Excellent book about a subject I never thought I'd want to know about. My whole family read this giant book and loved it. For me, the sequel, World Without End, was even better, and is one of my favorite books. ( )

The main reason for putting this book in my library was to find out what other people here thought of it. Another reviewer said, "I couldn't put it down, but I didn't want to be seen with it." That's exactly where I find myself with this thing. I read it--the whole thing. But I'm not sure why. I even read the sequel. One of the things I liked best about it was the multiple points of view. The strength of the book is in (some) of the characters. That's why it got 3 stars from me. But the period was underdeveloped, when really it should have been a main character. It's a very easy read; if you're looking for a "potato chip" novel, this one is fine, because sometimes I'm just in the mood for potato chips.

P.S. I hate hate hate Oprah's Book Club book. When I see that sticker, that's usually enough to keep me from getting the book. Does that make me a snob? Dunno. ( )

Find it slow to get into but after the first 100 pages, the story was captivating. An intriguing story of life of one man and his family in the 12th century. ( )

It's a long book, but it's a really great story! Took me about 7 days to read it..not too bad! I am looking forward to reading the sequel! ( )

On the front cover of the copy of this book that I read, there is a quote from Cosmopolitan: "Enormous and brilliant...a great epic tale." I don't know why that didn't ring any warning bells in my head - first, that the publisher had the need to quote Cosmo on the cover (don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Cosmo fan, but that isn't the most respected source for book reviews), and second, that they felt it was necessary to use the word "enormous." Enormous meaning what? That the book is enormous? (No kidding.) That the story was enormous? (Enormously long? Enormously drawn out? Enormously ridiculous? I don't know.)

But nevertheless, I proceeded to read the first 100 pages, then the second 100, and then I eventually continued to plow through, unamused but determined to finish it. This novel is unnecessarily long, wordy, graphic, and self-indulgent. The scenes of violence and rape are so over the top, it made me want to vomit. The detail that Follett goes into about the cathedral is tedious and downright boring - I found myself skipping over these parts, which were numerous and lengthy. Additionally, Follett's writing is simplistic, dull, and choppy. While the story behind this novel wasn't horrible on its own, it's this poor writing that really made it terrible for me.

I know that many people love this book, and I'm really disappointed that I couldn't see what others find to be so wonderful about it. This is the second novel of Follett's that I've read, and from what I can tell, while he has a remarkable imagination and ability to create stories, he really needs work in the writing department. ( )