A Fairytale That Ends Up With The Detachment Of The Princess's Head
Written: Jun 23 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Dialogue, Style, Twisted Facts, Length, Characters of Anne, Mary and George.
Cons: Good vs Evil theme, the love between Mary and William Stafford, & the other characters
The Bottom Line: I recommend this book if you already know the story of Anne really well. It isn't a good starting point if you have no idea who the woman is.
hind623's Full Review: Philippa Gregory - The Other Boleyn Girl
Anne Boleyn's head was severed... But so were the heads of many Arabian Queen's and Sultana's. Henry the VIII had 6 wives. The Khalifa Haroon Al-Rashid had over 10 and some of them at the same time. I find myself not interested at all in my Arabian History. Anne Boleyn is more well-known in my country than the countless of Sutlanas and Queens.
I still do not know why I was fascinated by the history of the English Monarchy since I was very young. Why Anne Boleyn herself was such a character that dominated my imagination. I have read countless books about the Woman who made the King of England divorce his wife, change the religion, and marry her despite all reason and logic.
What I love about this woman is not the fact that she changed the world for women forever. It is the fact that she had the arrogance and vanity to be the woman who threw convention out the window, and then... run outside, pick up convention again and throw it in Society's face.
For me what makes an Anne Boleyn book so good is that fact that it has me believing that this time the outcome will be different. That Anne will not end up on the chopping block this time. The fact that it has me doubting facts that I have read over and over again.
"The Other Boleyn Girl" is basically the bunch of few facts that we actually know about Anne and her sister Mary, turned into a fictitious fairy tale. The descriptive rich style of writer has you living in Tudor Times throughout this book. Though the book is very long and though the facts are incredibly stretched over the length of the book, the engaging dialogue makes it very easy and incredibly fun to read.
I do not look for facts in fiction, I am more interested in the pleasure generated as I read. This book is indeed a pleasure read. I am not going to go into the story of Anne, Mary and George Boleyn. If you are actually reading this review of mine, chances are you know the story inside out already.
What this book does is that takes the real story, creatively interprets it, changes it into a much more interesting account of what happened, and adds some dramatic soap opera effects to it. Phillipa Gregory adds colour to the whole story in a way I never recognised was possible. It becomes so addictive you cannot even study for your university exams.
What I did not like was the Good versus Evil, Mary versus Anne divide. It just defies logic and makes the book a little immature for my taste. Another thing I found quite sad is the character development. Anne Mary and George have so much depth that all the other characters are merely decorations and another effect in the book.
My god Jane Seymour is portrayed as the most boring idiot ever. The Boleyn Parents are better placed in a puppet show, and that Howard Uncle seems to come from the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books.
To be fair Cartherine of Aragon was given a good share though, her character seemed to be somewhat rich.
Lastly the love between Mary Boleyn and William Stafford was blown out of proportion and did not serve much in the book. It was awarded over 25% of the books pages and I just find that unnecessary... Must there be a titanic love story everywhere one turns around?
I conveniently overlooked all the negative aspects of this book to give a five star ranking cause it deserves nothing less. The dialogue throughout mixed between the historical and current English language is a delight, and you will find yourselves not having ENOUGH of the conversations that go on between Anne, Mary, and George.
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