I have never been a great lover of Ken Follet's works. Sure he writes amazing suspense thrillers, excellent page-turners, but I have always felt his books a little too raw for my taste. That being said, I loved his epic story - Pillars of the Earth. The book came out in 1989 and made its way to Oprah's list in 2007. I never heard about it until I saw Follet's TV interview recently about the new mini-series they are making based on this book. I am glad to have picked it up a little later than never. It is a riveting page-turner. Once I started the book, I could not put it down, and spent three sleepless nights over it. And it was a whopping 1000 pages!
It is an epic work, true to the word, with magnificent characters, grand buildings and an excellent narration. Based in the medieval times, it rotates around the construction of a Gothic cathedral in a fictitious town called Kingsbridge. The story takes place from 1123 to 1174 A.D. The book reflects the political anarchy from one of the most contentious times in English history, when the country was ravaged by civil war, with self appointed heirs fighting for the throne after Henry I. The novel however, does not focus much on the war, but with the building of a church. It describes the lives of a few specific fictional characters that are involved with or are affected by the construction of the cathedral, with the backdrop of the political happenings of those times. The book describes in great lengths the development of Gothic architecture, and the typical growth and fall of market towns in medieval England, inter-laced with the political tug between the church and the state. The characters include stone-masons from two generations, a prior, the daughter of a knight, the daughter of an earl, and her brother who try to earn back their earldom- give life to the book and are greatly engaging. The narrative is quick and captivating, with lots of twists and turns and the political backdrop is exciting.
The only complaints I have with the book, are the unnaturally conniving behavior depicted by some of the characters and excessive narratives of unnecessary sex at times. But then it's a Ken Follet novel. Since its an old book, you should be able to get a used copy easily just like I did.
All that said, my recommendation for you: Do pick it up! Do not be discouraged by the size of the book, since you will hardly notice how long you've been reading for. And at the end, you will be sad that it ended.
PS: There is a sequel to this book named, World Without End. I have yet to pick a copy.
