Reviews

La sombra de la guillotina by Hilary Mantel

chriswright39's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

maxstar's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.5

Very slow and steady, not as good as the wolf hall trilogy especially in terms of prose, but has strong characterisations and the last chapter pulls all together well, thematically, and the prose is impactful. 

conconniegram's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

teresatumminello's review against another edition

5.0

Having read her two Cromwell novels, I couldn't help comparing the style Mantel perfected in those to this much earlier work. For example, the depictions of the childhoods of the three main characters reminded me of the same technique she uses to first get us engaged in and sympathetic toward Cromwell in [b:Wolf Hall|6520929|Wolf Hall (Thomas Cromwell, #1)|Hilary Mantel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436162980s/6520929.jpg|6278354]. In all three novels, once blood is shed, and alliances made and remade--and even though I know what's coming--the tension is ratcheted up to an almost unbearable pitch. A lovely passage at the end set my heart racing, in much the same way as my favorite metaphor in Wolf Hall and the final page of [b:Bring Up the Bodies|13507212|Bring Up the Bodies|Hilary Mantel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330649655s/13507212.jpg|14512257] did.

There are many differences, of course, the main one being that here we get to be inside, though in varying degrees, the mind of more than just one person. When we finally get to Danton's own voice, a rarely intruding narratorial voice sets it up, saying 'she' didn't expect for Danton to speak, but time is running out (and this with more than half of the book left)!

As with the Cromwell novels, and with the best of any historical fiction, we are left to reflect on a world that is maybe not that much different from our own. How something so horrific could possibly happen is shown through full characterizations and likely scenarios that don't stray from the historical record, though we don't get (or need) all the details. A smug feeling of this only being able to happen in a remote past does not exist during this reading. Perhaps not on such a large scale (excepting, for only a few examples, Hitler's, Mao's and Stalin's purges), there were and are many Reigns of Terror. Only yesterday I read of the 129 bodies found in secret graves in Mexico.

*

My rating could be a 4.5 or 4.75, but only because I know Mantel's Cromwell novels are even better. If I'd read this first, I would've thought she couldn't possibly have done anything better.

fionnualalirsdottir's review against another edition

If you want to begin to understand how revolution happens, how individuals get to manipulate the mob, how rioters can be triggered to bring down a government or a monarch, this well researched and beautifully written fictionalised account of the French revolution is a good place to start.

matthias55's review against another edition

I read about halfway through but eventually stopped. I think my habitat of reading before bed makes it hard for me to focus on these more complicated books.

leighgoodmark's review against another edition

5.0

It's long, dense,and hard to keep track of the characters. Steeped in the minutia of the French Revolution. And I loved it. The characters are so specifically drawn and fascinating and alive, and there's a wonderful, subtle humor to the book. I couldn't stop reading and am going back for more-after I read a couple of lighter books!

audrey88's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

erin_williams2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

karen_antw's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5