Reviews

Les Piliers de la Terre by Ken Follett

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archiegitdog's review against another edition

5.0

This book is just under 1000 pages long and is a captivating excellent story. Who knew that building Cathedrals would be so absorbing. I also loved the political sub story particularly the English Civil War - I read this over eight days in Portugal and now got to go find a book shop!

griffinswing's review against another edition

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4.0

(This review is specifically about the John Lee audio version. I enjoyed listening to it enough that I'm looking for other books read by him. Also, this review was done for the East Lansing Public Libraries series of reviews centered on the theme of love, in it's many forms.)

At first glance, one could be forgiven for not seeing how a tale of the construction of a 13th cathedral fits with the theme of “love”. In reality, however, the book is full of love stories.

In the first place we have the actual writing of the book itself. The author uses the preface of the book to describe how and why a successful spy novelist would take such a risk as to write something so completely different from what he made is name at. The answer is, he fell in love with the architecture of medieval cathedrals. He shares this love with the reader through painstakingly detailed descriptions of not just the cathedral at the center of the novel, but of other churches visited by the characters. While Follet does use some technical language, he always accompanies it with an explanation, so the reader (or listener, in this case) is never at a loss about what, exactly, is being talked about. While he has taken some liberties (or made errors) with historical accuracy as far as society goes, he definitely shows his research on the architectural front.

The biggest in-universe love story is that between several characters and the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral. On the one hand is Prior Philip, a devout man who wants to build a great monument to God. He takes the command “love thy neighbor” very much to his heart, going out of his way at times to help those less fortunate. While other churchmen in the book are in their positions out of worldly ambition, or just because they had no where else to go, Philip is truly in love with God, and acts so. On the other hand are a pair of builders, first Tom, then his step-son Jack, who want to build the most beautiful cathedral in the world. While their motivation is completely opposite of Philips, their love for the building is just as strong.

Jack also makes up half of the novel’s other great love story, along with the resourceful and clever Aliena. At their first meeting, Aliena is an earl’s daughter, and Jack is the (step)son of a penniless, itinerant mason. When they meet again later, their roles are reversed, with Aliena being dispossessed of her position, and Jack apprenticing with Tom on the construction of the new church. They begin a friendship that then blossoms into love. Though fate keeps contriving ways to keep them apart, their bond is so strong that Aliena travels across France and Spain and back again in search of Jack, to show him his child.

The world around these characters is harsh and cruel (my one complaint is that he sometimes details the cruelty as much as he does the architecture) which serves to make their various triumphs (however short lived they may be) truly shine out. I’m not sure if it was Follet’s writing or John Lee’s narration, but the book dragged my heart through alternating bouts of despair and joy. After a while some of the pattern became predictable (I have read reviews that compared the plot to a soap-opera, and that's not unfair) but I felt Follet made every reversal of fortune such an individual event that even though I knew something bad (or good) was going to happen, I couldn’t tell exactly what (most of the time). He gives you just enough to think you know what will be next, so you keep reading to see if you’re right. Couple that to his well-rounded, fully individualized characters, and Pillars of the Earth is rightly one of the best-selling books of the later 20th century.

natasjavdkolk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

mcrammal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much. It really brought to life the struggles of living in the Middle Ages, especially living under feudalism. The lawlessness, the constant pull between good versus bad, the devil versus god, the instability that comes with the changing of who your earl or monarch is, how slowly or quickly news travels, the level of poverty and how a bad season can wreak havoc on the economy and people’s lives. It really brought into perspective how lucky we are living in modern times. This is a novel I will for sure reread again as I loved all the main characters and enjoyed watching them try again and again to prevail. I was very excited to learn this is the first of a series. I’m looking forward to reading the others.