World Without End

This is the sequel to "Pillars of the Earth." It's set 200 years after that original book but is very similar in terms of plot and especially character. Every main character from "Pillars" has their parallel in this book: the intelligent, noble builder; the feisty, born-before-her-time love interest; the evil, corrupt nobleman who rapes and pillages his way into power. It gets to the point where you start to wonder why you're bothering reading it. There's absolutely nothing new here.

Like "Pillars," this one starts with a "mystery" that goes nowhere. When the big revelation comes, I was left thinking, "That's it?"

I enjoyed the parts about the Plague but could have done without the lesbian nuns and the numerous rape scenes (especially the scenes where the woman being raped starts to enjoy it. Talk about offensive!).

And once again, an aggressive editor would have done wonders. 1,000 pages is just a bit much, especially when the entire thing is a retread of the original anyway.

I read and loved the first Kiingsbridge novel Pillars of Earth. This novel takes place in the same town 200 years later. Follet has created another true masterpiece here. Over 1000 pages long and yet I still did not want it to end. I find his writing to be exquisite, his characterizations to be complex and real, and his story pacing to be non-stop. His novels will appeal to fantasy fans, history fans, and all fans of great fiction. I truly loved this novel and highly recommend it.

Another sweeping epic involving the village of Kingsbridge!

Can't wait for the third in this trilogy to arrive (out some time this year!). For anyone interested in starting this trilogy, I would say that you are not required to read The Pillars of the Earth before reading this. Although they centre around the fictional town of Kingsbridge, they take place centuries apart, and very little knowledge from Pillars is needed for World Without End.

I drew my own parallels while reading. Here's what I saw:

Fourteenth century life resembles twenty-first century life in many ways. Mainly, social hierarchy is structured in a similar manner. Usually men hold positions of power; poor people often remain poor and subservient to the ruling class, and the powerful often earn more wealth at the expense of the poor.

I couldn't help but view Ralph to be very similar to Donald Trump in terms of his personality, his intelligence (or lack-thereof), and his style of rule. Throughout the tale, Ralph holds decade-long grudges against old rivals (Wulfric, namely) and even goes out of his way to ensure laws are created simply to punish this one man, with complete disregard of how it effects the rest of the people in the land. Sound familiar? He lacks emotional intelligence and is often outwitted by the people around him (Caris - a woman, which makes it even better - comes to mind) which he is too proud to admit, and which he covers up with an aggressive and tantrum-like attitude. I sometimes felt the only things that set Ralph and Trump apart were a few hundred years and a Twitter account. Of course, Follett wrote this novel well before Trump, but that's why good storytelling is so powerful - if done well, it has relevance for generations.

One thing I found interesting was the eventual rise and success of Caris. Initially, it seems as though nothing good can come of her life. Then, because of her own hard work, natural intelligence, and good nature, she rises to the top and becomes Prioress of Kingsbridge. However, even then, there are some powers that she is not allowed to wield simply because she is a woman. She holds a seat of power, but is still looked down upon by some (men, mostly) and it is always more challenging for her to hold the clout that is rightfully hers. I think this is interesting because it bears resemblance to life today. Woman often need to work twice as hard to reach a male-dominated position of power, and when they do, are often underappreciated.

George R.R. Martin is notorious for killing his characters, but Ken Follett also deserves such notoriety. In this novel, it was common for the first page of a chapter to announce the deaths of characters who were substantial at some point in the plot.

Something also of note, which also occurred in The Pillars of the Earth, is that Follett tends to leave some characters entirely forgotten. Certain men or women that appear early on and play significant roles end up disappearing for either a long period and show up later briefly alive or dead, or they are never spoken about again. I'm not sure why this is...perhaps Follett himself creates stories so long he forgets to bring them back into the story later on for continuity's sake?

One thing to gripe about: Ken Follett has a fascination with calling a man's penis his 'prick.' It's so annoying to me for some reason. It's a penis. A dick. A c*ck. Even a member. It should never be a 'prick,' in my mind. I feel that the word 'prick' is used often as a derivative to not sound so repetitive. But it should be omitted no less, it's just a terribly used synonym. Also the romantic scenes are sub par.

