Bit harsh from Hilary Mantel?

What "boldly artistic fun"? #ohnevermind

I feel cynical about her motives and timing too. But I'm enjoying the boldly artistic fun, and I don't think it will do Kate a scrap of harm. Maybe that's the divergence point – belief in Kate's rock solid self-confidence, not to mention popularity.

I don't care how much Mantel or the analysts of her speech intellectualise what she said, she was cruel and did herself no favours, other than to publicise her latest work.

If her point was "political rather than personal", why did she make it personal.

The article is rubbish. "Assuming she managed to lay her hands on a copy of the Daily Mail - required reading in the Middleton household, I'd imagine"

See what I mean?

They are all just milking it now. Like I said, fills newspapers.

She started it agapanthus!

Yes, I'll go with the boldly artistic idea, B - yet I feel cynical about her motives and timing. Perhaps she was still riding the ego wave of receiving the Booker Prize.

Don't know if anyone else has said this already, but what also infuriates me is the way people bring H M's personal appearance into the discussion as though she were a jealous schoolgirl envious of Kate's figure.

I saw that too, butty, but it didn't piss me off because I reckon that's what she does best and there's something boldly artistic about it that I like.

Kelner's last comment "....but it served the rest of us..." (re. plain speaking and honesty) - Well no, Mantel's plain speaking and honesty didn't serve me. What her comments did serve, as far as I was concerned, was to make me think that someone with her extraordinary ability with words and intellect could have been just as honest in her views, but tempered with a little kindness. One can hold both, and I'm sure she is more than capable of doing so, but chose not to. I think she was more concerned with finding that Oh so perfect phrase, rather than caring how it might be received.
That's what pissed me off.

jings, of course she meant what she said! That's exactly what the Indie article writer is saying.

I pinched that phrase from an article written by someone else (forgotten where or who), orca, and liked it.

'synthetic outrage'? Really dear?

Love how they're putting their own spin on it!

Err - she meant what she said! #paddingfornewspapers

People like a good Harrumph. It make them feel better about themselves and their lives. It's a bit like schadenfreude.

Agree Bags. The problem is that many in - and outside - the media cannot understand adult discourse.

way off

AND another! from the Indie this time. I'm finding this very encouraging, this evidence that there is still some sanity in our mad meeja world

It's also encouraging to discover that my original view wasn't so way of the mark. I do wonder sometimes, what with all the synthetic outrage that afflicts our society and me just thinking "Eh?"

Here is another very good article about what The Mantelpiece actually meant. The writer says newspapers don't do irony. I'd add that they don't do subtle either.

This article could be applied to the Heather Frost story as well. Another place where there is probably a gap (a huge, gaping chasm, more like) between what the meeja tells us and reality.

night all!

Going back to the OP, I have just got around to reading Julie Burchill's article and thought she made a good job of unpicking Hilary Mantel's bitchy attack and putting it back into something that made a lot of sense.

I'm going to bed in an hour!
Chilli on carne tomorrow with noodles and sour cream!

No protein! You will be hungry by bedtime.

Sok! I've had toast with marmite and butter.

Galenb What? Sorry.

Galenb Standard canned baked beans–somewhere between 69 and 84 cals per 100g; baked potato 136 cals per 100g.