5,0 ✨✨✨

(Audiobook)

Si los Pilares de la Tierra me encantó, este no se ha quedado atrás, a la altura, casi imposible de comparar.
Volvemos a Inglaterra, a finales de la Edad Media, justo en ese momento en el que la peste negra afecto a toda la población. Iremos conociendo la historia de unos personajes desde que son jóvenes y los iremos acompañando a lo largo de su vida.
Si en el libro anterior se basaba en la construcción de una catedral en este tendremos la similitud pero en la construcción de un puente, y si algo me ha gustado más en este libro ha sido que Follet explora más temas sociales y con más profundidad en lo relacionado a las mujeres.
Aparte de tratar el momento de la peste negra, en la parte mas política se centra en el momento en el que Eduardo II fue despuesto por su propia esposa y su amante.
Lo que corresponde a los personajes, como es de suponer hay muchísimos, pero unos de los principales son Caris y Merthin, testigos de un suceso traumático al comienzo de la historia y del que tendrán que guardar el secreto el resto de su vida. Una relación que parece una montaña rusa, por miles de motivos, y que hará que ciertos comportamientos no se entiendan.
Un libro que vas a encontrar de todo, “mamarracheo” entre el clero y la nobleza, amores y desamores, mentiras, venganzas, y todo lo que puedas imaginarte, una novela con sus mas de mil paginas, que te aseguro que para nada se hacen pesadas, todo esta perfectamente hilado y aunque es verdad que hay temas que alomejor interesan menos ( como es normal) por lo general, es una historia que te mantiene pegada a sus hojas…

10/22 audio read

I’m conflicted. I think part of the genius of this series how it proves history repeats itself, but it can sure make for a repetitive storyline. There are so many dots that can be connected to Pillars.

Right now I’m just glad I’m finished

I got this book for Christmas and was so excited to start. I was a big fan of Pillars and figured I would love this as well. I liked it a whole lot, but definitely not as much as Pillars. The story was familiar (and at points almost a retread of Pillars). It was often anachronistic - especially the character of Caris. I loved her and I'm all for feminism and strong female characters, but it made me wonder how accurate and believable she really was. Clunky prose such as "she would have been alderman, but women didn't usually hold that position" didn't help matters. Nor the fact that Follet repeated that sentiment over and over again. Other reviews have correctly pointed out that there is something squirm-inducing about the way Follet seems to relish his descriptions of rape and pillage. He also has the annoying habit of annotating "memories" that the character has, so that every time he or she recalls something, he has to identify it for the reader and give the back-story again. It becomes laughably repetitive, and only goes to show that the book is way too long if he can't trust that the reader can follow along and remember. All in all, a good read, but definitely not one that I couldn't put down and not one that I loved as much as its predecessor.

A pretty darn good book - you laugh, you're horrified, the whole gamut - but what makes this a truly amazing "read" is the audio recording by John Lee, who is also the reader of Penguin Audio's recording of "Pillars of the Earth." Both recordings are well worth the time commitment to listen to 30+ (unabridged) CD's - I walked around and drove everywhere with my headphones on listening to both of these amazing books.

"World Without End" is a continuation of the Kingsbridge story begun in "Pillars of the Earth," this time ~200 years later, and while there are "we, the reader, know the background" references to past persons and events from "Pillars," I don't think reading that book is necessary to enjoying "WWE." That said, by all means read (or, better, listen) to both books - they're worth it.

Ken Follett clearly is interested in the human condition and divides the world into Good Guys and Bad (really Bad) Guys, and the constant wars and jockeying between them. "WWE" admittedly retreads themes and plot devices that Mr. Follett uses in "Pillars of the Earth," but who cares - he's really good at spinning tales. People come alive, vividly, through Mr. Lee's voice, and I'm constantly amazed at his ability to sort through so many people and have each person possess their own unique voice. Yes, the boxed audio set is pricey, but for those who love classic audio books, it's a good investment; or simply check it out from the library (what I did...).