I would rate this somewhere between 4 and 5 stars (Goodreads, give us more star rating options!). On the whole, an immersive experience and enjoyable read.

n  —El hombre que prepara ungüentos y medicinas se llama boticario, pero una mujer que hace lo mismo se arriesga a que la llamen bruja.n

[ 3.5 / 5 ☆ ]

Seguimos con la saga de Kingsbridge de nuestro amigo Ken Follett. Un mudo sin fin se corona como el libro más largo, con una extensión de casi 1.800 páginas en su formato digital. Un reto, sin duda, que a mí me ha tomado más de mes y medio pero que a pesar de todo, ha supuesto una montaña rusa a lo largo de su lectura.

Algo que me gustó mucho de su predecesor, Los pilares de la tierra es que Follett no permite que el lector se aburra. Constantemente pasan cosas y los personajes parecen no tener un respiro. Además, el villano de la primera novela, William, está sumamente bien construido y los personajes protagónicos suscitan interés hagan lo que hagan. Sin embargo, aquí en ese sentido Un mudo sin fin se ha quedado atrás.

Fácilmente la novela necesita de unas 400 o 500 páginas para arrancar, lo cual es una barbaridad desde el punto de vista de la cantidad, no tanto referido al porcentaje total de la misma (entorno al 25%). Pero aun así, son 500 páginas que te tienes que comer con patatas intentando comprender a dónde vamos. Porque, si bien Los pilares de la tierra tenía como meta final la construcción de la catedral, aquí, ¿qué?

Merthin y Caris han sido los personajes que han llevado el peso de la historia fundamentalmente y no es hasta la aparición de la peste bubónica que realmente me han interesado sus vidas. Sus idas y venidas románticas me la han traído al pairo -hablando en plata-, igual que me ha dado exactamente igual la vida de Gwenda y Wulfric, entre otras cosas porque hasta que llegué al 30 o 35% de la novela no me enteré de quién era quién, y eso para mí ha sido bastante incómodo, porque ya no sabía de quién estábamos hablando. Sinceramente, albergaba esperanzas con el villano escogido para esta historia, Ralph, pero ni siquiera él ha calado como sí lo hizo William, lo cual le ha restado muchísimo interés a la historia, porque para mi gusto es un personaje a medio hacer, a caballo entre ser bueno e intentar emular ser malo.

En general, me parece que todo lo que era bueno en Los pilares de la tierra aquí le han dado la vuelta para intentar dar, en Un mudo sin fin una perspectiva distinta de los mismos cargos en la misma ciudad: un clero malvado, un obispo majete, una cofradía gremial buena, pero mantenemos al conde de Shiring siendo bueno, hasta que al final aparece otro que se vuelve malo como lo fue en el anterior libro. No sé. Creo que la estrategia no ha llegado a funcionar. Y por descontado, le sobran unos cuantos cientos de páginas.

Voy a seguir leyendo la saga, eso sí. Con esperanzas de que la cosa vaya un poco hacia arriba, o se mantenga, al menos.

La storia del priorato di Kingsbridge e di alcuni dei suoi abitanti due secoli dopo gli eventi narrati ne I pilastri della terra a partire dal 1° novembre del 1327 per arrivare al 1361, seguendo le vicende di quattro ragazzini attraverso le varie fasi della vita e la Storia con la S maiuscola. Sono infatti gli anni in cui in tutta Europa imperversa la peste, e una di quei quattro ragazzini, Caris, vorrebbe diventare medico, anche se si dovrà scontrare con un mondo in cui la medicina è esercitata solo dagli uomini, in particolar modo da frati ignoranti e contrari a ogni innovazione e, soprattutto, pronti a tacciare di stregoneria chiunque non la pensi come loro e cerchi rimedi alternativi alla preghiera o ai salassi per curare le malattie.
Merthin, come Jack il costruttore - di cui è discendente, a quanto pare - viene mandato dal padre - un barone impoverito che è costretto a diventare converso del priorato - a fare da apprendista al mastro costruttore Elfric. Merthin ha grandi ambizioni e, soprattutto, una mente da grande architetto, al contrario di Elfric, con cui si scontrerà per vari motivi.
Suo fratello minore Ralph, invece, viene mandato a fare da scudiero al Conte Roland.
Gwenda è la figlia di un uomo che vive di espedienti e che ha insegnato ai figli fin da piccoli a borseggiare i ricchi mercanti di Kingsbridge. Gwenda è stanca di vivere così e vorrebbe lavorare onestamente.
I quattro ragazzi si trovano ad assistere a un evento nella foresta che segnerà le loro vite: l'amicizia tra Caris e Gwenda, l'amore tra Caris e Merthin e una vita di violenza per Ralph, che riuscirà a sfuggire più volte alla forca per pura fortuna, e che continuerà l'ascesa nella nobiltà fino a diventare conte malgrado tutto, come William Hmleigh ne I pilastri della terra.
In effetti, ci sono molte somiglianze tra i personaggi del primo romanzo della serie e questo, come se la storia facesse il suo corso e poi ricominciasse daccapo.

