So, I finished The Other Boleyn Girl about 2 weeks ago. I loved it! I'm absolutely fascinated by Henry VIII, not to mention the cunning and manipulative nature of Anne Boleyn. The book embellishes on the actual events, but the truth is that somehow, Anne Boleyn convinced Henry VIII to divorce his legally bound wife and queen by basically denouncing the Pope and Catholic Church! It's sort of like Monica Lewinsky going up to Bill Clinton (while he was in office) and saying, "Hey, divorce Hillary and make me your new First Lady!"
Tonight, I watched The Other Boleyn Girl...the movie, with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. The costumes were beautiful. I would have loved to live during that time period - the headdresses, the long sweeping dresses...it's right up my alley. But the plot was nowhere near the complexity of the book. I think movie producers shouldn't bother making a movie if it doesn't accurately capture the plot of the book. The movie made Mary Boleyn's marriage to William Stafford a footnote, even though their relationship takes up a good 200 pages of the novel. They skipped the birth of Mary's first child, Catherine, and went straight to her second child, aptly named Henry. They didn't broaden the depth of Anne's character by showing how she manipulated Henry VIII to send Queen Katherine of Aragon out of the castles nor shown that she might have had a hand in killing high-ranking members of the court and church to get herself the title of Queen. And when she was Queen, they didn't show what a bitch she was to those around her, specifically Mary. The characters were undeveloped, the plot wanting, and the pieces they added that never happened seemed out of step and half-assed.
I took out two more of Philippa Gregory's novels - The Constant Princess and The Virgin Queen. I put down TCP because after 75 pages, I just couldn't get into it. The book didn't have the energy and fluidity that The Other Boleyn Girl possessed. However, The Virgin Queen is pretty good. I'm not sure where I stand on it yet. I'm still trying to figure out some of the lineage of the time. There's too many Mary's and Wikipedia is ZERO HELP in figuring out who's who. I know Henry VII had a daughter named Mary....then Henry VIII had Bloody Mary...then there's Mary Queen of Scots, daughter of Mary of Guise and James V of Scotland....it's so crazy. But the book references Princess Mary and I have no idea which Mary it's referring to. They really need to come up with more original names!
On a tangent, I'm really proud of myself this year. I've read a considerable amount of books compared to last year. In 2008, I have read the following -
1. The Contender by Robert Lipsyte.
2. Teenagers Preparing For the Real World
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
5. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Wow...I need to read more!
No comments:
Post a Comment