L từ Thayngen, Thuỵ Sĩ từ Thayngen, Thuỵ Sĩ

Đối với bất kỳ ai đã từng sống ở Ithaca, NY - - Trí tưởng tượng có thể chạy tự do với cuốn sách này và có một chú chó biết nói - Tuyệt vời.

ghét nó!!! Thông điệp của cuốn sách: Chống Phật giáo và giá trị vật chất. Cuốn sách cố gắng bán mình như siêu hình nhưng thất bại thảm hại khi tất cả những gì nó lặp đi lặp lại là muốn vật chất xứng đáng và với tất cả những tuyên bố ngớ ngẩn của nó về "Nếu bạn muốn một chiếc xe hơi, hãy nghĩ đến việc mua một chiếc xe hơi" tào lao.

Amazing! My favorite so far in an a stellar series; I stayed up too late finishing it, so I'm not feeling terribly articulate, but I would definitely recommend this series (this is the fourth "Matthew Shardlake" mystery) to any fan of well-researched historical mysteries. This time, although our hero, "crookback" lawyer Shardlake, finds himself again involved in the snake pit of Henry VIII's court (a place he vowed he would avoid at the end of the previous book, "Sovereign"), this time he's secretly working on the periphery with courtiers to bring a serial killer to justice. As Archbisop Cranmer tells the group hunting the killer repeatedly, if the king finds out what has been kept from him, heads will literally roll; Henry's legendary, vicious and unforgiving temper keeps those closest to him from being honest, yet they feel they cannot be truthful - that some crazed reformer has a twisted view of the Book of Revelations and is acting on it, killing "backsliders", formerly zealous religious reformers who have become more moderate, in spectacular, public and horrific ways. This would bring down the kingly wrath on the religious reformers, increasingly out of favor after Cromwell's spectacular fall from power as the king moves toward what one courtier calls "a Catholicism without a pope". One of Matthew's oldest and dearest friends has been murdered, and he has sworn to find the killer - this becomes much more complicated when he finds out his friend wasn't the first victim, nor will he be the last. This brings us to (I felt) the real heart of the story, a theme that has run through the entire series - the role of religion, heresy and political intrigue that runs like a cancer through Henry VIII's reign. It's fascinating and frankly sometimes confusing keeping track of who is "in" and who is "out" with Henry and his court: what's the flavor of the day? "Reformists", "papists", "traditionalists"? It often depended on who whispered in his ear last, which woman he is pursuing, and what her and her followers believe. This created an incredibly (to me) claustrophic, vicious environment of informing, political machinations, accusations of heresy, and eventual trips to the Tower for the unfortunate losers in the battle to control the religious tide of the day. And if it weren't for Henry's vicious temper and mercurial nature, if those close to him could be honest, none of it would've been necessary! For one man to wield such power is truly terrifying, but so often repeated throughout history - which I guess is one of the things that brings me back repeatedly to well-done historical mysteries and fiction. We see it all here as we follow our heroes through London and it's environs hunting the killer, surrounded by the ever-increasing, desperately poor cast-offs, waifs and sick "left over" and unwanted after Henry dissolved the monasteries and left them out of work, out of a home, with no recourse for support, no hospitals for the sick, no structure to fill the void. As one character notes, the king was more interested in building palaces than hospitals to replace the monastery hospitals, the only medical help available for most of the poor). Sansom recreates an amazingly totalitarian world where plays and books are being burned, butchers arrested for allegedly selling meat during Lent, printers being arrested for copying/distributing questionable (read: heretical) play manuscripts or books, even costumers being arrested for renting costumes for those plays to be performed! Very hard to imagine in this day and age, although there are echoes when we hear from "reformist" or "godly folk" of today's evangelical, conservative Christians, smugly, righteously sure of their literal interpretation of the Bible and their place at the right hand of God.

This book was good am ready for what come after this book i cann't wait :)