Set two centuries after Pillars of the Earth, the people of Kingsbridge are at it again. The cathedral built in Pillars is in disrepair after part of the roof caved in, the bridge collapsed, and the prior is dead. Also, the constant maneuvering continues...

So, I fell into a trap with this one. After devouring Dinocalypse Now in a morning, my girlfriend asked if I managed to read an entire book in four hours. I said I had and she slammed me with this, saying it shouldn't take me more than a few days. Sighing, before I knew it, I was engrossed and asking her if Ralph was going to be the asshole rapist bully in this one. I still hate that Will Hamleigh!

Much like Pillars of the Earth, World Without End follows the lives of a number of characters; Merthin the carpenter, his brother Ralph the squire, a poor girl named Gwenda, Wulfric the laborer, Godwyn the monk, and several others. As I predicted, Ralph was the asshole rapist of the book. What a nun mugger that guy was!

As with Pillars of the Earth, twists abound and the 14th century is not a good place to be a woman. Hell, it doesn't sound like that great of a place to be a man either, but the women get the short end of the stick for the most part. There's just as much scheming as in the first book and just as many people making decisions that would later bite them in the ass.

While World Without End happens years later, it very much picks up the style and flavor of The Pillars of the Earth. So much that it's very nearly the same book with slightly different characters. As near as I can tell, Follett's master plot generator goes something like this:

1. Things are going good
2. A problem arises
3. Problem solved, leading to unforeseen results
4. Goto 1

It's still a fun read that messes with your emotions but some of the magic is gone once you catch the rhythm of the plot. Kind of like how M. Night Shyamalan's movies aren't as fun once you start trying to figure out what the big twist is going to be as soon as the movie starts. It was exhausting to read at times, not because of the prose, which is breezy and accessible, but because of plot twists every 6.5 pages. It doesn't really build toward anything besides the next iteration of the good guys getting screwed over and the bad guys having good things happen to them.

Since it's hard to review a book of this size without revealing too much, here are some closing points:
1. The late 1300's were just as rape-y as the 1100's of the first book.
2. I wanted to smack Merthin silly. Then again, we men tend to do stupid things when sex is on the table. Or bed, floor, car hood, etc...
3. Godwyn, though one of the good guys at the beginning, is still a tool.
4. Accusing women of being a witch is some serious shit.
5. Ken Follett and George R.R. Martin both went to the school of screwing over characters as much as possible.
6. Getting flayed would suck.
7. The blurb mentions the Black Death but it doesn't make an appearance until after the halfway mark.
8. Every time someone mentioned the bishop, I thought of a certain Monty Python sketch.
9. My favorite line was "Sleeping next to her was like lying with a dead cow."

Three stars. I think I'm Folletted out for the time being.

Iskreno rečeno nemam puno šta da kažem o ovoj knjizi a što nisam reko o prethodnoj. Jeste da imamo nove likove i nove dogadjaje plus period dešavanja je drugačiji ali sve ostalo je na istom nivou. Odlično pisanje sa puno detalja o vremenskom periodu gde dobijamo naznake o početku stogodišnjeg rata kao i efekat koji je kuga imala na svet. Brrrr.

