The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - (from the jacket) tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known...of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul...of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame...and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state and brother against brother.
I read this rather large book (973 pages) while Big Daddy was in China as a way to past some of the time. I had purchased the book about a month prior, but never really had a real strong desire to read it. Mama was buying the book so I did too, what the heck right?
It was a pretty good book and while I'm tempted to say it was great, there were a couple of things about it that prevent it from being such. I'm no prude, but this book was too graphic for me in spots. Without giving a story line away, there is a bit of pillaging and plundering that goes on and the detail of it all is a little too much. Also, as an animal lover there are a couple of situations involving animals that tugged at the heart strings as well. I do understand that it was a different time and really a different culture, but animal cruelty always bothers me, fictional or not.
The only other thing I didn't like about the book was that it was very thick and wasn't very well edited. The premise of the story is a good one..the characters were great, but the book was so beefy. It was repetitive in many places and that too detracted from the quality of the book. The book could have been heavily edited and the story would have been just as good, but it likely would have made it even better.
Out of 5, I'd probably give the book a 3 and 1/2. It was a page turner (for me). I was eager to more about the characters and their stories. But I did skip over a number of paragraphs that I felt weren't adding anything to the story. I have read some reviews about the story not being very historically accurate, but given my limited knowledge of the religion and the separation of Church and State, I didn't think it took away from the story any.
I'd recommend this book to those looking for something to read. It's a good one, but like I said, it could have been better.
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