"I thought, if I wasn't me, if I was someone else, she'd be dead."

September 19, 2014 11:22 AM

After an aborted exclusive deal with the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian has published the new short story from Hilary Mantel. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher – August 6th 1983
posted by figurant (38 comments total)

There's also has a brief interview of Mantel by Damian Barr here.
posted by figurant at 11:24 AM on September 19, 2014

As Thatcher's been dead for over a year now, isn't it time to stop fantasizing about killing her? (And let's not get into Cameron's necrophilia...)
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:39 AM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm no particular fan of Thatcher, but the notion that some deep psychological need to "be one of the boys" was behind the Falklands War seems rather odd and somewhat sexist in and of itself. What, women can't do realpolitik calculations? The Falklands War was a very effective foreign policy coup of the sort which, undertaken by a male Prime Minister, would have been clearly recognized as such. I've always wondered if Tony Blair was attempting (disastrously) to replicate that trick when he joined up for the Iraq War.

Incidentally, anyone who hasn't dug into Mantel's Wolf Hall and its sequel - I highly recommend it.
posted by AdamCSnider at 11:45 AM on September 19, 2014 [4 favorites]

What, women can't do realpolitik calculations?

She was hardly the first woman to indulge in it and will not be the last; however, given the body of her policies and her mindset that formed it, it is safe to say she *was* trying to be "one of the boys" by outdoing them, leaving a lot of damage in her wake...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 11:53 AM on September 19, 2014 [5 favorites]

Yeah, I really hate the "one of the boys" idea. It's the same idea that say that women are naturally kinder and softer and thus can only start wars when there's something unusual going on. It's also the same idea that lets people think women shouldn't be in politics, because they're only going to be guided by their emotions.

Hate Maggie or love her, she seems to have been clear about who and what she wanted, and it does not appear to have been influenced by her gonads.
posted by corb at 11:56 AM on September 19, 2014 [3 favorites]

Hate.
posted by spitbull at 12:00 PM on September 19, 2014 [7 favorites]

I'm not sure why Mantel is spending time on a collection of short stories. Some of us need that next Cromwell book, Hilary!
posted by mr_roboto at 12:11 PM on September 19, 2014 [14 favorites]

"She lives on the fumes of whisky and the iron in the blood of her prey."
posted by Ian A.T. at 12:30 PM on September 19, 2014 [5 favorites]

This is pretty disgusting, yes I read the whole story, I regret it -what merit is there to this compared to a Vox Day or other imperialist fantasy? when you abandon your faith in people for a (satirical or otherwise) belief in some abstract notion of "justice" whether left or right - you reveal a horrid tendency.

It isn't trying to make a point or be intelligent - all it says is "look what I can get away with because you all also hate Thatcher" - it is childish, not even evil, not even wrong.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 12:31 PM on September 19, 2014 [3 favorites]

"Faith in people" -- that's some kind of thing I can pick up at the corner store, all shiny and soft and fuzzy, yeah? Something I can reach out and touch? Not some kind of abstract notion?

Good to know. When I pop out for a coffee, I'll be sure to pick some up too.
posted by wuwei at 12:34 PM on September 19, 2014

Wow, "psychological transvestitite". Unfortunate transphobic bullshit with gender-essentialist anti-feminism on top. Bummer.
posted by latkes at 12:36 PM on September 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Also, although I am totally into the idea of reading a Thatcher murder fantasy, I couldn't get into this story. Mantel confuses me. Wolf Hall blew me out the door. It's one of my hands down most beloved novels. I totally couldn't get into the sequel. Also tried another of her older novels and couldn’t finish it. Still want to try her memoir which I hear is good.
posted by latkes at 12:42 PM on September 19, 2014

all it says is "look what I can get away with because you all also hate Thatcher"

To me it captures the visceral hatred one can feel for a political figure whose actions flaunt his or her total disregard for the things you prize about your country, which is made worse by the knowledge that you have so little power to do anything to change or touch this person. It's both enraging and enfeebling.

Can't wait for the Daily Mail headline on this one. I love how proudly Mantel stands behind her work. Her reaction to the idiots who failed to comprehend her Royal Bodies piece (and the misogynists who brought her looks into it) was perfection.
posted by sallybrown at 1:07 PM on September 19, 2014 [8 favorites]

Faith in people is the foundation of democracy - it means even when you lose & disagree with your oppenents you trust they have not tried to assassinate your candidate. It's pretty ducking(sic) basic.
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 2:04 PM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

As Thatcher's been dead for over a year now, isn't it time to stop fantasizing about killing her?

