The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)

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Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.Everything readers expect from Follett is here intrigue, fast paced action, and passionate romance But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century the place feudal England and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral Follett has re created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves Tom, the master builder Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge Jack, the artist in stone and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king For the Movie tie in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition Download The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1) – kino-fada.fr I devour books That is my euphemism for being so OCD that I can t put it down and live my life until I finish it For shorter books, that s generally not a problem, but for the 974 page Pillars of the Earthwell, let s just say we ran out of food, my children clung to my legs asking for food, and the floors did not get vacuumed for a good five days while I whittled away at this book.CLIFF HANGER This book is not a cliff hanger at the end of every chapter kind of book, which makes it easier t I devour books That is my euphemism for being so OCD that I can t put it down and live my life until I finish it For shorter books, that s generally not a problem, but for the 974 page Pillars of the Earthwell, let s just say we ran out of food, my children clung to my legs asking for food, and the floors did not get vacuumed for a good five days while I whittled away at this book.CLIFF HANGER This book is not a cliff hanger at the end of every chapter kind of book, which makes it easier to read it in multiple sittings However, Follett does such a masterful job of character development, that I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next whether the end of the chapter contained a cliffhanger ending or not.CHARACTER DEV T Each character is so beautifully defined and fleshed out, that they become almost real...This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers To view it, click here This book was popular As in a mini phenomenon Seriously Am I being punked Tell the truth no one else read the book It was all an elaborate media pop culture scheme to trick me into reading this book Please lie to me about this I m not sure I can go on living if I have to believe that this is what my fellow man is reading these days.My utter disdain for the book comes from many a source A It s 900 pages Mind you, I ll read 900 pages, even 1,500 pages, if it s amazing But it has to be a This book was popular As in a mini phenomenon Seriously Am I being punked Tell the truth no one else read the book It was all an elaborate media pop culture scheme to trick me into reading this book Please lie to me about this I m not sure I can go on living if I have to be...The most expensive part of building is the mistakesLook, it s difficult to explain exactly why I liked this book Seriously, if you take a look at the blurb, note the 973 pages, and the fact it s a very long story about building a cathedral in Medieval England, you might think I ve been smoking something But for me and I m assuming for a large number of other readers it was so damn compelling.I m going to get the crap out of the way first if you are sensitive to scenes of rape, DO NOThe most expensive part of building is the mistakesLook, it s difficult to explain exactly why I liked this book Seriously, if you take a look at the blurb, note the 973 pages, and the fact it s a very long story about building a cathedral in Medieval England, you might think I ve been smoking something But for me and I m assuming for a large number of other readers it was so damn compelling.I m going to get the crap out of the way first if you are sensitive to scenes of rape, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK Medieval England is a shitfest of misogyny, violence, accusations of witchcraft and, yes, rape One of the scenes is especially disturbing and graphic I actually had to take a break from the book after reading it I should say that it is not portrayed as a positive, or even a normal, thing Scenes of rape and brutal violence in the book largely serve to make us despise William Hamleigh with a ferocious passion It turns out that a deep, seeth...I did not hate this book hate would be too strong a word, and I can t hate it because I applaud the fact that Ken Follett attempted to write an epic novel But I did not like it I didn t like it from the start his writing style hit me like a brick, but Jim thoroughly enjoyed the book that I kept trying to convince myself that I ought to give it a chance, hoping it would get better When I was about 500 pages in, he saw how miserable I was and asked why I didn t just stop reading it, but at t I did not hate this book hate would be too strong a word, and I can t hate it because I applaud the fact that Ken Follett attempted to write an epic novel But I did not like it I didn t li...7.2 MILLION STARS Did I just read one of the most amazing books I have ever read Yes, yes I did I cannot say enough about this book, the story, the writing, the characters, etc etc etc Everything is perfect If someone had said to me, Here is a 1000 page book about the building of a cathedral 1000 years ago in England I probably would have fallen asleep before the end of their sentence But, do not judge a book by...This is seriously one of the worst books I ve ever read The only reason I finished the book is because I cannot put a book down once I start.The writing is terrible The plotting may be dramatic, but I had almost zero interest in any of the characters they seem to exist merely for events to happen to them, like actors in a disaster movie Beyond that there seemed to be three characters in the book Bad guy, good guy, and good victimized yet able to overcome girl.What got me most was Ken Foll