It helps to have at least some knowledge of the Plantagenet rulers and what was going on with British royalty at the time - perusal of Encyclopedia entries should do it.

"WWE" takes place during the early and middle years of Edward III's reign. For an interesting historical novel take on events during the final year's of his long reign (1300's), I recommend "Katherine" by Anya Seton.

Leído en cuanto se publicó hace ya más de una década. Venía del nivelazo de Los pilares de la Tierra y pensé “es imposible”, “Follett no va a poder aguantar las comparaciones”, “este seguro que no me gusta tanto”… y me equivoqué.

Uno de mis libros favoritos.

Follett finally completed the sequel to his evergreen historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth, and although I was compelled by the story enough to read all 1024 pages in a week, I was saddened at how poorly the book compares with its predecessor.

It is interesting to consider the nearly 20 years between the first book and this sequel. Many things have changed in our culture since then, leading Follett to inject even more egregious anachronisms into this book than the first. For example, the characters at one point fret over the self-esteem of a teenage girl. There are many further examples but I will spare you.

More telling is the apparent shift Follett has undergone in what he believes we want to read about. For example, the first book avoided homosexuality, despite the many opportunities to explore it in a monastery. The second, now twenty years deeper into the gay rights movement, explores gay relationships with a frank openness more consistent with San Francisco circa 2000 than the Britain of the 1300s.

I am most personally disappointed that the author did not again craft a thoughtful and multi-dimensional portrayal of a man of faith. The character of Prior Philip stands as the hallmark achievement of the first novel. Prior Philip was a man filled with the desire to do what is right by God and by his fellowmen but sometimes unable to know what would be right and what cost was worth bearing to do it. This is my personal experience of what most spiritual leaders are like.

In contrast, the religious figures in the sequel are all one-dimensional sycophants or toadies, ingratiating themselves with higher ups for their own personal gratification, betraying their own principles regularly, and considering faith a stepping stone rather than an end in itself.

The one sympathetic, intelligent, and thoughtful religious character is a woman who is technically an athiest, and only joined a convent to avoid being tried as a witch. She is consistently smarter and more capable than all other religious figures and her athiesm is continually cited as the engine behind her industriousness and her unique interpersonal gifts.

I've met athiests like that, but I've also met religious people like that and you'd think that a novel that spans fifty years of religious life in a town where all activity centers on a cathedral might include even one intelligent, sincere devout person? Just one?

The differences between these two books tells us much about ourselves and the kinds of things authors and editors believe we want to read. I wonder what a third book, written 20 years from now, would say about us?

3.5 Continuarea seriei are loc la două secole de la construirea uimitoare catedrale din Kingsbridge. Ca și în primul volum avem parte de crime rămase nepedepsite, de interpretări ale legii după bunul plac, de preoți uneltitori și vicleni care-și văd de propriile interese, dar și personaje care pun binele comun mai presus de ei înșiși încercând să impune metode inovatoare.

World Without End is definitely not perfect-- it has a little too much in common with its predecessor, Pillars of the Earth, and its characters are too often painted only in black-and-white. Regardless of those flaws, I would probably give the book three stars if it weren't for one short plotline early in the book. Prior Phillip was one of my very favorite characters in Pillars of the Earth and his rise to the priorship was particularly enjoyable to read. Despite my trepidation over familiar plots, I was happy to see this one repeated as Godwyn sought be elected as prior. The whole plotline was great- even as Godwyn was quickly shown to be no Philip 2.0. The election and the plot culminated in one great scene that is one of my very favorites from the two books. While World Without End is not as consistent as Pillars, there are a few other complete gems that more than make it more than worthwhile.