This story isn't a fantasy about killing Thatcher, it's a story about fantasies of killing Thatcher. It dramatizes the psychological experience underlying those fantasies. If it was actually supposed to be a revenge fantasy, it wouldn't have ended before the assassin pulls the trigger.
posted by twirlip at 2:08 PM on September 19, 2014 [7 favorites]

Compare "The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race," by J.G. Ballard.
posted by twirlip at 2:15 PM on September 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory, I don't have a problem with the abstract nature of faith in people. Let's just not pretend that it's anything other than abstract.
posted by wuwei at 2:36 PM on September 19, 2014

We are talking about someone who left when the votes went against her, in tears they say - but she still left without undue fuss.

(How does Ms Mantel feel about Blair?)
posted by IndigoJones at 3:00 PM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Compare "The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race," by J.G. Ballard.

Mantell's pedestrian piece hardly rates a mention against Ballard's post-modern counterpart of Alfred Jarry's "The Crucifixion Considered as an Uphill Bicycle Race".
posted by Doktor Zed at 3:21 PM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Falklands War was a very effective foreign policy coup of the sort which, undertaken by a male Prime Minister, would have been clearly recognized as such.

It was nothing of the sort. It was either a monumental and totally avoidable diplomatic fuck-up or the deliberate sacrifice of soldiers' lives for votes. And it was pretty plainly the former. There's a reason why Carrington resigned, although he was taking the fall for many other people who screwed up their jobs. Failing to take effective action against belligerent dictatorships when they raise their fucking flag on your soil is not a clever tactic, its not knowing your arse from your elbow.
posted by howfar at 4:03 PM on September 19, 2014 [3 favorites]

This story isn't a fantasy about killing Thatcher, it's a story about fantasies of killing Thatcher. It dramatizes the psychological experience underlying those fantasies. If it was actually supposed to be a revenge fantasy, it wouldn't have ended before the assassin pulls the trigger.

Yeah, I thought Metafilter would do a better job of understanding that her approach is a complex one. Exploring the nuances of political rage, that sort of thing. As for the "one of the boys" idea-- Thatcher herself would likely have been the first to agree. I was enthralled by the story (I feel that way about everything Mantel does, pretty much) and it's very important to read over the middle section, about the doors between the two buildings which stand side by side. It's a long extended metaphor for fantasy and reality and the work of fiction itself. If you read that and still somehow think that this a crude slap at Thatcher or civil society, you should try again.

I love how proudly Mantel stands behind her work. Her reaction to the idiots who failed to comprehend her Royal Bodies piece (and the misogynists who brought her looks into it) was perfection.

She published this story in a high-profile way knowing that the crowd of idiots is going to be louder and angrier and will include many who she would likely have common ground with. She's bravery personified, to me.
posted by jokeefe at 4:04 PM on September 19, 2014 [7 favorites]

I thought The Iron Lady was a pretty amazing and somewhat wicked film.

I think Mantel should have never have tried to have explained this short story. Her willingness to say what (she thinks) was wrong with Thatcher removes the very mystique that makes Mantel's writing so compelling to read in the first place.
posted by Nevin at 4:06 PM on September 19, 2014

The Royal Bodies lecture was pretty spot-on, I thought.
posted by Nevin at 4:07 PM on September 19, 2014

Mantell's pedestrian piece hardly rates a mention against Ballard's post-modern counterpart of Alfred Jarry's "The Crucifixion Considered as an Uphill Bicycle Race".

Oh come on. Neither of these pieces are in any way comparable in terms of genre and execution (sorry) to Mantel's story.
posted by jokeefe at 4:10 PM on September 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Mantel's derogatory use of the word "transvestite" also reinforces (perhaps mistakenly) Mantel's belief in traditional gender roles. And the fact that she calls Thatcher a traitor.
posted by Nevin at 4:13 PM on September 19, 2014

The Falklands War was a very effective foreign policy coup of the sort which, undertaken by a male Prime Minister, would have been clearly recognized as such.

This has already been addressed above, but I'm not sure how you could possibly assert this with a straight face. The Falklands "War" was not a coup, not effective, and not even particularly an instance of foreign policy. Here in Canada it was widely considered a joke. Except for, you know, that people died horribly as the tabloids bayed for blood.

At any rate: Thatcher bad, literature good, Mantel one of the premier intellectual writers in English working today, and me feeling cross and probably needing a walk or something.
posted by jokeefe at 4:16 PM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Here in Canada it was widely considered a joke

It should not have been considered a joke - Britain very nearly lost. Indeed, a large number of capital ships were sunk. The outcome was no sure thing at all. I tend to agree with Britain's stance - the Falkland Islanders had no desire to join Argentina, and Argentina's claims were tenuous at best. Why negotiate with dictators?

