The Pillars of the Earth

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable and Worthwhile
Review: I must admit that when I first picked up this book I found the sheer length of it somewhat daunting. However, when I had finished it in 10 days I was longing for it to continue. Ken Follett's writing talent kept me entirely enthralled and caught up in the emotions of his characters for the duration of this wonderful novel about the unromaticized depiction of life surrounding the building of a cathedral in the dark ages.

Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining!
Review: Overall this was a great book! Very entertaining, good characters, interesting information about the middle ages. I took off one star for predictability, but you should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: "AN EPIC WHICH IS A MUST FOR ALL BOOK LOVERS"
Review: Wow! what a book.
It is a gread read!
I was dying to read this epic and i must say that i am not at all disappointed.I guess a lot of research must have gone in this book, which is why it becomes even more interesting!
After me almost all my book reader friends have gone through this book and simply loved it. So an unanimous 5 [stars] from all of us.
I am a big Follet fan and devour his books religiously(never mind "The Hammer of Eden, The Modigliani Scandal,etc..).
His other works are simply mind blowing!!
Book lovers kindly go ahead with The Pillars Of The Earth.

Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I've finished this book.
Review: After reading a Dangerous Fortune (a great book by Follett), I immediately started reading this book. It is incredibly long and very slow at the beginning and I seriously considered scrapping the whole thing. It took about the length of a normal novel for this book to get good, but then I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Follett covers about 70 years in this story of the building of a cathedral and all those involved. There are good and bad, rich and poor, weak and strong. Follett pulls no punches and rarely throws in twists, but manages to tell a good story. The historical detail is very educational if at times rambling.

If you are a Follett Fan, then I recommend this book. If you are considering Follett, try something shorter. I also took a break while reading this to read the Jester by James Patterson. That book covered the same time period, but in much less detail.

Rating:
Summary: I almost couldn't finish it
Review: This book was just hundreds of pages of: First the good guys are winning; then the bad guys get the upper hand; then the good guys prevail -- for awhile; then the bad guys are back up again. Over and over and over again. Plus, the characters were totally cliched. I was truly astonished to check out the reviews here and find out how many people think it's the "best book they ever read in their lives!" I thought it was long-winded and completely unchallenging.

Rating:
Summary: best follet book ever
Review: though thick and centering around the building of a church.....
its wonderfully long and down right intriguing. actually it centers upon generations of a family (love those sagas) and their surroundings (slightly historical but with all the raunchy gossip) love, hate, betrayal, family...this was a great book. this is the first follett book i ever read and still to this day the best.

Rating:
Summary: Epic scale, Powerful Characters, Page-turning action
Review: My favorite aspect of this book is the fact that the ending had my stomach in knots and gripped with suspense. I was also impressed and intrigued with the amount of historical and technical research regarding British history and cathedral building. Follett's character development is superb. His vivid descriptions and soul-searching situations make you feel intense emotions for these characters. They go through a lot of suffering and you'll suffer right along with them. However, you will rejoice in their triumphs as well. The outcome is richly satisfying.

Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Read
Review: You know that feeling you sometimes get after you've eaten a whole lot of your favorite ice cream? The guilty feeling you have because it tasted so good and you enjoyed it so much? That's the feeling I had after I finished reading this novel. Perhaps I believe that I should be reading books more ethereal in nature. But there was no denying that, after being riveted for 973 pages, I really, really enjoyed this novel.

The central thread of the book is the building of a magnificent cathedral in 12th century England. Surrounding this thread are dozens of classic characters and at least a half dozen storylines. What makes this novel so wonderful is that you never lose track of the characters or the complex plots and sub-plots. Author Ken Follett does a masterful job in blending all of these storylines together in a manner that epitomizes storytelling at its best.

Pillars of the Earth is unlike any other novel that Ken Follett has written. I wish he would write more like this one.

Rating:
Summary: Pillars
Review: Great book! Immensely entertaining, engrossing from the first chapter to the last. An epic novel spanning generations of complex, well thought out characters. A triumph for Ken Follett!

Rating:
Summary: Great epic that architects and builders would enjoy
Review: It has the intricate weaving of plots and personal motives like "LA Confidential" and it has the breadth of time and place like "War and Peace". And it reads almost like a Judy Blume book in descriptions of sexual triumphs and encounters. It also seems to weave fact with fiction like many James Michener books do.

However, the most unusual part of this novel is that it describes the building of a 11th century cathedral and all the day to day politics related to it.