The Giant, O'Brien: A Novel (original 1998; edition 2007)

In 1782 O'Brien, the giant, travels from Ireland to London to be presented by his unscrupulous agent Joe Vance as "The Surprising Irish Giant, The Tallest Man in the World." Surprising, indeed. Charles O'Brien has the compassionate heart of a poet and the gift of storytelling. He is accompanied by three "friends" who wish to make their fortune by any means possible. Every tale needs a villain. Who could fill that role better than the anatomist, John Hunter from Scotland, who needs fresh corpses to hone his skills? I shuddered when I read the ghoulish description of how men desperate for work were trained as grave robbers.When the two men meet as they must to further the story, "his eyes are boring into Charlie; the Giant feels his bones will split open and the marrow ooze out." (116)

Mantel writes a fascinating story based on two men in history. O'Brien (who takes the name of the real GIant Byrne), portrays the oppression and exploitation foisted on the downtrodden Irish, while Turner represents the age of reason with his obsessive thirst for knowledge about human anatomy. There is a strange fusion of horror and humor. The horror is self-evident in the grave robbing and other means of acquiring bodies for dissection. The humor mostly came from Charles O'Brien in his pithy retorts to the buffoons around him: In his tale about the pig-faced woman, he replied to Joe Vance's question "Very piggy?" with a typical understated response, "Essence of hog". I loved the numerous Irish fairy tales. He has a very interesting (and unsettling) conclusion to the story of the Seven Dwarves that was particularly memorable.

This is truly a unique book by the talented Hilary Mantel. It may not be for the squeamish reader, but I thought it was a good example of realistic historic fiction about the grittier side of London in the late 18th century. ( )

As I've read more of Hilary Mantel's work, I've been struck by how much her narrative style changes so markedly from book to book. Here the story is based, loosely, on Irish giant Charles Byrne (Charlie O'Brien here) and the Scottish anatomist John Hunter. O'Brien and his entourage travel to London so that he can raise money by putting himself on display, and we're treated to several of his traditional Irish stories throughout. We also follow Hunter's various experiments (including on himself) and his desires for additional specimens for his anatomical showcase.

Somehow both sparse and lush at once - a short read, but one you'll probably want to linger over. ( )

Mantel has discovered quite an unusual pair in Charles O'Brien, an Irish giant exhibited as a freak in 17th-century London, and John Hunter, the anatomist determined to secure O'Brien's body for his studies. (They are loosely based on real people.) She creates a fascinating but brutal picture of a slice of the underworld, a world where it's not against the law to steal a body from the grave, as long as you leave its garments in the casket; a world where girls as young as nine are auctioned off by pimps, and no one cares if they get pregnant or are beaten to death; a world where the unfortunate and disabled become forms of entertainment rather than objects of human empathy; a dog-eat-dog world in the truest sense of the phrase.

Charles is a a gentle giant, one with the Irish gift of storytelling. He's smart enough to insist on "terms" with his agent and to keep his purse by his side at all times. Initially trusting of his companions and of the doctor who seems concerned with his failing health, he soon learns the sad truth of living in a world where it's every person for his or her self.

While I was moved by The Giant O'Brien, I can't say that I liked it as well as Mantel's more recent novels (The Cromwell Trilogy). But she has given us a brutally sharp view of life in the so-called Age of Reason. ( )

Long-listed for the Orange Prize in 1999, this is a moving, delightful and heart-breaking sort of story with a pig in it. In other words, very Irish. Based loosely on two historical figures, the giant Charles O'Brien/Charles Byrne and the anatomist/surgeon John Hunter, this is a compelling tale of living with your circumstances and being who you are. The giant, O'Brien, and a band of ne'er-do-well minders leave Ireland, where their prospects are virtually nil, to go to England where their prospects are merely dim. Exhibited as a freak of nature, Charles is really a deeply thoughtful, self-contained man, with a gift for irony and story-telling. He comes to the attention of John Hunter, who has an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and who realizes, as Charles does himself, that the giant is literally growing to his death. Hunter is not above grave-robbing, body snatching and making contracts with men condemned to the gallows in order to get the specimens he craves for his work. Hell, he isn't even above injecting himself with the pox so he can watch and document the progress of the disease. (Street people are so unreliable.) Charles, however, balks at selling himself to be dismantled after death, fearing he will not be able to rise to heaven if his bones be scattered. 4 stars and a hanky. ( )

Why does Hilary Mantel get nominated for so many literary awards? Quite simply, she can evoke a time and place like no one else. To say she can write is an understatement. As I finished my latest Mantel selection, The Giant, O'Brien, I literally put the book on my lap and sat in wonderment for a few minutes. She's not just a writer; Hilary Mantel is an artist, and The Giant, O'Brien is proof of her talents.

The Giant, O'Brien is loosely based on two historical figures: Charles Byrne, an Irish Giant whose bones are on display at the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and John Hunter, a Scottish anatomist. In this book, Charles Byrne is represented by the fictional Charles O'Brien. O'Brien travels to London to make money so he can restore Mulroney's, a pub in Ireland that was a favorite spot among storytellers. O'Brien was illiterate, but he had an amazing knack for storytelling, drawing from ancient stories of Ireland. O'Brien was surrounded by a motley crew of men, who leached off O'Brien and looked for every opportunity to exploit the giant for profit.

Enter John Hunter, a curious surgeon, whose thirst for knowledge resulted in grave robbing, inflicting paupers with diseases and even using his own body to study syphilis. Hunter sees O'Brien as a unique specimen and becomes determined to acquire O'Brien's corpse for study. Lucky for him, O'Brien's entourage is ready to help.

Set in late 18th century London, The Giant, O'Brien shows the reader the horrors of poverty during this time. Prostitution, thievery, drunkedness and fist fights were common events in poverty-stricken London, and we see it all through O'Brien's gentle eyes. Juxtaposed with the poverty is the quest for medical knowledge through John Hunter's character. Everyone in this book was after the same thing - a better life - whether that meant new explorations of the human body, or a place to unwind and tell stories.

It took some time for me to settle into Mantel's writing style, but once I did, I embarked on an unforgettable tale about greed, poverty and the human spirit. I highly recommend The Giant, O'Brien to people who enjoy reading high-quality literary fiction. This book definitely showcases the artistic talents of Hilary Mantel. ( )