Flashback book review: The Pillars of the Earth

I actually read and reviewed this back in October of 2008, but I'm still in the middle of a couple of books. Not having anything new to post, here's one that's highly recommended reading. I loved this book. Read. Enjoy. Come back to talk about it. :)

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has it all. History, architecture, mystery, characters you care about, an interesting plot, and characters you love to hate! And, in almost 1,000 pages, Ken Follett has plenty of space to develop all of the above.



Pillars of the Earth is a sweeping epic, covering decades of English history as it follows several characters and their efforts to build--or stop the building of--a church at Kingsbridge Priory, a monastary in England during the Civil Wars of the 1100s. It's an interesting look at why and how great churches were build in those times, a peek into ways of life very different from most of ours (a monastary, the poor family of a master builder, a king fighting to keep his throne, and a nobleman who'll do anything to increase his power and standing), and a frightening glimpse at what life could be like for ordinary citizens when the powerful people around them were limited only by their own consciences (or, often, lack thereof).



The book may be long, but it is very readable...and you won't want to put it down until you get to the resolution.



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