That said, the death toll on each side was no joke. No joke either were the horrible burns suffered by the men injured in the ship fires.

A lot was at stake in that war.
posted by Nevin at 4:23 PM on September 19, 2014

Oh come on.

Chacun à son goût, I suppose. Ballard's hilarious 1967 "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" is better yet, in my book, as an example of how to satirize a political figure one detests.
posted by Doktor Zed at 4:25 PM on September 19, 2014

I tend to agree with Britain's stance - the Falkland Islanders had no desire to join Argentina, and Argentina's claims were tenuous at best. Why negotiate with dictators?

Why not make sure that dictators understand that you aren't going to negotiate? The problem about the Falklands is not that it's wrong to defend sovereign territory (it isn't), but that it was idiotic to fail to clearly signal that intention when Argentina was (eventually literally) flying obvious flags of its intention to invade.

Thatcher made a diplomatic disaster into a PR coup, but it was a disaster nonetheless, particularly for all the poor bastards who died.
posted by howfar at 4:45 PM on September 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

Why negotiate with dictators?

Thatcher rather spoiled her dictator-fightin' credentials by spending so much time supporting her friend (and murdering fascist) Augusto Pinochet. She even came out of retirement to appear at the Tory conference ("the mummy returns" if you remember...) to speak in his favour when he was in danger of extradition from the UK on an Internation Arrest Warrant.
posted by sobarel at 4:48 PM on September 19, 2014 [5 favorites]

I will admit that I don't know much about the lead-up to the war. And I would never want my sons to go to war.

However, there is the perception that the Falklands War wasn't a real war, but it is an interesting case of how modern industrialized nations (besides perhaps the US) cannot go to war with other industrialized nations. It's too costly. Like I said, Britain very nearly lost. It was no sure thing.

Thatcher, it should be noted, hand-wrote letters to the families of the military dead.
posted by Nevin at 4:51 PM on September 19, 2014

It's not a case of how modern industrialized nations cannot go to war. It's a counterexample.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:14 PM on September 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thatcher is like Reagan, getting credit for the things she fucked up. Thatcher completely bungled the Falklands Crisis, the fighting men pull her ass out of the fire (no thanks to dumb tactics), and she gets to strut around as a conquering hero.
posted by spaltavian at 6:25 PM on September 19, 2014

Thought the story was disappointingly slight. In the interview Mantel says the character of Thatcher is a gift to writers, but she seems to make no use of it. The whole thing is just her experience of seeing Thatcher by chance, with a thinly-imagined assassin added in.
posted by Segundus at 12:26 AM on September 20, 2014

I am not either of [the two characters] in that room...

I think you're both of them, except for the violent bit you've dressed up as a man...
posted by Segundus at 12:50 AM on September 20, 2014

The Falklands "War" was not a coup, not effective, and not even particularly an instance of foreign policy.

But it worked out well for the penguins, at least.
posted by homunculus at 2:14 PM on September 21, 2014

Has anyone actually read the story? It's not a dark political fantasy, it's a deftly observed piece of social comedy, with echoes of Alan Bennett, on the English genius for behaving normally even in the most abnormal situations. What do you say to an IRA gunman preparing to assassinate the Prime Minister? 'Tea or coffee?'

It's not Mantel at her best, but you'd have to be very humourless indeed to be offended by it. (Which hasn't stopped some people trying.)
posted by verstegan at 3:49 PM on September 21, 2014 [2 favorites]

There's an excellent piece by Sarah Ditum at the New Statesman:

Glover is clearly being absurd when he claims Mantel believes Thatcher “should” have been executed – the story merely says she could have been. But that in itself is a dangerous thought. Fiction – particularly fiction about real, historical people – does not exist in a quarantine chamber. The muted termination of Thatcher at the story’s end (I don’t think this can count as a spoiler, given the title) is an invitation to the chaos beyond: “One easy wink of the world’s blind eye: ‘Rejoice,’ he [the gunman] says. ‘Fucking rejoice.’” But what comes after? The vital, frightening power that pours out from the neck of the decapitated state is something Mantel leaves implied, and it is shocking to feel that implication bloom within you, like a flower of shattered flesh around a bullet hole. What if our rulers are only able to rule because we tolerate their force, asks Mantel. It’s an insurrectionary what-if, because it’s not actually hypothetical: all rulers’ powers really do derive from popular quiescence. Which leaves the revolutionary question: why, exactly, are we putting up with them at all?

posted by jokeefe at 7:18 AM on September 23, 2014