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Rating: 
Summary: A beguiling and scary tale of a Catholic parish
Review: Did you ever look at a priest during mass and wonder if he believes it all? Here is a wonderful old priest who does not, and a story of how he handles that, a "reformer" bishop, a mysterious curate, a type-A housekeeper, and the usual collection of nuns. I honestly could not put the book down, and I recommend it highly to all my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming and British with Dark Undertones
Review: Hilary Mantel has written a small, delightful little book in the novel, Fludd. The title character, Fludd, arrives in the village of Fetherhoughton and , both subtly and drastically, changes things at a crucial time for the local priest, Father Angwin, and the Catholic Church. This is background for a wonderfully eccentric group of characters that charm their way through the book. I initially picked up the book because of an interest in the historical Robert Fludd, the alchemist, but discovered that it was the quirky denizens of this village that captured my heart and were the driving force behind the book.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of ... supernatural magic, perhaps
Review: The doleful, English, mill town of Fetherhoughton is the stage for this short, delightful novel, FLUDD, by Hilary Mantel. There are four principal players. Father Angwin, pastor of the Roman Catholic church of St. Thomas Aquinas, has lost his belief in God's existence, but determinedly continues to serve his flock while suffering the oversight of his idiot diocesan bishop. Miss Dempsey, his spinster housekeeper, lives in terror of a small wart above her upper lip, thinking it a portent of cancer. Sister Philomena, a nun teaching in the parish school, is an Irish girl forced by her family into the convent, where she endures the petty tyranny of its Mother Superior. Then there's FLUDD, a curate ostensibly sent by the obnoxious bishop to help Angwin modernize his pastoral approach. Or is he? Once Fludd is in residence, people begin to ... transform.The engaging aspect of this story is that the reader never understands the nature of the being called Fludd, a mystery also grazing Angwin's perception during his first meal with Fludd, when the former observed: "Whenever (he) looked up at (Fludd), it seemed that his whiskey glass was raised to his lips, but the level of what was in it did not seem to go down; and yet from time to time the young man reached out for the bottle, and topped himself up. It had been the same with their late dinner, there were three sausages on Father Fludd's plate, and he was always cutting into one or other, and spearing a bit on his fork; he was always chewing in an unobtrusive, polite way, with his mouth shut tight. And yet there were always three sausages on his plate, until at last, quite suddenly, there were none." Is Fludd a man, or something ... else. He can tell fortunes by looking at the palm of one's hand. He alludes to having once been the practitioner of another profession that sounds a lot like alchemy. Odd talents for a Catholic priest. In any case, by the satisfying end of the tale, you, the reader, is left to decide for yourself - if you can.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of ... supernatural magic, perhaps
Review: The doleful, English, mill town of Fetherhoughton is the stage for this short, delightful novel, FLUDD, by Hilary Mantel. There are four principal players. Father Angwin, pastor of the Roman Catholic church of St. Thomas Aquinas, has lost his belief in God's existence, but determinedly continues to serve his flock while suffering the oversight of his idiot diocesan bishop. Miss Dempsey, his spinster housekeeper, lives in terror of a small wart above her upper lip, thinking it a portent of cancer. Sister Philomena, a nun teaching in the parish school, is an Irish girl forced by her family into the convent, where she endures the petty tyranny of its Mother Superior. Then there's FLUDD, a curate ostensibly sent by the obnoxious bishop to help Angwin modernize his pastoral approach. Or is he? Once Fludd is in residence, people begin to ... transform. The engaging aspect of this story is that the reader never understands the nature of the being called Fludd, a mystery also grazing Angwin's perception during his first meal with Fludd, when the former observed: "Whenever (he) looked up at (Fludd), it seemed that his whiskey glass was raised to his lips, but the level of what was in it did not seem to go down; and yet from time to time the young man reached out for the bottle, and topped himself up. It had been the same with their late dinner, there were three sausages on Father Fludd's plate, and he was always cutting into one or other, and spearing a bit on his fork; he was always chewing in an unobtrusive, polite way, with his mouth shut tight. And yet there were always three sausages on his plate, until at last, quite suddenly, there were none." Is Fludd a man, or something ... else. He can tell fortunes by looking at the palm of one's hand. He alludes to having once been the practitioner of another profession that sounds a lot like alchemy. Odd talents for a Catholic priest. In any case, by the satisfying end of the tale, you, the reader, is left to decide for yourself - if you can.
Rating: 
Summary: Dark, with something mysterious moving through the story.
