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The Pillars of the Earth

Follett, Ken. Book - 1989 Adult Book / Fiction / Historical / Follett, Ken None on shelf 11 requests on 2 copies Community Rating: 4.2 out of 5

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Originally published: New York : William Morrow and Co., 1989.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Take a walk in 12th century England submitted by patricia alvis on July 8, 2008, 8:18pm Ken Follett is an always engaging writer of thrillers with a lot of brain spent on background. This mammoth (973p.) historical novel is a fully filled-out picture of life in England a couple of generations after William the Conqueror. His village setting brings together an earnest, intelligent prior, a minimally pious mason who dreams of building a cathedral, a bishop who sees wealth and power as the fulfillment of his religious vows, and a hierarchy of rulers most of whom are unregulated brutes. This is a wonderful story of fully realized men and women living through a time of deep faith, chancy welfare, savage cruelty, houses where a private room is rare, and horsemen enter the common room without dismounting. If you read this, I'd guess that you won't be able to resist the sequel, just out and 20 years in the writing.

Ok submitted by Sara W on June 27, 2011, 9:50pm I love a good epic. But for me, this wasn't one.

Like many epics, it was long, there were generations of characters involved, and it took place during an interesting and tumultuous historical epoch, but it didn't strike me as terribly inventive and I found it exceedingly repetitive.

It honestly wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. I was interested in most of the characters, though certainly not in love with them or even all that wrapped up in them. It was a decent plot, but each climax and problem encountered was such an identical replica of the preceeding ones that I ceased to be surprised after about two cycles of William's ruthless attacks or Waleran's cruel betrayals.

Two stars for me means "it was ok" and that exactly summarizes my feelings about it.

Good view into the English Middle Ages submitted by colinbrooks on July 30, 2013, 6:13pm I found this book to be a fascinating window into what village life could have been like in 12th century England, through the lens of a "typical" village that develops into a proper cathedral city. The long time period covered with lots of detail (just under 1,000 pages!) provides an opportunity to see the characters develop in what was often a violent world of shifting alliances where it was hard to be a commoner. If you like historical fiction like "Sarum" or "The Source" then you may like this too.

Nice epic tale submitted by rwilson on July 30, 2019, 3:19pm Good long read.

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PUBLISHED
New York, N.Y. : Signet, [2007], c1989.
Year Published: 1989
Description: 991 p. : ill. ; 18 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780451222138
0451166892
9780451166890
045122213X

SUBJECTS
Cathedrals -- Fiction.
Great Britain -- History -- Stephen, 1135-1154 -- Fiction.