Suzanne's review of The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition)
by Ken Follett

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2157743.The_Pillars_of_the_Earth?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1210282506m/2157743.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2157743.The_Pillars_of_the_Earth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Pillars of the Earth</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3447.Ken_Follett">Ken Follett</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17434575?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 1 of 5 stars One star might still be too-high-praise.
 
 I'd read a positive review of this....then saw that Oprah had selected it with rave recommendations. Decided to give it a try, even though after 2 dips into his popular thillers, I'd give up on Follet years ago.
 
 I did finish POTE...Follet has the ability to cast a net and draw you in to the story...he is gifted at imagining a scenario and characters that are compelling...but he's really only a mediocre story-teller. My desire to see how it ended, how he finally resolved the conflict, was only slightly stronger than my annoyance at having been tricked into wasting my time. As I was reading, wondering all the while about what it is that bugs me so much about his writing, I read a line that crystallized it for me. One character was about to brutalize another and the emotion/expression F. attributed to the brute was completely inappropriate for that moment of out of control passion/power/subjugation. Instead of a climax, it was a deflation. A good storyteller doesn't annoy his reader with sloppy execution. Follet doesn't really "work" at his craft. I don't care what Oprah says, he isn't a good writer.
 
 The story of the building of the cathedral was interesting. But as I look back at the experience of reading POTE, I realized that the shear length of time it took to build a cathedral (or portion of a cathedral) extended the book far past the strength of it's characters and plot-line. 
 
 The only part of the book that was really worth reading was Follet's introduction--specifically his adult rejection of everything his childhood represented. It explained so much.
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/569236?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Suzanne's review
rating:

One star might still be too-high-praise.

I'd read a positive review of this....then saw that Oprah had selected it with rave recommendations. Decided to give it a try, even though after 2 dips into his popular thillers, I'd give up on Follet years ago.

I did finish POTE...Follet has the ability to cast a net and draw you in to the story...he is gifted at imagining a scenario and characters that are compelling...but he's really only a mediocre story-teller. My desire to see how it ended, how he finally resolved the conflict, was only slightly stronger than my annoyance at having been tricked into wasting my time. As I was reading, wondering all the while about what it is that bugs me so much about his writing, I read a line that crystallized it for me. One character was about to brutalize another and the emotion/expression F. attributed to the brute was completely inappropriate for that moment of out of control passion/power/subjugation. Instead of a climax, it was a deflation. A ...more

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