Bibliofreakblog

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

This is an epic book.  973 pages.  But Follett makes it go by fast, both because there is always something happening, and because of his straightforward writing style.  He owes this, I suppose, to his years as a thriller novelist.  But this is not another pulp novel that just happens to be set in the Middle Ages.  This might just go down as a classic.

The Pillars of the Earth span a couple of generations, from the inception of a great Cathedral, through its construction, to its completion.  This is historically accurate as most cathedrals were such vast productions that they took decades to build.  

Meanwhile, the cathedral, Follett’s inspiration for the book, serves as both a plot device and a character in and of itself.

There are several important, well developed characters worthy of discussion here, but I want to focus on one in particular.  William of Hamleigh is perhaps one of the scariest men in literature.  It is his completeness as a character that makes him so terrifying.  He gets scared.  He fears for his own soul.  He doesn’t understand his own wrongdoing.  He lets wrath and revenge carry him away.  He is easily manipulated.  

William rapes, burns, and pillages without remorse.  But he has motives beyond his own immediate desires and political developments.  His father was a low-ranked knight, but William feels that his family has been wronged.  He can’t bear the thought of bringing shame to his family’s name.  If he feels that he has been shamed or looked down upon, ire fills him up until he must act.  He tries to take his family to what he feels is their rightful place.  His mother, who has terrible facial disfiguration, steers him in the direction of power, by whatever means necessary.  

William is a young man at the beginning of the book.  All of his raping and killing leads to a sadistic nature growing inside him as he grows older.  In the beginning he enjoys using his power to bed local peasant girls, but eventually he is unable to have sex without violence, such is the state of his bloodlust.  

And still, still, he is afraid for his mortal soul.  William’s allies use his fear to their advantage, as the clergy is able to absolve his sins, sometimes in advance.  But never does he feel bad for taking a life.  He only fears for himself.  He is an ego-maniacal villain of the worst kind: vulnerable to a fault in his concern for himself, both in this life and the next.

There is one annoyance towards the end of the book that I must quickly discuss.  Follett makes good use of the politics in 12th century England, but I dislike his use of Thomas a’ Becket and his demise as a plot device.  In general, I do not like the use of historical figures, but this really takes the cake.  It was as if Follet ran out of ideas at the end and so decided to lop his characters in both with Becket and his opponents.  It’s irritating after such a good read, complete with twists and turns.

That, along with a tendency to sometimes “tell” rather than “show” are my only complaints about this book.  And really, I can get over them each because after 900 pages of great action and character development, I can focus on that rather than the whole Becket nonsense.  As for the telling and not showing, there is an argument to be made that it helps with the rate of reading such a thick book.  Besides, there’s always something going on, so it doesn’t get dull, and the characters are mostly well fleshed out.

And so really, that’s why I think it has the criteria for a classic.

 
Buy The Pillars of the Earth on Amazon

If you like this book/author, you might like:

(my reviews in blue)

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Poland by James Michner
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
Decameron by Giovanni Baccaccio
Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran

Other Works by Ken Follett:

World Without End
Jackdaws
Code to Zero
The Third Twin
Night Over Water
Whiteout
The Hammer of Eden
The Man From St. Petersburg
A Dangerous Fortune
Hornet Flight
A Place Called Freedom
Eye of the Needle
On Wings of Eagles
The Key to Rebecca
The Modigliani Scandal
Lie Down With Lions
Triple
Paper Money