The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 with a surprising round-up.
Really surprising. I’m not even sure I can leave it at a 4 star review. This book should not have been something I liked, I’m not a fan of religion, after all. If fact, for a lot of the book I didn’t like it that much… but somewhere in there I got won over.
Obviously, this book is long. That sucks about it. It really doesn’t need to be that long. There’s quite a bit of unnecessary rambling (yes, yes, buildings and architecture are complex, etc.) and Follett seems to assume that by the end of the book we’ve forgotten what happened in the beginning so he has to repeat it (which, I suppose is fair, due to the length). All of this makes it tedious – but not enough for me not to like it.
For the first fourth, maybe even half, of the book I was certain I would give it a solid three stars, maybe 2.5. Decent quality, just nothing too great. But somewhere from the middle to end I started to care more – I think I just really like Jack. The Pillars of the Earth has a bit of a George R.R. Martin feel; you’re never quite sure if good is going to win over evil or not. I started to care and I started to cheer for people. It was a great feeling.
What I love about this book is who the good and bad people are: they are everyone. The kings and earls, the clergy, the peasants, each group had their good and corrupt representation. I loved the women, especially Ellen. The book really flowed for its length. Some of it was fantastical and hard to swallow as believable but I liked it all the same.
I don’t know, I can’t explain it. This book just lives up to its reputation for me. It’s a story I’ll carry with me for a while. If you’re in the mood for a long book, this will be worth considering!
The Roaming Reader 