Rating: 
Summary: Great!!
Review: I loved this book. It centers around the building of a church in the late middle ages. A noble priest goes to great lengths to get it built. The book also introduces one of the most evil and ubiquitious villians as the sheriff who is constantly ruining everything. The action never stops. There is also so much history involving the ever-changing British kingship (it seems like there is a new king every week).Along with "A Dangerous Fortune" this is Follett at his best!
Rating:
Summary: Read it -- twice
Review: I agree with another reviewer, I don't re-read a novels, and besides "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Catcher in the Rye," I hadn't done so until now. I remember being blown away by the depth of the character development and the facinating politics involoved in the construction of Europe's cathedrals. I recently re-read this fabulous book, and was glad I did. My tastes lend themselves toward Richard Russo, Dave Eggers, Carol Sheilds, and Margret Atwood. This book measures up with their best. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The next best thing to being there!
Review: This lengthy tome is an interesting portrayal of life in 12th century England. The story opens in the year 1123, three years after the wreck of the "White Ship," which carried the heir apparent to the English throne. This sets the stage for years of bloody civil war for the succession. The book contains many scenes of brutality, violence and what many will consider gratuitous sex...not for the squeamish. In the opening scene, there is to be a public hanging. Describing the boys waiting for the big event, the author says they "despised everything their elders valued. They scorned beauty and mocked goodness. They would hoot with laughter at the sight of a cripple, and if they saw a wounded animal they would stone it to death. They boasted of injuries and wore their scars with pride, and they reserved their special admiration for mutilation: a boy with a finger missing could be their king. They loved violence; they would run miles to see bloodshed; and they never missed a hanging." This scene illustrates the fact that civilized behavior is by no means inborn among humans and must be painstakingly taught to each individual. It is also a fortaste of some of the adult behavior we'll encounter during the course of the story. The message seems to be that civil society is a thin veneer over our brutish natures and we're never too far removed from it. We later join the family of a builder (Tom) in 1135 as they wander in search of work. A primary theme throughout the book is the process of building cathedrals, by far the greatest architectural accomplishments of the age. We are offered lots of detail as to the techniques used to build such monuments. We meet some very good characters, such as Philip the monk (a main character) and Meg of Winchester (a bit player who is kind to Aliena at a difficult time), some very nasty ones such as William Hamleigh, son of an earl, and Waleran Bigod, a corrupt church official and finally some mostly good (if not always perfectly noble) ones like Tom, Jack, Ellen, Aliena and Richard. Tom's son Alfred has the potential to go either way, but he has chosen badly. As he is dying after being stabbed by her brother Richard while trying to rape her, Aliena reflects "he had never been compassionate himself, nor forgiving, nor generous. He had nursed his resentments and hatreds all his life, and had taken his pleasure from acts of malice and revenge. Your life COULD have been different, she thought. You could have been kind to your sister, and forgiven your stepbrother [Jack] for being cleverer than you. You could have married for love instead of for revenge. You could have been loyal to Prior Philip. You could have been happy." Aliena's father (and her son Tommy) are described as "having a very strong will and a somewhat inflexible sense of right and wrong." Jack (and his daughter Sally) had "easygoing natures and contempt for man-made rules." The latter were likely to sympathize with underdogs while the former to pronounce judgement on them. A touching story is when Remigius, the corrupt and power-hungry monk is brought low by his disloyalty to Prior Philip. When the good Prior finds him rooting around in a garbage dump for food, he offers Remigius to come back as an ordinary monk, confessing
his sins and spending the rest of his days in prayer and preparing to meet God. He is shocked that Philip would have such goodness, but after thinking it through, he accepts and later testifies to past wrongs in court, helping Philip's cause. He has been broken, but finds redemption. William and Waleran are bad from the beginning. We are happy when William finally receives his due toward the end for his part in the murder of Thomas Beckett. Waleran is a curious character, since he sincerely believes in God and in the rightness of his own cruel actions in God's eyes. His mistake is in justifying the means by the ends. He is brought low toward the end, living out his last days as an ordinary, humble monk. Toward the end we intersect the life of the real-life character Archbishop Thomas Beckett, who is martyred in his own cathedral by over-ambitious associates of King Henry. The parting thought is how events have secured limits on the power of kings, in no small part due to the influence of the church (despite its corruption). The implication is that God uses (past, present and future) his very imperfect church and people within it to bring about His good plans for the world. A persistent theme of the book is that situations that appear totally bleak can turn out OK. Not always, but sometimes. This is true for Philip as