Writing Exchange

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Sarah (She/Her)I just took inventory and I own at least 120 books (ebook, print, audio) that I have not read yet. And multiple holds on two different library cards, and subscriptions that bring in another 24 books a year, and a long TBR list of even more on Storygraph. My <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/TBR" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TBR</a> is quantifiably nuts. Now, it's back to <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/TheBlindAssassin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TheBlindAssassin</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Mythos" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mythos</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WarAndPeace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WarAndPeace</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>, <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/OnyxStorm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OnyxStorm</a>, and <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WeLivedOnTheHorizon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WeLivedOnTheHorizon</a> because I also read multiple books concurrently. And this is how I survive the apocalypse. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/Bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Bookstodon</a>

McMinn and CheeseThe Mirror and the Light (audiobook)<a href="https://robmcminn.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image-6.png" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a>I was about to say that this 38-hour audiobook was the longest I have ever listened to, but then I remembered The Count of Monte Cristo, which was 46 hours, so. This audiobook was the second-longest I have ever listened to.It felt a bit strange to be diving into this hot on the heels of the recent TV series, which portrayed the events of this book in its six episodes. But then, a 38-hour listen might contain things that weren’t included in the 6 hours of television… maybe?First of all, garlands of roses to Ben Miles. Whatever your feelings about Mark Rylance, who played Cromwell on TV, have no fear that Ben Miles, who played him on stage, gives a lesser performance as the reader/narrator here. Furthermore, he also knocks Henry the King out of the park, and Norfolk, and Wriothesley (Call Me) and Rafe, and Stephen Gardiner, and so on. Absolutely brilliant in every respect, and when I think about the hours he put in reading these three books, my mind boggles.I think these audiobooks are both “unabridged” but also versioned for audiobook purposes. I’m not sure. There’s a chat at the end, between Miles and the late author, but to be honest I found Mantel’s squeaky, creaky voice offputting after 38 hours of Ben Miles, so I didn’t listen. But she says something at the beginning about how she’s worked on the audiobook versions (and had selected Miles as the reader).One feature that stood out for me across all three books was the way that Mantel used pronouns (and changed her use of pronouns). In Wolf Hall, the first book, she uses he a lot, to refer (usually) to Cromwell, the point of view character, and (inevitably) any other he who is in the picture. I think this was a deliberate stylistic choice, putting us solidly within her hero’s viewpoint and internal monologue. But it could be confusing at times, because you didn’t always know which he was the pronoun’s referent. A kind of alienating effect I suppose, that gave Wolf Hall it’s literary edge.But then in the subsequent books (the audiobook versions, at least), we get a lot of he, Cromwell, thinks… which feels like a sop to all those who complained about the pronouns in Wolf Hall. Yes, they are out there, and so are Mantel’s <a href="https://www.ajtye.com/post/he-thomas-cromwell-blue-curtains-literary-camera-angles-responsibility-and-wolf-hall" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">defenders</a>. Personally, I liked the feature and the way it worked. But, as I said, by the time you get to The Mirror and the Light, it’s he, Cromwell, or he, Lord Privy seal… I found this compromise in style more jarring than the original, unadorned, pronoun use.Within these pages, Cromwell reaches the acme of his career. But if the mountain had been a long steep climb on the way up, the way down turns out to be a precipitous drop off a cliff. One day he is Earl of Essex and Lord Great Chamberlain, and the next his enemies come for him and he is in the Tower. That it really happened is hard to believe. If you want to know how betrayal feels, read this book.And while all this is in the TV series, you do feel it much more in the book because there is more detail, and there are things that were skipped over for the purposes of the visual medium. The main thing I think the TV show missed out were the various other candidates for Henry’s fourth* wife. His disappointment in missing out on one in particular most probably fed into the disdain he showed for Anne of Cleves, which was just the latest in several failures he laid at Cromwell’s door.By all accounts, Mantel dreaded writing about Cromwell’s downfall and death. It’s handled slightly differently here than it was on TV. Much of what is relayed visually on television is internal monologue. I love the words that Mantel put into the mouth of Cromwell’s most loyal French servant, Christophe, at the end. His curse of Henry is probably close to what happened. As Mantel mentioned at the beginnning of the chat at the end, Henry lived seven more years, in pain the whole time. He was just 55, which is young for someone of such wealth and privilege. Bloody Norfolk died in his bed at 80-odd.Anyway: superb. Bought it for the long journey to France over Christmas, and it has kept me company then and since. I have no idea what to listen to next.===*This business of “Henry VIII and his six wives” — how did it ever take hold? If we take him at his word, the first marriage doesn’t count, and nor does the fourth. If we approach this from a purely technical viewpoint, his second so-called marriage was invalid and bigamous, and his fourth wasn’t consumated. Knowing what we know about the state of his health, would it be a surprise to learn that his fifth and sixth marriages weren’t consumated, either? So at best, he had four “wives” — and maybe it was only the two.<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/books/" target="_blank">#Books</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/henry-viii/" target="_blank">#henryViii</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/hilary-mantel/" target="_blank">#HilaryMantel</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/historical-fiction/" target="_blank">#HistoricalFiction</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/mirror-and-the-light/" target="_blank">#MirrorAndTheLight</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/thomas-cromwell/" target="_blank">#thomasCromwell</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://robmcminn.uk/tag/wolf-hall/" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>

