The Autobiography of Henry VIII - Update

Book:  The Autobiography of Henry VIII 


Author: Margaret George


Progress Report - 400 pages in.  Not even halfway after three weeks.  

There will be another update when I finish - in 2012. 

This is a beast.  I should have waited to read this book on a vacation or something.  I can only read on weekends because I absolutely refuse to walk 2 miles a day to and from the train, and carry around this megaton brick.  Plus, I would get through like 5 pages and then my train ride would be finished.  Not. Worth. It.

I can barely hold this thing up on my couch, let alone lug it all over Chicago.  So, I'm progressing slowly, but here's what I think so far: this book has an awful lot of detail.  I like detail, but I can imagine that it might turn away a lot of readers that aren't hardcore Tudor Fans like myself.  I ordered this book because it was billed as the premier book on Henry VIII from Henry's point of view!  For those of you who read Tudor Fiction - this is a new twist.  Nearly everything is written from the perspective of Henry's wives - and frankly I'm a bit bored by that after reading so many.   How many perspectives can Anne Boelyn really have?  So, this book is a refreshing brick - but still a brick. 

I can say that newbies to Tudor Fiction should not start with this book.  Since it is taking me so long to read, it is very nice to have a background in the time period.  This way I don't have to do a lot of back tracking to remember what happened. 

Right now, I'm giving it a B -  which, considering my deep love for Tudor dramas, is a bit lower than I expected.  But, lord, Margaret, there is a an awful lot of detail.

Happy Reading!!