Wolf Hall and Narration

[steepholm]

About two years after everyone else, I've finally read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I liked it very much indeed, but at first I found the style of narration quite confusing. To anyone who hasn't read it, Wolf Hall - which is about Thomas Cromwell - is written in third person present tense, but whenever it is possible without ambiguity (and frequently when it isn't) Mantel refers to Cromwell as 'he' rather than by name. So we get passages like this (and I've returned my copy to my mother, so this is to give the idea, rather than a real quotation):

Norfolk paces about the room, barely able to contain his anger.
"Naturally, the King will not consent," he says.

Now, in most books the 'he' of the second line would refer to Norfolk. But in Wolf Hall it almost always (but not always) refers to Cromwell. This meant a lot of going back and re-reading, trying to sort out who was speaking in any particular scene. These hiccoughs became less frequent as the book wore on and I got the hang of Mantel's technique, and by the time I hit p.600 they were fairly infrequent, but they never went away entirely, and of course re-reading in that way isn't an aid to absorption.

On the other hand, Mantel did get something worth having in exchange. In cinematic terms, Wolf Hall gives us a 650-page tight close up of Cromwell. We hover round about his skull, often peering inside to see his thoughts and feelings (the former more than the latter), often looking out at his immediate surroundings, but seldom drawing back for a picture of the whole landscape in which he moves. Instead, Mantel builds his world jigsaw-wise, privileging nothing and censoring nothing - or rather, artfully giving that impression, which is all one can ask of a novel. The 'he' technique contributes powerfully here. She could have achieved something of the same effect through first person narration, of course, but the slight distance imposed by third person is important. I can't off hand think of any other novels that use it this way. Can you?

I've more to say about Wolf Hall, or at least tangential to it, but that will wait for another post. I'm about to take my daughter and double second cousin once removed (who's visiting) to @Bristol.

Comments

completely OT, but just FYI

[lamentables]

Sorry, too lazy to search for the pertinent post:

Last time I went into my bank to deposit a cheque I enquired about the (theoretical) possibility of changing a £10 note for coins. That was absolutely fine - no hesitation or reluctance. Having explained that 'some of my friends' had been greeted with reluctance or refusal, the cashier told me that giving change is all part of the service to their own customers, but not something they would do for customers of other banks.

Re: completely OT, but just FYI

[steepholm]

Thank you - that's useful to know! It clearly wasn't the attitude at the branch (admittedly not my own branch) of Santander where it was queried. My waving of a Santander current account bank card did nothing to settle matters.

Re: completely OT, but just FYI

[lamentables]

I should have specified: I'm a First Direct customer, and this was the HSBC branch I use 90% of the time (FD, being a part of HSBC).

[calimac.livejournal.com]

So what would Mantel write if it was Norfolk speaking? Sometimes, I infer from what you write, it would still confusingly be "he says." At other times, though, would the name be repeated, as "Norfolk says"?

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I'd need to do a count to be sure, but I think the former is more common. But either is indeed possible.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

According to some revision I've just been doing, she's having problems with her cognitive deixis. I've seen people put the proper name in on these occasions e.g. "She understood that she, Steepholm, was having a struggle with her cognitive deixis.

where of course all three of those "she"s happen to be different people.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Occasionally she will say "he, Cromwell" where it's presumably too confusing even for her, but these occasions are infrequent - which I can understand as it is a slightly clunky construction.

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

oh yeah and the other thing about Wolf Hall is that I never worked out why it was called Wolf Hall. I'm probably very thick but if you know please give me a clue or a page number.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I had the same problem! The first book ends with his resolve to visit the Seymours there, and my mother, who's just finished the second book, tells me it's entirely set in Wolf Hall, but why not call Book 2 Wolf Hall, then? I found that rather frustrating, too.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I look forward to reading your follow-up post. I do love that book - wish I could write like that!!