Roman Clodia's Reviews > Hamnet
Hamnet
by
by
![56111743](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p2/56111743.jpg)
I'm clearly in a minority here (again!) but I found this unengaging and flat. There's too much indirect speech and the whole story feels very distanced rather than immediate. O'Farrell talks in the foreword about how she's wanted to write this book for decades, and the result is that it feels laboured, weighted down with expectation that doesn't come to fruition for me.
I especially hated the portrayal of Agnes as one of those almost witchy 'wise women' who abound in historical fiction: fey, with preternatural senses, a herbalist as a code for 'female' power... it's very predictable, very common, very Philippa Gregory!
The vaunted connection to Shakespeare is tangential at best, and the idea that the death of Hamnet illuminates the writing of 'Hamlet' is sparse. The claim made in the novel that Shakespeare was so traumatised that he never wrote about plague is not quite true: 'Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood' (King Lear); 'A plague on both your houses' (Romeo & Juliet) are just a couple of examples. It is the case that censors at the time wouldn't let naturalistic representations of the plague pass (playhouses were one of the first public spaces to be closed when outbreaks occurred) but that applies to all Elizabethan/Jacobean dramatists and is a structural limitation rather than an indication of personal grief.
A book which is not for me, then, but clearly other reviewers have loved it.
I especially hated the portrayal of Agnes as one of those almost witchy 'wise women' who abound in historical fiction: fey, with preternatural senses, a herbalist as a code for 'female' power... it's very predictable, very common, very Philippa Gregory!
The vaunted connection to Shakespeare is tangential at best, and the idea that the death of Hamnet illuminates the writing of 'Hamlet' is sparse. The claim made in the novel that Shakespeare was so traumatised that he never wrote about plague is not quite true: 'Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood' (King Lear); 'A plague on both your houses' (Romeo & Juliet) are just a couple of examples. It is the case that censors at the time wouldn't let naturalistic representations of the plague pass (playhouses were one of the first public spaces to be closed when outbreaks occurred) but that applies to all Elizabethan/Jacobean dramatists and is a structural limitation rather than an indication of personal grief.
A book which is not for me, then, but clearly other reviewers have loved it.
1303 likes · Like
∙
flag
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Hamnet.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Finished Reading
February 7, 2020
– Shelved
Comments Showing 1-50 of 133 (133 new)
message 1:
by
CanadianReader
(last edited Feb 08, 2020 03:53AM)
(new)
-
rated it 1 star
Feb 07, 2020 01:46PM
![CanadianReader](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1580905464p1/2103966.jpg)
reply
|
flag
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
![CanadianReader](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1580905464p1/2103966.jpg)
I believe you mentioned to me you’d read an early novel of hers, finding it pleasant but unspectacular. I’ve read three of her works, the last being her memoir, which had a few good pieces, but some unfortunate overwriting—which I believe she can’t quite help. I was inclined not to read this, but the link with Shakespeare was slightly enticing. I trust your assessment entirely, however. It confirmed my initial reservations.
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
I've noticed that you like Gregory! I enjoyed her The Other Boleyn Girl but couldn't get on *at all* with the others. The 'witchy' power-woman? - *yawn*... ;)
![Jo Swenson](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1507041570p1/29763617.jpg)
![Hugo](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1691354600p1/6601653.jpg)
![BrokenTune](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1391017756p1/10592271.jpg)
![Jonathan Pool](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1484567350p1/27950748.jpg)
Your concluding line also sums up my response to the book.
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
![Geraldine](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1442511030p1/3179726.jpg)
![nastya](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719152986p1/24672869.jpg)
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
![nastya](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719152986p1/24672869.jpg)
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
![nastya](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1719152986p1/24672869.jpg)
![Mary Stokes](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_25x33-d79c46f9428d2aea1444d67c091766a6.png)
![Laura](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1462205788p1/55478778.jpg)
Do you have a response to this? The judges repeated several times - that for all of them - 6 - this was clearly the winner.!!
I haven't read the whole book - so I don't really want to say anymore.
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
As ever, all readers react subjectively - for me, the writing was over-wrought, the setting was thinly imagined, the characterisation was packed with cliched representations, and the link to Hamlet specious. The whole thing feels earnest and self-important - but that's just my opinion!
The Booker International winner, The Discomfort of Evening, also deals with grief at the death of a child but in a fresh, innovative, complex way - and was a 5 star book for me.
![Laura](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1462205788p1/55478778.jpg)
Thanks for the recommendation - The Discomfort of Evening - I will surely look into this one.
I would like to know more about the judges - I think they were selected more on their feminist/activist backgrounds than on their literary knowledge!
![Roman Clodia](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1464021031p1/56111743.jpg)
I wouldn't characterise Hamnet as 'feminist' either, other than it gives centre place to a female character
![Tom Johnson](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1504294750p1/5875857.jpg)
![Angelique](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1562521096p1/113487.jpg)
![Kim](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Marianne | Petite.BumbleBeeBooks](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1584571787p1/94045341.jpg)
![Jennifer](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1330704530p1/7530088.jpg)
![Seawitch](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1452377663p1/31039742.jpg)
![Emily MacLean](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1538019130p1/17897720.jpg)
![Pogo Dragon](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1524556149p1/4243339.jpg)
![Ann J](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1650068472p1/46739157.jpg)
![Christy Cross](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1540988788p1/3129838.jpg)
![D Scott](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Di Redman](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1639342386p1/61905609.jpg)
![Gar](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1545439141p1/76111115.jpg)
![Mrs Ruth Wiseman](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Jacky](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)
![Amy](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1702974469p1/4563142.jpg)
![Jackie Bojczuk](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_25x33-ccd24e68f4773d33a41ce08c3a34892e.png)