Review: There were bits and pieces in the story that I liked. I enjoyed the character of Miss Dempsey, the housekeeper. She seemed the most human to me - even with her little eccentricities. But I was very disappointed with how the story went with Sister Philomena. Everything in the village - including the convent - was purposely dark, but I was hoping for growth of some sort with at least some of the characters. But the only one who seemed to grow at all was Miss Dempsey. Other characters might have moved on, but they did not necessarily grow in the process.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked, funny, but flawed
Review: This book starts out like gang-busters. It's wicked, it's witty, it's nasty... but about halfway in it starts meandering and ultimately gets lost. I wish the author had kept her sharp tongue.. instead she gets fuzzy and a bit obscure. The writing starts out crisp and ends up blunted, at best. Too bad, because the early parts of the book are wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Wicked, funny, but flawed
Review: This book starts out like gang-busters. It's wicked, it's witty, it's nasty... but about halfway in it starts meandering and ultimately gets lost. I wish the author had kept her sharp tongue.. instead she gets fuzzy and a bit obscure. The writing starts out crisp and ends up blunted, at best. Too bad, because the early parts of the book are wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Book in the Muriel Spark Tradition
Review: This brief novel is a fun way to spend a few hours. It's centered around a church in the periphery of a Catholic diocese in the 1950's and peopled by a number of odd characters with a connection to the church--a gaggle of nuns, the parish priest whose the worse for drink and faith, a nosy rectory housekeeper, a progressive bishop with a secret. And, of course, there's Fludd himself, who shows up at the rectory one night and becomes the pastor's assistant. Who (and what) Fludd really is is the core of this novel's interest. For the Catholics who read it, this book brings out a lot of things to think about but doesn't bang you over the head with them. It's always a fun novel and never a philosphical lecture. For the time it takes, it's certainly worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: THE ELUSIVE FATHER FLUDD
Review: This is a most unusual story, and I hardly know how to
describe what I've read. It reminds me of so many
British films that I've seen over the years where you
never know exactly what's going on, but you like it
anyway. In FLUDD we're presented with an obscure town in England
called Fetherhoughton. This is not your lovely little
English village where the characters of Rosamund Pilcher
live. No, this seems to be a dark and depressing place
which is surrounded by moors. Within this town there is
a church located next to a convent of nuns. The parish
priest, Father Angwin is a seemingly kind man who has a
problem with faith: he has lost his. His very
disagreeable Bishop is always after Father Angwin to
make changes and modernize his church. In fact,
the Bishop makes some ridiculous demands which the
parish fulfills and then insinuates that Father Angwin
needs assistance. Enter Father Fludd who apparently is
the new curate and has come to rescue the church and
the people of Fetherhoughton. Father Angwin, his housekeeper, Agnes Dempsey, and the
young Irish nun, Sister Philomena all need help in one way
or other. Then, there is the very sinister Judd McEvoy
who runs the town's tobacco shop. He appears to cast a
dark cloud over everything. Father Fludd definitely
makes a difference, but who is he and where does he
come from? None of the other characters seem able
to describe the mysterious Fludd. A story unlike any other. An excellent read!
Rating:
Summary: THE ELUSIVE FATHER FLUDD
Review: This is a most unusual story, and I hardly know how to
describe what I've read. It reminds me of so many
British films that I've seen over the years where you
never know exactly what's going on, but you like it
anyway. In FLUDD we're presented with an obscure town in England
called Fetherhoughton. This is not your lovely little
English village where the characters of Rosamund Pilcher
live. No, this seems to be a dark and depressing place
which is surrounded by moors. Within this town there is
a church located next to a convent of nuns. The parish
priest, Father Angwin is a seemingly kind man who has a
problem with faith: he has lost his. His very
disagreeable Bishop is always after Father Angwin to
make changes and modernize his church. In fact,
the Bishop makes some ridiculous demands which the
parish fulfills and then insinuates that Father Angwin
needs assistance. Enter Father Fludd who apparently is
the new curate and has come to rescue the church and
the people of Fetherhoughton. Father Angwin, his housekeeper, Agnes Dempsey, and the
young Irish nun, Sister Philomena all need help in one way
or other. Then, there is the very sinister Judd McEvoy
who runs the town's tobacco shop. He appears to cast a
dark cloud over everything. Father Fludd definitely
makes a difference, but who is he and where does he
come from? None of the other characters seem able
to describe the mysterious Fludd. A story unlike any other. An excellent read!
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