I've now finished parts 3 and 4 of Wolf Hall, so I went back to Steve Donoghue's bookclub, and watched his video on it. And just like last time, I thought I'd post a few brief notes on my thoughts on Steve's thoughts. (For my commentary on Parts 1 and 2, see HERE).
* Actually I don't really have that much to say this time. Other than that once again, I find Steve's enthusiasm for this book to be really infectious. I'm glad he's made these videos so that I get to have a chance to see this book through his eyes. If left to myself, I would just be inclined to say, "The prose is hard work. I wish Hilary Mantel would write clearer." But seeing how much Steve loves this book's prose, it's got me re-evaluating it.
* The scene Steve read about the heretic getting burned to death was one of the passages that stood out to me as well. Actually Steve starts reading after the woman is already dead. In the couple pages before that, the actual burning itself is described--what it looked like, what it smelled like, what it sounded like. It is a passage that makes an impression.
As I said in my weekly reading vlog last week, we all know that in olden times people were burned at the stake for heresy. But to have it actually described brings home the full horror of it. And the full inhumanity of what one human being is willing to do to another human being in the name of religion. (No wonder Christopher Hitchens loved this book.)
* A nitpick. Steve says that in Wolf Hall, the reason Anne Boleyn is not allowed to marry Harry Percy is because "the king already has his eyes on you". But I wonder if Steve is getting confused with other historical novels about Anne Boleyn. In Wolf Hall, the reason that Cardinal Wolsey stopped the marriage between Harry Percy and Anne Boleyn is because Anne Boleyn wasn't noble enough for Harry Percy. (Or did I miss something?)
* Another nitpick. When Steve says, "if Cromwell or Thomas More could find Tyndale, they would kill him", I think he misspoke. Thomas More certainly wanted to kill Tyndale, but not Cromwell, right? According to Wikipedia, Cromwell actually tried to intercede to save Tyndale:
He was found guilty by his own admission and condemned to be executed, despite Thomas Cromwell's intercession on his behalf.[citation needed] Tyndale "was strangled to death while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned".[41]
(Given how many times I misspeak in my own videos, I probably shouldn't be nitpicking other people on it. But I just wanted to note for the record that I think he said the wrong name. Or did I miss something?)
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