Lea 💚🧵🛠️📊🥧🇺🇦🍉<a href="https://hemmer.land/@GeschichteFM" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@GeschichteFM</a> In Ep 3 fallen mir auch die Parallelen zwischen Kardinal <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Khlesl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Khlesl</a> und Thomas <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Cromwell" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Cromwell</a> in England ein Jahrhundert früher auf! Beide aus einfachem Hause, durch Kompetenz und krassen Ehrgeiz zum Vertrauten eines launischen Herrschers geworden, der sich nicht die Hände schmutzig machen will. Beide darum bemüht, <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Krieg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Krieg</a> zu vermeiden. Beide beneidet und am Ende zu Fall gebracht von konservativen Adligen. <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Reformation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Reformation</a> <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Wolfhall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Wolfhall</a> <a href="https://mendeddrum.org/tags/Renaissance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Renaissance</a>

SebIf the BBC is going to be sliced and diced due to its utter inability to vet its staff, <a href="https://toot.community/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> will be a fitting final hurrah. Not just one of the best historical dramas, but one of the best dramas of all time.

zakzak<a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> makes <a href="https://mastodon.online/tags/GameofThrones" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GameofThrones</a> look like a show for kids.

Jim KillockViscount Colville adding more points on <a href="https://social.openrightsgroup.org/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AI</a> and defending the "balancing test" for legitimate interests, rather than removing any need for this within specified legitimate interests, where the Bill just allows it as a jusitification.Likewise criticising Henry VIII powers to change the law. Hope the Lords are all watching <a href="https://social.openrightsgroup.org/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> and watching the death toll mount up. (TBH I am sure they all are). <a href="https://social.openrightsgroup.org/tags/DUABIll" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DUABIll</a>

JackTheRebelCat 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇵🇸 🇺🇦Mark Rylance is a fine, fine actor. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>

Jean-Marc van TolZo goed. Tranen biggelend over mijn wangen. <a href="https://mastodon.nl/tags/wolfhall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wolfhall</a>

the roamerWatching episode 1 of the new series of the BBC production Wolf Hall. Absolutely flawless. Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell is perfect. The settings and camera are perfect. If you listen carefully, you hear the incredible voice of soprano Grace Davidson in some of the soundtrack. Lady Mary is played magically by Lily Lesser, the daughter of Anton Lesser, who was Thomas More in S1. <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/HilaryMantel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HilaryMantel</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/MarkRylance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MarkRylance</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/GraceDavidson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GraceDavidson</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/LilyLesser" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LilyLesser</a>

Lifestyle | The Guardian USThe truth about dark empaths, why is Britain still so obsessed with the Tudors? And Philippa Perry on overcoming social awkwardness – podcast <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/audio/2024/nov/16/the-truth-about-dark-empaths-why-is-britain-still-so-obsessed-with-the-tudors-and-philippa-perry-on-overcoming-social-awkwardness-podcast" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/audio/2024/nov/16/the-truth-about-dark-empaths-why-is-britain-still-so-obsessed-with-the-tudors-and-philippa-perry-on-overcoming-social-awkwardness-podcast</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Parentsandparenting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Parentsandparenting</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Health" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Health</a>&wellbeing <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Lifeandstyle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Lifeandstyle</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/HilaryMantel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HilaryMantel</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Historybooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Historybooks</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Socialmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Socialmedia</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Psychology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Psychology</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Friendship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Friendship</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>

