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Summary: A good one to take on vacation
Review: This is an awesome and absorbing saga about stonemasonry, religion, and politics. Ken Follett obviously did intensive research but also has a vivid imagination. Once you begin you can't really escape the "alternate reality" of this book until you read the last page, at which point you will wish it lasted longer. And that's saying a lot since this book is about 800 pages long. One of my top 10.
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Summary: saved me from freaking out
Review: This is the best book I have EVER read. I brought it with me when I went camping alone, and it saved me from being scared to death - that and the gallon of wine a night. Anyway, this book was absolutely captivating, I doubt I will ever find another to compete with it.
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Summary: My All Time Favorite Novel
Review: This story grabs you from page one. The narrative and description of medieval Europe is fasinating as well as repulsive. I have introduced this novel to 4 or 5 friends who range in age from 15 to 70. Their vocations and occupations cover a wide range of interests. Without exception, "Pillars of the Earth" is our favorite novel. I was so sad when it ended. However, there are some pretty steamy sex scenes that I tried to overlook.
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Summary: Thrilling!!!
Review: I got this book from my world history teacher for extra credit and when I got started to read I couldn't stop reading it! I would spend 5 or more hours straight reading this book. I would recommend to everyone if they asked me about! I loved it!!!
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Summary: Incredible
Review: Very well-laid story based in historical fiction. The movement of the story through several generations is captivating.
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Summary: If you love historical fiction this is the book for you!
Review: This is the kind of book you cannot put down. I mean a sink your teeth in, stay 'til three in the morning, every spare moment be reading it kind of book. I loved it!
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Summary: Exciting and Captivating Read!!
Review: This is the first book that I have felt the need to review. My husband picked it up for me from the library because we have visited a lot of cathedrals in Germany and he thought the plot sounded interesting. I was completely taken away. I read this book at the dinner table, while packing the diaper bag, til 2 a.m., and every other spare second! After reading the first review I was glad to see that someone else noticed the extremely immature language of the book's beginning, however. The use of the word "puke" threw me off and I immediately commented to my husband about the strange choice of words. Then I came across "wierd" and I thought Follet, who I had never heard of before, attempted to write a story he did not fully connect with. Then I was floored at the number of times "f***ing", or some variant of the word, appeared. After these initial shocks, the book progressively got more interesting to the point where I couldn't put it down. I am still at a loss as to why Follett chose to use such abrupt language. Maybe my shock comes from the fact that I don't usually encounter these small details when reading period pieces. Aside from these minor points, the book is incredible! I may sound 50/50 on my feelings, but I am most definitely not! I read The Thorn Birds and Gone with the Wind at least once a year each and I am definitely adding Pillars of the Earth to that list. You are completely immersed in 12th century culture to the point where you start smelling the Sunday markets. I was sad when turning this book back in to the library, but I am buying it from Amazon as soon as I finish this review just so I can read it again. Now that I know the book is more vulgar than I tink it needs to be, considering it's story line, I won't be as shocked when I read it this time, and the next, and the next....
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Summary: actually it deserves more then 5 stars
Review: a friend lent this book to me and i admit i was a little indifferent about reading it when she told me it was about a man who set out with his family with his heart set on building the biggest cathedral. but let me tell you i am SO glad i went ahead and read this book, for i LOVE this novel. the first chapter was a little slow at first, which is understandable, the characters are being described, the scene of their lives are being brought into focus, etc....but believe me ~ you dont want to walk away.
this book has everything in it. deceit, passion, love, rape, war, famine, death, hatred, etc. everything you love to read all in one.
the story is about a man who is a master builder who loses the job he is currently working on and must find a new one to support his family....he eventually finds work at a priory, where nothing can go right, i.e. wars break out.
i dont want to go into too much of an explanation without giving anything away, but as you start out reading it jumps to different charactes at first, the master builders family, the knight, william who is to marry the earl's daughter, aliena. a woman who lives in the forest raising her son, a monk whose name is prior phillip and his story. it's just amazing how all their situations seem to come together and how they eventually affect one another's lives..
i highly recommmend this book to anyone who is a lover of books. i have bought this book for several people as gifts and they told me how they cant put it down and they too recommended it.
i promise you, you wont regret picking this book up
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Summary: I really don't see it
Review: At three hundred pages, this book has yet to suck me in enough to make me want to finish it. At first, I took it some interesting details about mideval life and was enjoying the story, waiting for the pace to pick up. Later, after it still hadn't managed to get more exciting, I took a second look at it and wondered about how accurate this book actually was.
This book features a number of extremely strong women. While there is nothing wrong with that, they didn't seem to fit very well with the place and time. For example, Ellen, should stick up for her son when he is being bullied by Alfred, Tom's son but her outlook--"This is not just a normal sibling quarrel, this is a man abusing a boy" seemed more like something that a twentieth century parent would say than someone who was just out of the dark ages. Someone get the kid in counseling, he has a problem!! She argued with her newfound husband like any twentieth century wife, weren't woman less independent back then?? This pattern continues with other characters, and they seem comically modern for what was a dirty, brutal and sometimes ignorant world. This book didn't offer me any insights on what it was like to live back then. But it was a mildly entertaining story that could probably someday become a mini-series. (If it hasn't already).
The church was a big part of mideval life, it dictated the actions of the people who lived back then. This book was about the building of a church but it failed to convey the all out terror that people felt for it at the time when they knew very little about anything else.
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Summary: Great book.... but...
Review: I won't even begin to contradict what others have written about this book -- they are right and no argument. It is a very good book. BUT... I do have to add one thing what I found to be particularly disturbing for women. Girlfriends, there is quite a number of rape scenes in this book -- with details. I, for one, hate reading about them. And I'm not just talking about one -- there's *more* than one. The scenes leave you with a really disgusting, disturbed, violated feeling. And, unfortunately, while the perpetrator gets some sort of "justice", it's bland and certainly doesn't fit the crime. So on top of the rape scenes, you don't even get satisfaction in his punishment. All in all, if you're a woman who is fascinated in 12th century architecture but is skeeved out by rape scenes, you might seriously consider skipping this book. (Ugh...)
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