bibliomaniac33's review against another edition
It pains me to say this, as I’m a Hilary Mantel fan, but I had to pull the plug on this one after 235 pages. The pacing was too much of a slog. I couldn’t develop any investment in the characters. I just couldn’t keep pushing through it.
yelsel13's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
5.0
This was brilliant in all kinds of ways. Other reviewers have explained why, so I'll just note down a couple of stray thoughts that have stayed with me.
Hilary Mantel's Camille Desmoulins was a bisexual FOX. Lucile Desmoulins was a saucy MINX. My only complaint about this book is that there was no threesome with ugly-sexy brute Danton.
Robespierre: for a guy who abhorred violence, he sure beheaded a lot of people. But he was also kind of hot. In a creepy sort of way. Also, he had a dog, Brount, who I imagine looked liked this:
If this doesn't make you want to read it, there's also fantastic writing and a lot interesting history and politics and that stuff.
Hilary Mantel's Camille Desmoulins was a bisexual FOX. Lucile Desmoulins was a saucy MINX. My only complaint about this book is that there was no threesome with ugly-sexy brute Danton.
Robespierre: for a guy who abhorred violence, he sure beheaded a lot of people. But he was also kind of hot. In a creepy sort of way. Also, he had a dog, Brount, who I imagine looked liked this:
If this doesn't make you want to read it, there's also fantastic writing and a lot interesting history and politics and that stuff.
rogerjpatterson's review against another edition
5.0
Third times the charm. I had tried to get into this twice before, but the audio format combined with Mantel's quirky, rapid paced and sometimes ambiguous style made it difficult. I finally made myself listen to it every chance I had so that I could work through it while it was fresh in my mind, and it repaid the intense listening. Mantel's style, while sometimes hard to follow, is like life and people -- complex and hard to follow. She uses her style to illumine complex characters and expand our understanding of who people are, how they work, and how they react to extraordinary situations.
windowtotheworld's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
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
4.5
alexisreading23's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Mantel‘s writing possesses the studied accuracy of the fact file and the expansive perspective of a Bruegel painting.
Much like her Cromwell series, A Place of Greater Safety is saturated with her historical knowledge, flitting between characters and events in blinks and paragraphs.
As is her style, the characters are kept almost at arms length. There is a sense that she does not want to sentimentalise or idealise any of the people she writes about, yet it is inevitable that sympathy is raised all the same.
I did think that this book was a tad too long but it would be difficult to place where exactly it should have been cut. Reading it was like reading a saga where every detail has its place however small.
My knowledge of French Revolutionary history is rather deficient but I imagine if I knew more I would have appreciated the book’s minute details as I very much did with Wolf Hall.
This very much isn’t a book I would recommend to everyone but it’s a titan of a novel; it was most definitely worth my time and it’s a testament to Mantel’s capabilities as a writer. She writes like weaving , controlling a seemingly unimaginable number of threads which coalesce to produce something intricate and astonishing.
Much like her Cromwell series, A Place of Greater Safety is saturated with her historical knowledge, flitting between characters and events in blinks and paragraphs.
As is her style, the characters are kept almost at arms length. There is a sense that she does not want to sentimentalise or idealise any of the people she writes about, yet it is inevitable that sympathy is raised all the same.
I did think that this book was a tad too long but it would be difficult to place where exactly it should have been cut. Reading it was like reading a saga where every detail has its place however small.
My knowledge of French Revolutionary history is rather deficient but I imagine if I knew more I would have appreciated the book’s minute details as I very much did with Wolf Hall.
This very much isn’t a book I would recommend to everyone but it’s a titan of a novel; it was most definitely worth my time and it’s a testament to Mantel’s capabilities as a writer. She writes like weaving , controlling a seemingly unimaginable number of threads which coalesce to produce something intricate and astonishing.
sambo10's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
daisyb's review against another edition
5.0
What can I possibly say that I haven’t said already. Five million stars.