Culture | The Guardian US‘Henry VIII is a serial killer and abuser’: why is Britain still so obsessed with the Tudors? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/12/henry-viii-is-a-serial-killer-and-abuser-why-is-britain-still-so-obsessed-with-the-tudors" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/12/henry-viii-is-a-serial-killer-and-abuser-why-is-britain-still-so-obsessed-with-the-tudors</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Televisionindustry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Televisionindustry</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Television</a>&radio <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/PhilippaGregory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PhilippaGregory</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/HilaryMantel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HilaryMantel</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Historybooks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Historybooks</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Television" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Television</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Education" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Education</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Culture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Culture</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#History</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Society" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Society</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Books</a> <a href="https://halo.nu/tags/Women" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Women</a>

Claire 🌻Rewatching the first series of <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> before I start on the new one. My memory is like a sieve, except I remember it was excellent & thus it is proving to be.

libUnderseaMonkey.so 🇪🇺Had to take today as a sick day so this afternoon I watched episode one of the new <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>. Oh my word. Rylance and Lewis merely lead what is a superb cast top to bottom, left to right; Lilit Lesser in particular as Mary affected me deeply. Of course the dialogue adapted from Mantel is fabulous and it all feels utterly authentic. I have read five star rave reviews - they do not do it justice.

Today On Screen<a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/OnThisDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OnThisDay</a>, May 19, in 1536, Anne Boleyn, second wife of English King Henry VIII, was beheaded at the Tower of London (depicted in Wolf Hall, 2015)<a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/Tudors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tudors</a> <a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/AnneBoleyn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AnneBoleyn</a> <a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/London" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#London</a> <a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#History</a> <a href="https://xoxo.zone/tags/Histodons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Histodons</a>

Haruka KanataCont'd<a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/mastoart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mastoart</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/fediart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fediart</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/wolfhall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wolfhall</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/tudor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#tudor</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/historicalfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#historicalfiction</a>

Haruka KanataOk so I suddenly got obsessed with Wolf Hall miniseries and can't stop all these people in this Tudor period drama into anime<a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fantasy</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/mastoart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#mastoart</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/fediart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#fediart</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/wolfhall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wolfhall</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/tudor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#tudor</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/historicalfiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#historicalfiction</a>

Umbricius<a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/WhatImWatching" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WhatImWatching</a> <a href="https://mastodonapp.uk/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>

Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈"I have no problem with it" says Posho, making a problem out of it. See how British Gaslighting works? <a href="https://deadline.com/2024/04/wolf-hall-petronella-wyatt-casting-amir-el-masry-ancestor-1235880223/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://deadline.com/2024/04/wolf-hall-petronella-wyatt-casting-amir-el-masry-ancestor-1235880223/</a><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/UK" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#UK</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a>

Petrichor ᚄᚔᚅᚐᚁᚆᚃᚒᚔᚂLaughing wheezily as I reread Wolf Hall: "Oh, by the thrice-beshitten shroud of Lazarus!" <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/Comedy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Comedy</a>

Walter Scott PrizesA lovely opportunity for <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/HilaryMantel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HilaryMantel</a> fans: you could win a special edition of WOLF HALL, our first ever <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/WalterScottPrize" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WalterScottPrize</a> winner, with this competition over at <a href="https://mstdn.social/@Thebookerprizes" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@Thebookerprizes</a> to rename their trophy >> <a href="https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/name-the-booker-prize-trophy-and-win-a-folio-society-edition-of-wolf" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/name-the-booker-prize-trophy-and-win-a-folio-society-edition-of-wolf</a><a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/BookerPrize" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BookerPrize</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/historicalFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#historicalFiction</a> <a href="https://mstdn.social/tags/WolfHall" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WolfHall</a> <a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@bookstodon</a>

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