Community Chat

[lulu2]

I wanted to love this but it was beyond slow. (and boring) My husband fell asleep.

If you do not know the back story of Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey, etc, you are definitely have a disadvantage.

I'll give it another week before I call it quits.

[PinkyPetunia]

I also thought it was boring and slow. Will try a few more episodes because I like that period of English history. Philippa Gregory wrote some fantastic novels of this time period (all her novels are fantastic, for that matter) that I could not put down.

I am not familiar with the author of Wolf Hall.

[SydneyH]

Slowest moving book I've ever read and I read a lot.......

[issiestorm]

Gregory took a historical era and turned it into fiction. Many people have a completely incorrect view of the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn period due to her novels. She also seemed to really dislike Anne Boleyn for some reason. The movie 'The Other Boleyn Girl' is based on one of her fictitious books.

[KellyS]

I know little ""back story"" and still enjoyed the show. Like the actor playing Cromwell and it's good to see Damien Lewis again!

[chessylady]

I agree, the book was very dry. I have read numerous books on Elizabethan England so I enjoyed the show. I can see where those unfamiliar with the intrigues would have a hard time.

[lulu2]

On 4/6/2015 KellyS said:

I know little ""back story"" and still enjoyed the show. Like the actor playing Cromwell and it's good to see Damien Lewis again!

Not a spoiler but pay close attention to the religious aspect of the story.

[sunshine45]

my daughter, who is a tudor history buff, says the book was pretty awful. she saw the play in london and said that the play was good. she is hoping that the series will be a lot better than the book, but she has not had the chance to see the first episode yet. she also collects a lot of henry the 8th memorabilia.

she says the phillipa gregory books are just chick-lit with little substance if you are a true tudor history buff.

[Moonchilde]

Not, they are saying, television that will have a lot of appeal to American (vs. British) audiences. It will be unrelentingly dark and twisted, with no light moments and almost no likable characters.

I'm a history buff and a British history buff in particular, but even that's not enough to keep me going until the end, probably. Such.heavy.going.

But there is Mark Rylance (wonderful actor, and the very first artistic director of London's Globe Theatre), Damian Lewis (thud!), the costumes, and the great Tudor houses. Not sure how long I'll last. I didn't like so much time-shifting in Episode 1.

[insomniac]

The book was wretched. I read the whole thing, but it was tortuous.

One of my book clubs chose to read the sequel. That one I did not finish. Enough is enough.