Ken Follett and the Kingsbridge series are on there way to being all time favorites for me. Pillars of The Earth was a top 10 of the year book for me and I'm pretty sure this one will be as well. The characters and their journey's are so incredibly compelling. It doesn't even matter if the plot is thin or nonexistent because the real plot is what happens to the people you are following. You live and die with their every triumph and tragedy (there's far more of the latter though), and you can't look away. There are characters in here you will love and ones that are beyond despicable that would be right at home in A Song Of Ice and Fire. Add to that the backdrop of the Black Death and you have a narrative that puts those characters in peril at every step. This book was over 1000 pages and I was never bored. I definitely recommend this to anyone who has read and enjoyed Pillars or just enjoys historical fiction generally.

This is an enormous book, really! Ken Follett is one of the best, this is for sure, but "World Without End" seems to me that he have done, once again, the impossible. What a wonderful book! Yes, let me admit it is quite long (1000 are a hard task, indeed), but it is so worth it. Every page is another problem to solve, another stםlen moment of pleasue. And this is what I like about it: whenever things seem to get on track שמג under control again, when the world gets safe and lovable again - something, as if unexpectable when it was so clear yet hidden backstage, mess everything up. And the need the fix it never dies.
Wow! I was so amazed with Follett's characters, they seemes so real and so imperfect, just the way they should have been. Unlike the next person in human stream in Kingsbridge and England and Europe - everyone has an amazingly true and fantastic story, and Follett's had realy done it this time. Well done! Liked it so so much, you can't let your feelings down, you will love it and hate. At some moments, altough there are so much of those, you would love to return it to the shelf or burn it out of frustration, but pay attention to your feelings. This book, unlike many others, will get the best and worst out of you.

"World Without End" , for all its historical pretensions, has much in common with those books sporting, on their covers, a long-haired, bare-chested pirate/soldier/rogue/whatever staring gallantly/lustily/confusedly/whatever at some beautiful woman in some strange outfit. It's a soap-opera. That's cool. I get that. I'd rather a soap-opera setting with some measure of historical reality/relevance than the typical soft-porn treacle that appeals to the prurient interests of the romance starved. But, sometimes, Ken Follett gets carried away. He forgets that this series is about the building of a cathedral with the background of the period well detailed. I, personally, do not really like that many of the characters in this one.

While the first book was set during the period of "the Anarchy" (1135-1153) of the King Stephen-Queen Matilda civil war. This second book is set during the reign of Edward III of House Plantagenet. This is where the book is lacking. Edward makes only brief appearances and perhaps the best part of the historical fiction is during Ralph's involvement in the battle of Crecy (26th Aug, 1346).

Rather Follett gets a bit too interested in the soap-opera of the townsfolk. In the doing of so, he sadly just recycles the story of the first book, only allowing for about a two-century change. We still have the same assortment of annoying men, difficult women, stupid Lords, etc. Some of the names are different, but these are the spawn of the people in the first book. We even have a rapey knight again. This time it's Rapey Ralph instead of William of Hamleigh. Instead of Jack, we have Merthin...it's pretty much the same formula.

So why four stars? Well, for what it is, it's quite entertaining. The look into the life of a 1300's person is instructive. The story is fast paced and certainly entertaining. I don't mind the recycling of the characters as much as the lack of emphasis on the major players of this time. The characters of the first book interacted with the major players in a far more important fashion. Follett strays from this to delve a little bit too much into the "drama" aspects instead of the historical.

Still, criticisms aside, I enjoyed this book. At a staggering 1,000+ pages, it didn't really read slowly. Even when he is dealing with the Kingsbridge characters, it's still got a very interesting story. You keep reading to see what these goofballs will do next (these aren't the brightest of this time period...that's why Edward III is King and these goobers are stuck in Kingsbridge) and enjoy it.

While this isn't as bold and original as the first book, it is still a fun read. It does a credible job of showing you life in 1300's England and telling you an entertaining, albeit recycled, story. While not brilliant, I did enjoy it. A little bit more history and less drama please, next time Mr. Follett.