Hardcover, 973 pages
English language
Published Aug. 8, 2007 by William Morrow.
Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.
Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their …
Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.
Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.
The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.
At once a sensuous and endearing love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age,The Pillars of the Earth is without a doubt Ken Follett's masterpiece. --jacket
Too much gratuitous sex for my liking :D Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!
¡Demasiadas escenas de sexo para mi gusto :D! ¡Jajajajaja!
It’s a long time since I struggled to put a book down. More than once I just had to continue reading into the early hours to find out what happened next.
This book was a roller coaster of emotions and events that highlighted the violence, greed, passions, revenge of the main protagonists. It also really portrayed the ebb and flow of power and influence that royalty and religion had against each other, as well as the poor peasants who were caught in the middle.
A really enjoyable read and I can see why this book is one of Ken Follett’s all time best sellers.
Wow! Die Geschichte des Bau eines Kirchendoms über viele Jahrhunderte, der Geldgeber, Baumeister, deren Familie, Kriege, Intrigen und so vieles mehr!
Ein Meisterwerk! Lesen!
I got this book because I'm an IT architect and was interested in reading about a similar job in a different world. The master builder of a medieval cathedral fits the bill. You have to understand what is needed, do sketch level design to get the sponsor and the other stakeholders to support your ideas, then do the detailed design and then make sure it is built to specifications. Your responsibility if it fails.
That part I enjoyed. It is also a fast-paced thriller as the main characters go from success to disaster and back in a chapter per cycle.
However, it was a bit too long for me and the writing wasn't anything special. I bought it used and got the sequel as well but I'm not going to read that, though I might have a go at his Century trilogy in the hopes that his writing will have …
I got this book because I'm an IT architect and was interested in reading about a similar job in a different world. The master builder of a medieval cathedral fits the bill. You have to understand what is needed, do sketch level design to get the sponsor and the other stakeholders to support your ideas, then do the detailed design and then make sure it is built to specifications. Your responsibility if it fails.
That part I enjoyed. It is also a fast-paced thriller as the main characters go from success to disaster and back in a chapter per cycle.
However, it was a bit too long for me and the writing wasn't anything special. I bought it used and got the sequel as well but I'm not going to read that, though I might have a go at his Century trilogy in the hopes that his writing will have improved.
This book is a mixed bag.
When Follett writes about the cathedral it's quite good. He describes the construction in detail, from the techniques used to create huge structures by pure manpower to the cultural forces that inform their design. It's fascinating stuff.
Unfortunately, he drowns it in a swamp of melodrama. A series of virtuous commoners devote their lives to building the cathedral while villainous aristocrats oppose them. The good guys outsmart the bad guys. The prose is functional but doesn't remedy the dull plot.
Still, the central subject of the cathedral was compelling enough to keep me interested until the end. It's worth a skim.
The Pillars of the Earth follows the building of a cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge, England in the middle of the 12th century. Set during the time of King Stephen and the Anarchy, it explores the lives of Tom Builder and his family as he finally gets to achieve his dream of being master builder for a cathedral. There are forces that are working against the completion of this church for reasons of power and greed.
Ken Follett was an author of trashy thrillers before turning his hand to the epic novels. So it is not surprising that the novel attempts to explore themes of intrigue and conspiracy against this historical event. I’ve only ever read one other Follett novel (The Eye of the Needle) and while I thought this was a better book they are very similar.
One of the biggest problems I had with both novels is …
The Pillars of the Earth follows the building of a cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge, England in the middle of the 12th century. Set during the time of King Stephen and the Anarchy, it explores the lives of Tom Builder and his family as he finally gets to achieve his dream of being master builder for a cathedral. There are forces that are working against the completion of this church for reasons of power and greed.
Ken Follett was an author of trashy thrillers before turning his hand to the epic novels. So it is not surprising that the novel attempts to explore themes of intrigue and conspiracy against this historical event. I’ve only ever read one other Follett novel (The Eye of the Needle) and while I thought this was a better book they are very similar.
One of the biggest problems I had with both novels is Ken Follett’s approach to women. In particular his creepy schoolboy approach to breasts, I’m not saying I’m not a fan but the way Follett’s writes about them, reminds me of George R. R. Martin and Haruki Murakami. I don’t know about you but it felt like every woman in Kingsbridge has massive breasts and if they didn’t they will be forever alone. On the plus side they won’t be raped either; but all the large breasted women ended up married and the flat chested ones were left for bigger boobs.
One of the positives of this novel was the cathedral; it was the most interesting character in the whole novel. We get to witness the rise in gothic architecture in the Romanesque age and I found the insights into the architectural evolution were so interesting. This seems to be the most researched part of the novel and I think was the only reason to read this book.
