Notes in the Margin - A far off country of which we know little

[tamaranth]

Congratulations to Ms Mantel and all that but, while I’m sure it’s beautifully written, I simply have no inclination to read a 600-page book set in Tudor England. ... Novelists should be engaging with the issues of the day – like Balzac, Dickens and George Eliot did – not indulging in high-class escapism.
Notes in the Margin - A far off country of which we know little

Twit.

Luckily an anonymous comment says this more elegantly: History doesn't have to equal escapism; the best historical fiction, like the best science fiction, addresses the issues of the day. The entanglement of religion and politics (fanatical religion in particular) seems to me a strong common theme between our times and those of the Tudor era.

I think, re: Wolf Hall, I'd also be inclined to argue that an essential element of the modern novel is the exploration of character -- and Mantel's Thomas Cromwell is utterly compelling.

Comments

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

You probably won't have seen this whilst you were away, but in The Times Antonia Senior praises the historical novel (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6866930.ece) (the more dramatic, the better).

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

PS - and I see that in the online version the comments are full of complaints that she left out The Baroque Cycle!