I took a brief hiatus from the blog as I vacationed on Kauai for a week. I brought three long books to keep me occupied - and my husband was excited to note that he had already read two of them (and liked them both). The first, was The Pillars of the Earth - a book I had not heard of before a couple months ago when I requested it from the library. Come to find out since then that it has quite a cult following, and the only reason I've never heard of it is because I've apparently been living under a rock for the last 18 years. As many folks know, when it comes to things that everyone else in the world seems to love, I am highly skeptical and I look for any reason to criticize. But, I have to say that this book is without a doubt, the best one I have read all year - and I will add it to my favorite books of all time list. I am, however, at a bit of a loss as to how to describe it. It is ostensibly about the building of a Gothic cathedral in 12th century England - and amidst the plot, there is a lot of description about the various types of architecture, the development of certain styles (the flying buttress among them), and the intense labor and time it takes to built such a lasting monument. But, this is more a story about the people in the town of Knightsbridge and the never-ending political maneuvering it takes to obtain the power and money necessary to build the cathedral and stay alive. This book is filled with strong and clever female characters with fierce independence - which I loved, but given the times, they are often rendered powerless in the face of power-hungry savage males - which made parts of the book difficult to read. Follett does an incredible job developing his characters - even the ones you hate seem to have something in their background or belief system to make them marginally sympathetic. There are so many different ideas and plots woven throughout this book, that I can't begin to capture what was so amazing about it all. This book is a true epic - and one that you just have to read and see for yourself.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
I took a brief hiatus from the blog as I vacationed on Kauai for a week. I brought three long books to keep me occupied - and my husband was excited to note that he had already read two of them (and liked them both). The first, was The Pillars of the Earth - a book I had not heard of before a couple months ago when I requested it from the library. Come to find out since then that it has quite a cult following, and the only reason I've never heard of it is because I've apparently been living under a rock for the last 18 years. As many folks know, when it comes to things that everyone else in the world seems to love, I am highly skeptical and I look for any reason to criticize. But, I have to say that this book is without a doubt, the best one I have read all year - and I will add it to my favorite books of all time list. I am, however, at a bit of a loss as to how to describe it. It is ostensibly about the building of a Gothic cathedral in 12th century England - and amidst the plot, there is a lot of description about the various types of architecture, the development of certain styles (the flying buttress among them), and the intense labor and time it takes to built such a lasting monument. But, this is more a story about the people in the town of Knightsbridge and the never-ending political maneuvering it takes to obtain the power and money necessary to build the cathedral and stay alive. This book is filled with strong and clever female characters with fierce independence - which I loved, but given the times, they are often rendered powerless in the face of power-hungry savage males - which made parts of the book difficult to read. Follett does an incredible job developing his characters - even the ones you hate seem to have something in their background or belief system to make them marginally sympathetic. There are so many different ideas and plots woven throughout this book, that I can't begin to capture what was so amazing about it all. This book is a true epic - and one that you just have to read and see for yourself.
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