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Book Description: Ken Follett had long been a staple of the bestseller lists for his novels of intrigue and espionage. Then came The Pillars of the Earth, a grand novel of epic storytelling that readers and critics quickly hailed as his crowning achievement. Now, The Pillars of the Earth is available for the first time to a new audience of readers, in this attractive new trade paperback edition.
In 12th-century England, the building of a mighty Gothic cathedral signals the dawn of a new age. This majestic creation will bond clergy and kings, knights and peasants together in a story of toil, faith, ambition and rivalry. A sweeping tale of the turbulent middle ages, The Pillars of the Earth is a masterpiece from one of the world's most popular authors.
"A novel of majesty and power...Will hold you, fascinate you, surround you." --Chicago Sun-Times
"A towering tale...There's murder, arson, treachery, torture, love, and lust...A good time can be had by all." --New York Daily News
"Touches all human emotions...truly a novel to get lost in." --Cosmopolitan Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
A MUST AVOID!
I am an avid reader (English and history teacher) who loves to dig into a juicy historical novel. Sadly, ths one is like a piece of dry, overcooked steak.
As I was slogging through it, I kept asking my husband (who will read ANYTHING and had read this years ago) if the story was ever going to pick up. He just gave me a Chesire Cat smirk.
Of course the Middle Ages was a violent time, so I was not particularly horrified by the violence. What DID horrify me was the lack of depth, the often bizarre, unmotivated, and improbable actions of the characters, the historical inaccuracies, and the anachronisms. Medieval people did NOT speak like my present-day students, and to find them doing so is very off-putting.
If your life's goal is to build a gothic cathedral, then you should read this book, because you will learn about the process in endless detail. If you would like a story that will immerse you in the time period, look elsewhere.
For the life of me, I cannot understand this book's popularity. I thought it would never end, and it left a bad taste in my mouth when it finally did. Hell on earth would be having to read the sequel! Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
wow, wow, wow
Everyone who thinks they don't like historical fiction should read Ken Follett. This book is such a good story, you don't want it to end. I don't give many 5 star reviews, I would give this one 6. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
Great characters but you might want to avoid this book if...
...You might want to avoid this book if you have been a victim of sexual violence. This book kept me reading through its many, many pages because of some really good characterization -- if I hadn't liked several of the characters so much, and found them so thoroughly human and real, I would not have waded through the long and rather tedious descriptions of the thought processes of designing a cathedral. While I understand that this was a violent time period, the graphic rape scenes were unnecessary and gratuitous. One can convey a sense of horror without putting the reader through that. I always wonder at a male author who finds this sort of description necessary - did he get a thrill from imagining the detail, or did he hope that his audience would? Yuck! Rating:
Date: 2008-07-07
Phenomenal book.
Phenomenal book. My husband and I read this book and World Without End, respectively, then switched. We loved both! Rating:
Date: 2008-07-06
The pillars of the earth
This is a good book, especially if you enjoy historical fiction and have an interest in Art history and it's architecture. |
