Dissolution (The Shardlake series, 1)

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en plena ruptura con Roma, el Rey y el todopoderoso vicario general, Thomas Cromwell, intentan implantar a toda costa el anglicanismo y llevar a cabo la reforma de la iglesia. At this point, of course, religious freedom is only a dim, distant dream, and all English people are required by law to follow Henry into the new Anglican church, whether they like it or not. The language is lively, filled with fun and useful insults- I fully plan to wish a pox on anyone who annoys me today.

He [Thomas Cromwell] was holding up a casket [small box] and studying the contents with a contemptuous frown, his wide, narrow-lipped mouth down-turned above his lantern chin. Even though I read a lot of history, I've never been a fan of historical fiction and so when one of the book clubs to which I belong picked this novel as a monthly read, I approached it with some trepidation. Dissolution, the first book in the Matthew Shardlake series, was a fast and cosy whodunit which helped to scratch that itch in the meantime. Dissolution is not just a fascinating detective story, but a convincing portrait of a turbulent period. Not only is the king the head of the church, but he has been waging battles against those not to happy to be split from the Church of Rome.The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. En realidad, lo que intento decir es que El gallo negro tiene una calidad suficiente tanto en argumento, personajes, ambientación histórica y prosa para pasar un buen rato, pero no tiene la fuerza necesaria para sobresalir entre otras obras del género. Choose one word, as quickly as possible, to describe each of the three main characters: Shardlake, Mark Poer, and Alice.

Once you have done this, elaborate on the complexities, or lack of complexities, of these individuals. En este marco todo lo que huela a papismo o parafernalia eclesiástica está en el punto de mira de la reforma. Shardlake himself, I felt from the beginning came across as too idealistic and naïve compared to the later books, and while Mark Poer was an interesting enough character, “seeing” things much more clearly in some ways than Shardlake, having become used to Jack Barrack from the later titles, somehow, one doesn’t get the same kind of feeling about him. En este caso: hombre maduro y contrahecho, inteligente, tímido y práctico, y joven atractivo, pasional e impulsivo. I hadn’t heard of C J Sansom before, somehow he had passed me by but, as an author, he was recommended to me by a golfing buddie, so I thought I’d give him a go and I’m glad I did.It is a first-rate murder mystery and one of the most atmospheric historical novels I’ve read in years.

La ambientación, la época histórica, está bien conseguida y los datos históricos no entorpecen la fluidez de la lectura, sin embargo, creo que no tiene suficiente amplitud y que se centra demasiado en un personaje y en un lugar. This is a great story filled with intrigue, political machinations and realpolitik being conducted under the guise of religion. The monastery was founded in the 12th century and abandoned during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He has also written Winter in Madrid, a thriller set in Spain in 1940 in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. Shardlake is very dismissive of Catholicism, a true believer in the Reformation, but at the same time he is sickened by the lives that are being ruined needlessly.

He certainly feels the pressure to not only uncover the true murderers, but also to reach solutions that will put him back in the good graces of Cromwell.