well as Tom, Jack and Aliena. In a number of cases, events surrounding Prior Philip appear so bad that the cause of God and the church appears to be lost. Evil, violence and brutality appear to have won the day and we are sorry for it. But out of the blue comes some event or twist that rescues the situation, or at least some good result of the bad event. This rings true to life and also illustrates God's ongoing providential guidance of His creation, His church and also of the individual lives of those He loves. One lasting impression of the book is how far we've progressed since these days of starvation, poverty and human degradation of every type. Although human nature still tends toward error and evil, we have managed through our Christian-inspired institutions of limited government and balance of powers to keep that nature at bay in a more effective manner than was employed during the 12th century. Still, its unfair to characterize them as the "dark ages," since the groundwork for later freedoms was clearly being laid in those days, as the end of the book makes clear.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I have read in a long time
Review: Five stars isn't enough. Compared to other books I have rated with 5 stars, I'd like to give this one 7 or 8. If you thought Rutherfurd's Sarum was great, you will find it overshadowed by The Pillars. When you get within a couple hundred pages from the end you will find yourself rationing the remainder because you really don't want it to end. Aside from it being a truly captivating yarn, it also left me with a strong desire to go take another look at a cathedral to examine those details of its construction that are so vividly explained in the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: This is a spectacular book. It is complex, moving and informative. The research was excellent, the characters are engaging and the story moves at a surprisingly quick pace for a novel of this length. The descriptions of the scenes, the completeness of the political interplay and the twists of the plot make this one of my favorite books of all time. While there is no such thing as the perfect book, but this one comes very close. My advice is simple...READ THIS BOOK -- YOU'LL LOVE IT!
Rating:
Summary: Pillars of the Earth
Review: Pillars of the Earth is the best book I've have ever read. In fact, it is such a good book, I have bought it three times, read it, and passed it on to friends. I am an avid reader, but mostly non-fiction. However, this book is so realistic, it must be based on facts and held my interest. At the present time, my husband is finally reading it. I have tried for about three years to get him to read it, telling him that if he started reading it he would not be able to put it down and guess what? He reads it every moment he has free. I think it I may have made a mistake!!!! I have never been so entralled by a book before. It is definately a five star book.
Rating:
Summary: Pillars of the Earth
Review: This is one of the few books I have read a seconed and even a third time. With every reading I have found more interesting information about that period of history. I have given this book to several friends as gifts and have received raves from them. I think this book would make a great movie....My daughter is taking a mid evil history course and her insrtuctor found it most interesting. Would encourage everyone to go out any buy a copy.... a great read. Once you start you will not be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: It is not what you think!
Review: To tell you the truth, I would have never picked this book out to read. Medievil times - ylk!!! Not my idea of "fun reading" what a surprise! A terrific story. This book was a Christmas gift. I finally started reading it and I never put it down. Lots of characters, lots of action, romance and suspense. So true to human behavior. I recommend it to anyone, not just those who enjoy reading historical novels. I think you will be surprised at how fast you will be "hooked" into reading this 1000 page novel. It goes fast.
Rating:
Summary: His Best
Review: Warring, I loved this book so this review is just going to be a long list of comments devoted to the author and this book. Now that we have that out of the way lets talk about his best book. I have read almost all of his books so it goes without saying that I like the author. It is just that this book is so good it surprised me. This is nothing like the rest of the books he wrote and to be honest I did not know if I would like it. He just crafted a wonderful, rich piece of artwork in-between the covers. The story stretching over the generations of the lead family, is just full of great writing and interesting details that make the book come alive. I would say that the author keeps the story line tight enough focused so that as the years go on we do not wonder off on sub plots that just fill up space. You could wonder how that is with a book of this size, but he does it. This book is one that you can get your teeth into and really enjoy, you will find yourself talking about the book long after you have finished it.
Rating:
Summary: A wonder beyond imagination.
Review: This IS definetly the best novel I have ever read. It was only by chance that I came across this in a discount book store, but what luck. I can't believe that this book has not had more fanfare or acclaim. To me it's got everything you would want in an historical novel, and if like me you are fascinated by medieval times, you won't want to miss this one. This is really something to get engrossed in, and it's one of those books that leaves a mark on you after you have finished.
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