My wife loves this novel and I can see why people will enjoy this novel but considering that her favourite novels include this and Outlander makes me worry. She seems to be interesting in epic novels with incredibly flawed men. I hope she isn’t trying to tell me anything but I can appreciate her passion towards these epics.
Every man in the novel seems overly flawed with the exception of the asexual Prior. I know Follett’s loves sexual frustrated men and he struggled to write Prior Philip’s so he decided to make him completely uninterested in sex. Which is a huge contrast to every other male in the book. At times I had to stop reading this novel out of frustration but managed to power through.
I think if you really love this epic you don’t mind how long this novel is but if not this feels like it could use a good editing. This book sits at over a thousand pages and there is so much padding that could have been cut out to bring this book back down to at least 750. The themes in this novel didn’t feel like they were executed properly; there are many medieval novels that talk about the corruption of the Christian church, abuse of power, greed and gender politics. What The Pillars of the Earth did that felt unique was explore passion and base an entire novel around the construction of this one cathedral. The passion and architecture is the key to this book and really without them it would have just been a thriller written as a historical novel.
While I had a lot of problems with The Pillars of the Earth, I did like parts of this novel and enjoyed raging at the other parts. I can know join in on the cultural conversation for this novel, but maybe I’m too late for this. I read Twilight for the same reason and do enjoy raging in reviews but I can’t say this was a bad read. I respect everyone who loved this book and I’m not saying that because my wife loved it, I just can see what would interest people here.
This review originally appeared on my blog; literary-exploration.com/2013/09/29/book-review-the-pillars-of-the-earth/
Loved this. Read it twice, will likely read it again. TV show was horrible tho - do not judge the book based on that.
The best historic romance ever.
I would give this book a 3.5 if we could do half stars. I enjoyed the historical context and architectural details. I even liked the characters, but they were way too one dimensional. The bad guys were completely bad. The good guys were completely good. This prevented me from really emotionally connecting to any of them. Overall, I'm glad that I read the book.
J’ai adoré cette vaste fresque historique qui s’étale sur plus de 40 ans. Tout y est, l’amour, la violence, le sexe, les batailles, les gentils et les méchants. De l’action, il y en a revendre. De la réflexion aussi, mais on est vite emporté dans le tourbillon des aventures des héros et le côté existentiel on le met de côté. Le thème de la religion, de l’homme et du repos de son âme est omniprésent, c’est même le noyau du livre. Les descriptions sont complètes, les personnages plus qu’attachants et le contexte fascinant. L’univers et l’époque sont formidablement décrits. Le monde des religieux du XIIème siècle, des cathédrales, de l’architecture à la gloire de dieu est passionnant, noir et violent. Pourtant je ferai deux reproches au livre
Tout d’abord la lourdeur de certains passages/phrases. Le point de vue omniscient, là, il est à son apogée. On sait tout, rien ne …
J’ai adoré cette vaste fresque historique qui s’étale sur plus de 40 ans. Tout y est, l’amour, la violence, le sexe, les batailles, les gentils et les méchants. De l’action, il y en a revendre. De la réflexion aussi, mais on est vite emporté dans le tourbillon des aventures des héros et le côté existentiel on le met de côté. Le thème de la religion, de l’homme et du repos de son âme est omniprésent, c’est même le noyau du livre. Les descriptions sont complètes, les personnages plus qu’attachants et le contexte fascinant. L’univers et l’époque sont formidablement décrits. Le monde des religieux du XIIème siècle, des cathédrales, de l’architecture à la gloire de dieu est passionnant, noir et violent. Pourtant je ferai deux reproches au livre
Tout d’abord la lourdeur de certains passages/phrases. Le point de vue omniscient, là, il est à son apogée. On sait tout, rien ne nous est caché ou suggéré. Le moindre état d’âme des personnages, pourtant sautant aux yeux, nous est décrit dans tous les sens. Follet donne l’air de prendre ses lecteurs pour des idiots longs à la comprenette. Vous voyez là, le héros est veuf, du coup qu’est-ce qu’il est malheureux ! parce que sa femme est morte, alors il est tout triste, son coeur est brisé…Et vas-y que je te décris pourquoi comment il pense ou vit ceci à cause de cela…des fois qu’on aurait pas compris du premier coup !
Bref, si ce n’était ce gros détail qui devient vite énervant, j’aurais mis ce livre en coup de cœur, mais il y a des procédés franchement rédhibitoires, et les descriptions inutiles de ce type en font partie.
Ensuite, le côté purement manichéen de la chose. Des gentils qui souffrent beaucoup et gagnent rarement (et ce de manière répétitive jusqu’à la fin) et les méchants qui souffrent un peu et gagnent souvent. Mais que l’on ne s’inquiète pas ! Les méchants finissent par en baver pour de bon et les gentils sortent victorieux de l’histoire.
Mais sinon c’est un merveilleux moment d’évasion ^^
