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A review by gerbilreads
Cathedral by Ben Hopkins
2.0
I had this billed to me as a sweeping epic of human lives akin to Ken Follett, but I found it instead to be lacking the required depth of human emotion to really engage me. Sure, stuff happened but that's kinda where this book ends. Stuff just happens, but the impact of that is lost to me as I never developed any interest or pathos with the characters. The first character we're introduced to, for example, begins the book full of hope and wit and then disappears almost entirely to a life of ignominy, ending in a sudden death far far away from the narrative. Disappointing.
There was also an almost total lack of women who take any kind of first-person narrative (the first rare instance of this covers 3 pages and ends with her being burned at the stake). I find this severely limiting when this is meant to be a sweeping tale of humanity, to ignore 50% of the population.
Saying all this, the book is well written and quite engaging throughout. The two stars comes mostly from how it has left me feeling afterwards. A bit hollow, not having learnt much or felt anything of note.
There was also an almost total lack of women who take any kind of first-person narrative (the first rare instance of this covers 3 pages and ends with her being burned at the stake). I find this severely limiting when this is meant to be a sweeping tale of humanity, to ignore 50% of the population.
Saying all this, the book is well written and quite engaging throughout. The two stars comes mostly from how it has left me feeling afterwards. A bit hollow, not having learnt much or felt anything of note.