Ostalo je standardno puno muke, zlobe, bola, nepravde sa povremenim bljeskovima dobrote i sreće.

Sve u svemu odlična knjiga ali samo za fanove prethodne. Kome se ona nije svidela zbog spore i repetativne radnje razvučene na previše strana pa njemu se neće ni ova svideti. Meni dobro dodje da bi rekao da mi je drago što ne živim u tom vremenu nego ovom našem :P

Follet conjures up another masterpiece with World Without End, as he achieves near-nirvana by writing a spellbinding story that is captivating from page 1 until 1000!

I was just a lonely lad, ignorant to the brilliance of Ken Follett until my father suggested I read Pillars of the Earth. My world just about shattered!! ‘Pillars’ is easily one of my top 5 fav books of all times! In ‘Pillars’, we see Follett’s genius shine on: the story is so captivating, with strong willed characters and narrative that was so unique yet so simple, that I instantly fell in love! Starting this sophomore’ series World Without End, gave me some butterflies due to such high expectation and the hope of another home-run. After reading it, the verdict was unanimous:

World Without End is an absolute masterclass in storytelling, character development, imagination and a tale of the unbound human spirit! Ultimately World Without End is at its bare essence a story of love.


Follett revisits the city of ‘Kingsbridge’ about 200 years after we last encountered it at ‘Pillars’. As much as Pillars was a well-crafted story about the ‘building of a cathedral’ and the creation of the city as a religious powerhouse, World Without End encompasses a more global tone involving accurate historical events of the epoch and surrounding Europe. There’s not much Follett is unwilling to touch, as vast range topics of greed, monastic abuse, love, war and death are widely seen in the writing.


Kingsbridge


Follet’s writing style is direct and unadorned, leading to a brilliant and powerful way to convey human emotions! The simplicity of Follett’s narrative is possibly his most unique and powerful attribute. His prose is quite effective, his characterization is absolutely incredible! When he creates an evil character, we as readers develop almost a ‘visceral’ reaction to them!! A perfect example is the most evil character called ‘Ralph’! Follett goes to the extremes to depict this evil, unscrupulous character that will do almost anything to fulfill his aspirations of power and nobility. In fact, Ralph does not shy away from raping innocent females, killing woman and children and lying incessantly to ascend in the hierarchical food chain! Truthfully, I fucking hated Ralph and cringed everytime he got away with murder! This reaction is exactly what Follett achieves with the power of his words.


-“ Ralph.. had killed many people, women as well as men..he had killed nuns in France..he hesitated, but suddenly it seemed terrible to stick a knife into the warm body of someone he had embraced and slept with, the woman who had borne his child”


The story in World Without End is very expansive, and spans decades, and we concentrate on a handful of unique and vastly entertaining characters. Again, heavy focus is geared towards monastic life and the ‘priory’ of monks, with the added difference of a ‘nunnery’ that is added to Kingsbridge. Remarkable and unforgettable characters include the wildly egocentric and power hungry ‘prior’ of Kingsbridge Godwyn, the powerful ‘earl of the Shiring’, the head nun Mother Cecilia and many others. But without exception, the full narrative places Merthin a young ‘builder’ his love interest, Caris at the core of the tale. Follett spins his ‘webs’ masterfully as he tells the love story of both Merthin and Caris, and how their lives seem to congeal and split apart. We take third POV when following Merthin and Caris, as their story feels organic at every corner.


Caris & Merthin

The last worthy point of reference is how Follett incorporates real historical facts to augment the narrative and make the story so interesting. At the peak of 14th century Europe, the ‘bulbonic plague’ ravaged most of the continent. In fact, Europe experienced the most deadly disease outbreak in history when the Black Death hit in 1347, killing a third of the human population! Follett uses this accurate historical event, as it shapes the lives of most resident of Kingsbridge, and ultimately affects every character in the book. The results are astounding and downright terrifying.


'Black Plague


World Without End is another epic slam dunk in the the saga of the ‘Kingsbridge’ series. Follett creates another masterpiece that is wildly accurate to the historical time, as he tells a tale that is fascinating, with memorable characters!

5 Stars