

Loading... The Pillars of the Earth (original 1989; edition 2002)by Ken Follett
Work detailsThe Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (1989)
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Unread books (3) » 41 more Favourite Books (193) BBC Big Read (66) Best of Brit Lit (64) Favorite Long Books (31) 20th Century Literature (180) 1980s (16) Top Five Books of 2015 (522) Carole's List (57) United Kingdom (19) Best American Books (29) Middle Ages (3) Best family sagas (154) Books Read in 2009 (94) Page Turners (67) Books tagged favorites (260) BBC Top Books (36) I really enjoyed this book. It is the story of the building of the cathedral of Kingsbridge, starring Philip the wise and just monk, Tom the builder, Jack his adopted son, and Aliena, trying to restore her families Earldom. It is big and epic and easy to read, and makes you care about the heros as it takes them through a rollercoaster of Terrible Thing! Happy Thing! Terrible Thing! Happy Thing! Don't worry, the good guys win in the end, although it's a bit brutal on the way. Absolute page-turner, an absorbing medieval story of swords, monks, and the building of a cathedral. There is evil villany, battles, romance, treachery, intrigue, and pretty much non-stop action. The pacing is superb - great battle scenes ate followed by slower character development, then back to nail-biting action. I loved it up until page 920 or so. Part six was not necessary - the book dragged out too much, and some of the weaknesses that were barely noticeable before became apparent. Follett has a tendency to repeat himself, and the characters, while well fleshed out, do not evolve with the story - adult or older versions act the same way as their younger selves. My biggest gripe was the sex scenes - he writes them in mechanical detail, which works great for battles, but less so when a scene is supposed to be romantic. Overall, if the book has ended with the consecration of the cathedral, it would have been perfect. I still give it five stars for 920 pages of riveting action, even though the end is a bit of a letdown - this was the type of book that reminds me how much pleasure it is to be absorbed in a good book. I didn't enjoy this book at all – some characters were fun, but the story was terribly flat, easy to predict and boring. Add in the length of the book and the semi-interesting rambling on architecture (seriously, I enjoyed a book on cathedral building a few years ago, but this pseudo mix of literature and facts was just annoying). Most characters were very flat aswell (good vs evil, bah), and overall I could have spent my time much better. Wouldn't recommend it. It did not interest me enough to persevere till the very end.
Great literature? Of course not. To begin with, the plot relies far too heavily on coincidence, and the characters tend to be chiseled into predictability. The writing depends heavily on dialogue - and although it's well-done dialogue, it's the stuff of escapism, not of the ages. But so what? It's a long, rich and rewarding story, full of glory and violence told in the tradition of medieval troubadors. Few among us could turn away from a tale that begins: ''The small boys came early to the hanging.'' A novel of majesty and power. Is contained inThe Pillars of the Earth [and] World Without End by Ken Follett Coffret Les piliers de la terre et Un monde sans fin by Follett Ken Follett Collection: Fall of Giants, the Pillars of the Earth and World without End by Ken Follett ContainsSverdet og korset by Ken Follett Maktens skördar by Ken Follett Les Piliers de la Terre, Tome 2 : Aliena by Ken Follett Has the adaptationIs abridged in
No descriptions found. Adventure saga of 12th century England, from a stone mason whose dream is to build a glorious cathedral to a man of God in a web of dangerous political intrigue. (summary from another edition) |
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A charming and addictive book, I finished quickly. Leaving a taste for more.
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