Author: Ken Follet
Genre: Historical fiction
Content: Medieval England; sex; graphic sexual violence; war
Length: 990 pages
Before finally sitting down to read The Pillars of the Earth, I had heard more about this novel from friends and family than I can remember hearing about any other book. The usual commentary ranged somewhere from, "I couldn't put it down for an entire night straight," to "It was the best book I've ever read." No matter what the feedback, though, I always got pretty much the same answer when I asked what it was about: "Um, it's about building a cathedral. But not really! I mean, it's about a ton of different things. Like...well, I can't explain it. You just have to read it!"I have to admit that it took me a good year to get over my disinterest in reading a book "about building a cathedral" - it sounded so boring, and the book looked so dense, that I couldn't imagine loving it. But all those people couldn't be completely wrong, so I finally cracked it open one day, just to see if I would find myself turning the pages.
You can probably guess that I turned all 990 of them.
Maybe you've heard about The Pillars of the Earth (Starz just made a TV miniseries that got great reviews), and maybe you noticed all the buzz about it when Oprah put it on her 2007 booklist. It can be tempting to avoid hyped-up books like this one, just out of spite. To get over that misplaced knee-jerk reaction, I only had to read the first few sentences until I was hooked. But just to reassure you that this book is tried-and-true, I'm going to try to give you a much better description of its epic Medieval story than just telling you it's about building a cathedral (even though it kind of is)...
"The small boys came early to the hanging. It was still dark when the first three or four of them sidled out of the hovels, quiet as cats in their felt boots. A thin layer of fresh snow covered the little town like a new coat of paint, and theirs were the first footprints to blemish its perfect surface. They picked their way through the huddled wooden huts and along the streets of frozen mud to the silent marketplace, where the gallows stood waiting."
There is no better way to begin a review of The Pillars of the Earth than with the beginning of the book itself. The small paragraph that initiates Ken Follet's thrilling historical novel plants a seed of mystery and dark curiosity that only flourishes as the reader is thrust headlong into the corruption, political rivalry, gritty lust, and malicious ambition of Medieval England. Whose hanging is it? What role will this untimely death have in the ensuing thousand pages? Why the brutality of a public execution?
Follet's particular era of choice encompasses a period known as the Anarchy: England is caught in the fiery throes of a political power struggle after the "accidental" death of King Henry's son and only heir. A hanging is always well-attended (as Follet puts it, "They loved violence; they would run miles to see bloodshed; and they never missed a hanging"), and the threat of a violent demise hangs over every English head. Without an obvious heir to the throne, England's most ambitious individuals begin to vie for power in whatever ways possible, leaving a long, bloody trail of deception, rape, destruction, and murder behind them.
The Church of England, engaged in an underground war aimed at shaking off the weighty yoke of the monarchy to expand the influence of Canon law, becomes riddled with priestly corruption and self-serving monks. Dukes, earls and barons, seduced by the irresistible pull of increased reputation and power, connive to advance their titles and add to the expanses of their lands. And in the midst of it all, the people of England themselves live brutal, short lives, finding solace in lust, love, or God - depending on which is easiest to be found.
Against this backdrop unfold the lives of some of the most unforgettable characters you'll ever meet, and a story so riveting (Follet originally made his name as an acclaimed author of thrillers) that you'll find yourself shocked at how fast you reach the 900th page.
According to Follet himself, The Pillars of the Earth is his complex answer to one deceptively simple question: Who built the exquisite cathedrals of the Middle Ages - and why? It's true that this book revolves around the building of a magnificent Gothic cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge, England. But the ultimate response to this inquiry is just as much about the mysterious execution of an innocent man as it is about the details of a monumental building's laborious construction. Amazingly, Follet's well-researched historical account of Medieval cathedral-building fleshes out a timeless epic tale of love, loss, survival, revenge, ambition, and humility. He's a master of suspense, and this book is a constant seesaw of tension and fast-paced intrigue.
The Pillars of the Earth depicts the detailed lives of over a dozen people whose tragedies, triumphs, fears and desires all somehow intertwine with the fate of the Kingsbridge cathedral and its makers. Their stories will grip you and keep you hoping against hope that justice and love will prevail in a world replete with violence and evil.
And Follet does give you hope. Although the Middle Ages are notorious for mainly unpleasant things (think torture, brutality, and more torture), the reader is constantly imbued with a sense that humanity is always present, and the heart is stronger than the sword. Two compelling, passionate love stories buoy the novel with epic tales of romance and unstoppable commitment in the face of utmost adversity, keeping hope afloat in a sea of treachery, arson and murder.
Your heart will swell and constrict in time with the fortunes and misfortunes of lovable Tom the Builder, a skilled architect whose lifelong dream to build a beautiful cathedral uproots him from the comforts of home and sends him searching, with a pregnant wife and two young children, for better opportunities to prove the scope of his talent. You'll find assurance in Prior Philip, a beacon of good in a world given too easily to suffering and greed. Upright and moralistic, he leads his monastery with humility and ardent adherence to God's law, never wavering in his faith even when he is unwillingly wrenched from his simple life into the midst of a world of politics, murder and revenge he cannot understand.
When the beautiful Aliena, once the well-to-do daughter of a wealthy Earl, finds herself likewise caught in the clawing grips of men who will stop at nothing for power, your heart will ache for justice. Her beauty and haughty, proud disposition only serve to make her victim to the cruelest acts of men. Encounters with the greedy, evil and sadistic William Hamleigh - who vows to destroy Aliena in all ways when she refuses to become his bride - will leave you hot with anger and disgust. And in the woods you'll discover the seductive, golden-eyed Ellen, banished from society for practicing witchcraft. She conquers the wild with her son Jack, and emerges from the forest only because she is drawn to Tom the Builder with an intensity that neither can fully comprehend.
Eventually each will be connected to each, and the secrets of the man whose hanging started it all will bring a dawn of understanding to a land plagued by secrecy.
In the quest to erect a beautiful cathedral, a struggle between the forces of good and evil arises that will pit father against son, brother against brother, and monk against God. For Prior Philip, Tom, Aliena, Jack, and Ellen this is a story about love, loss, and redemption. It is Follet's soaring achievement that one cannot adequately describe his book with words; indeed, you just have to read it. Among the ruins of a country torn apart by civil war and marked for destruction by greed, Follet brings to life stories of ultimate vindication and passionate, urgent love that leave your heart racing until the very last line.
Buy The Pillars of the Earth now at Amazon.com by clicking here.
Or, to learn more about Ken Follet - and for a complete list of his other books - click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment