This book was popular? As in a mini-phenomenon? Seriously? Am I being punked? Tell the truth--no one else read the book. It was all an elaborate media/pop culture scheme to trick me into reading this book. Please lie to me about this. I'm not sure I can go on living if I have to believe that this is what my fellow man is reading these days.

My utter disdain for the book comes from many a source:

A) It's 900 pages. Mind you, I'll read 900 pages, even 1,500 pages, if it's amazing. But it has to be a crackerjack of a book. This was not.

B) Here's where this book and I really parted ways: Tom Builder's beloved wife, Agnes, dies in childbirth on the side of the road. Only hours later, Tom's rolling in the leaves with an attractive forest wench in a sex scene so ridiculous I could practically hear the "bow-chicka-wow-wow" music in the background. Poor Agnes' body isn't even cold yet and Tom's getting it on with a woman he had a 15 minute conversation with earlier in the book.

C) It's hard to believe this is medieval England, what with all the modern sensibilities and modern vernacular.

C) It could have been whittled down by about 500 pages if the scenes of people eating had been omitted.

E) The women, oh, the women. Witches or whores or victims of tag team rape.

Here's the basic rundown of the plot:

--Building a church, building a church, building a church . . .
--Oh, crap, a plot complication! We might not be able to build the church.
--Crafty Phillip overcomes the complication.
--Insert licentious sex scene.
--Building a church, building a church, building a church . . .
--Oh, crap, a plot complication! We might not be able to build the church.
--Crafty Phillip overcomes the complication.
--Now insert gratuitous sex scene.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. For 900 pages.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder

Took me a bit to get around to reading this book by one of my favorite authors and it did not disappoint. Follett creates some of the most evil characters ever in this first book of his Kingsbridge Series, and the evil follows us throughout the entire book! This is a book about the ambitious building of a Cathedral in the village of Kingsbridge which goes against the wishes of the the Earl of the region as well as the Bishop. There are a host of interesting characters in the book and we follow their comings and goings over a 50 year period. Well written, interesting and makes us appreciate how far we have come from the time of wooden houses, mud roads and mass poverty. I am not as fond of this book as others, as evidenced by the fact that it took me over a year to finish this, but nonetheless I will be soon begin working on the next book in this series.
See my full review of this book and others at www.ViewsonBooks.com

Epic
If you ever wanted to use the words Epic and Classic in a book review, The Pillars of the Earth is a book that upholds that accolade. It is a fabulous masterpiece of historical fiction, based in England in the 12th Century. The sense of time and place are vividly drawn and the fragility and harshness of life shadow each of the characters.

The array of characters are impressively developed, and with over 1000 pages in the novel, this becomes a generational journey spanning many decades and gives us a glimpse of how it was to grow and age in medieval England. Multiple threads tell the stories of individuals and families and their experiences of survival, jealousy, power and what life and neighbours can throw at them. All are explored with colourful detail, in an unforgiving period where right and wrong, and our sense of justice is tested to the limit.

The building of a cathedral at Kingsbridge is the cornerstone of this engrossing novel. It is a story that deals with the age-old battle of good versus evil, where evil manifests itself in men's hearts and ambitions, and where better to play that out but in the sight of God’s holy church. How religious affiliation can bring out the principles of some men and the skulduggery of others. What good men are forced to do and what bad men are capable of doing.

With a book, this long, praise has to be given to the fact that the momentum of the story never faltered and after investing so much time within its engrossing pages, it is difficult to come to terms with normality when the book is finished. I would highly recommend reading this book and it does occupy a place on my favourites shelf.