This is seriously one of the worst books I ve ever read The only reason I finished the book is because I cannot put a book down once I start.The writing is terrible The plotting may be dramatic, but I had almost zero interest in any of the characters they seem to exist merely for events to happen to them, like actors in a disaster movie Beyond that there seemed to be three characters in the book Bad guy, good guy, and good victimized yet able to overcome girl.What got me most was Ken Follett seemed so proud of his historical research that he mentions every 40 pages, _____ took out his her eating knife Really, they didn t have forks, how is constantly reminding the audience of this fact important to the story There were other oft repeated throughout the novel as well This seemed like an attempt to fool the audience into thinking they re immersed in the middle ages, when the rest of the book could have taken place anywhere in time One fact does not a novel make unless it s a really clever...This book was so completely fantastic that I almost forgot the outside world existed when I was reading it I ve never be so emotionally invested in a story, as I was with this It s a rare book that does this to me I think it s because it follows the characters through such a large proportion of their lives, resulting in a large amount of intimacy and investment with them Indeed, this novel spans a massive period of forty years and has 1000 pages this is no light reading it is deep, emotiv This book was so completely fantastic that I almost forgot the outside world existed when I was reading it I ve never be so emotionally invested in a story, as I was with this It s a rare book that does this to me I think it s because it follows the characters through such a large proportion of their lives, resulting in a large amount of intimacy and investment with them Indeed, this novel spans a massive period of forty years and has 1000 pages this is no light reading it is deep, emotive and completely brilliant The intense story So much happens within this novel It s impossible to lay it down in a brief summary these characters, quite literally, go through hell Such is the life of commoners in the period They are good folk, and are just trying to erect a church for the better...I read this out of order as once I read World Without End, I was so captivated that I had to go back to read this one It was good, but I much preferred World Without End Follett creates such a remarkable world full of characters you love and you hate And to think it takes place over 500 years ago so many historical adventures, realities I love the relationship people had with the church not so much from a religious perspective, but in how it defined every action and thought in the I read this out of order as once I read World Without End, I was so captivated that I had to go back to read this one It was good, but I much preferred World Without End Follett creates such a remarkable world full of characters you love and you hate And to think it takes place over 500 years ago so many historical adventures, realities I love the relationship people had with the church not so much from a religious perspective, but in how it defined every action and thought in their day It was a powerful time period And when I think about what I would have done if I lived in that time period not sure I would have survived very long.The detail woven into these stories is exemplary That s what makes his novels feel so magical and invitingAbout MeFor those new to me or my reviews here s the scoop I read A LOT I write A LOT And now I blog A LOT First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at where you ll also find TV Film reviews, the revealing and intros...He was mesmerized by the challenge of making soft, round shapes out of hard rock The stone had a will of its own, and if he tried to make it do something it did not want to do, it would fight him, and his chisel would slip, or dig in too deeply, spoiling the shapes But once he had got to know the lump of rock in front of him he could transform it There are so many memorable characters populating this epic novel that I would be hard pressed to even say who is the main character of this novel He was mesmerized by the challenge of making soft, round shapes out of hard rock The stone had a will of its own, and if he tried to make it do something it did not want ...I know I m going to be in the minority here, but this is truly one of the worst books I have ever read I came so close to throwing the book across the room on several occasions, and ended up skipping through many pages just to get to the final and not too surprising finish The characters were flat and lifeless and seemed to have been transplanted from the 20th century into medieval England The book was rife with unnecessary profanity that in no way enhanced the storyline and obscene gratuitou I know I m going to be in the minority here, but this is truly one of the worst books I have ever read I came so close to throwing the book across the room on several occasions, and ended up skipping through many pages just to get to the final and not too surprising finish The characters were flat and lifeless and seemed to have been transplanted from the 20th century into medieval England The book was rife with unnecessary profanity that in no way enhanced the storyline and obscene gratuitous sex I mean how many times did William have to rape someone to prove that he was a really really bad guy I noticed that at least one other reviewer commented that this book was required reading in his child s school, which if you are a parent I would recommend you take a good look at this book and perhaps take issue with your school district As an adult I was shocked at the language and violence in this book, and find it to...

The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
  • English
  • 03 November 2018
  • Paperback
  • 973 pages
  • 0451207149
  • Ken Follett
  • The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)