Sunday, November 23, 2008

The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett

Pillars is an epic-sized historical novel that centers around the building of a cathedral in England in the twelfth century. I was thoroughly engaged in the beginning of the book. Quite soon however, reading the story resembled watching a tennis match and watching the ball go from one side of the court to the other and back again. Constant pushing and pulling. Defeats followed by victories followed by defeats again. The story is also peppered with some violent and graphic rape and war scenes that I suppose are meant to enhance the feeling that these are the medieval ages. Times when people would have to walk for days through the forrest to get to the next village, wearing wooden clogs on the feet for shoes, and having to be on constant alert for fear of an attack from an outlaw. If you enjoy historical fiction AND are willing to commit to more than a thousand pages of book, I would recommend this read.

4 out of 5


{Frauenkirche, Munich}

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