It was nice to have the perspective form Thomas Cromwell..........what a powerful man! I was determined to finish it though and so glad I did (actually gave myself a pat on the back and now feel a bit more intellectualized) is that even a word?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted March 30, 2010 Author Share Posted March 30, 2010 Great feedback....just goes to show..one man's meat and all that...still the Man Booker prize winner always manages to provoke controversy, so at least this doesn't disappoint in that respect! Like you Margalot, I am going to feel bereft when I have finished this... a reviewer wrote that perhaps Hilary Mantel is Thomas Cromwell...I think she may be! I am reading Wolf Hall hard on the heels of Sarah Waters "The Little Stranger" which i also really enjoyed, so it's great (and a rare thing for me) to find two books to read in succession which both please as much - although the next book I have lined up is going to have a doubly hard act to follow -!!! I confess I haven't tried A Place of Greater Safety, but the order of events in the French Revolution is just sooo confusing anyway that sort of put me off. I did read Mark Steel's excellent book on the subject, but even managed to get lost with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margalot Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 Just stared reading a Place of Greater Safety, got it a a boot sale 50p! May turn out to be a bargin I wish I didnt spot though, already just because the names are French (obviously they would have to be ) getting confused and only on page 62!.........Gonna finsh it though especially while all this football is on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted June 14, 2010 Share Posted June 14, 2010 I really liked a Place of Greater Safety although I read it years ago and have just started on Wolf Hall. Have to say I'm a bit bored already (and confused) but I will perservere, I'm wondering if my tastes have changed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
