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The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)

Ken Follett

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Apr 20, 2008 ScottK rated it really liked it

So, I was feeling really good the other day when I finally broke down and bought this. I started reading it as soon as I got home and so far it has been really good,granted I am only just starting section 2. I am on page 308 or something like that. With over 600 pages to go until it ends I have no idea what else is going to happen to stop the freaking building of the Cathedral. I guess we shall see.........so far though I am loving it,despite it's being on the Oprah list. :)

UPDATE : Alright I h So, I was feeling really good the other day when I finally broke down and bought this. I started reading it as soon as I got home and so far it has been really good,granted I am only just starting section 2. I am on page 308 or something like that. With over 600 pages to go until it ends I have no idea what else is going to happen to stop the freaking building of the Cathedral. I guess we shall see.........so far though I am loving it,despite it's being on the Oprah list. :)

UPDATE : Alright I have almost made it...there is a light at the end of the tunnel,I am on page 814, only a little over 100 pages from the end. This book has taught me alot about masonry and perseverance. I mean really come on who can read 814 pages and not learn something about perseverance,or Masonry for that matter.But seriously folks ..<*** SPOILERS ***>...I mean really how many times is your cathedral going to get burned,torched smashed,wrecked and how many times are you going to let the people of your village be trampled,torched and starved, before you say enough is enough. I am truly enjoying the book though, not sure if I will read the sequel or not but this book really is a great one with epic scope. The one thing that I still have not gotten over completely is the way Tom Builder's death was handled. He got kicked in the head by a horse and that's about the extent of the coverage.Oh yea and Jack finds the body. Ellen grieves for the rest of the book, but he is hardly given story time in his death that he was when he was usefully building the whole Cathedral and all. The very least that could have been done would have been a huge funeral with alot of crying and swearing of vengence and all , but that's just me.

LAST UPDATE I am done!!!! I actually finished a few days ago but I wanted to ruminate on it a bit. I gave this book 4 stars might have been more but 4 I think is good enough, I just was not happy with the way they just brushed off Tom Builder, I mean c'mon, he was the one that started the freakin' Cathedral for goodness sake. Overall it was an awesome book, my intrest in all of the characters stayed fresh, which I can imagine it is hard, to keep someone interested in others for almost 1000 pages.I am glad that Jonathan did get to find out about his parents and knew that they did love him. Bottom Line : Glad I read it. Still not sure if I will have the fortitude to read the sequel or not but that remains to be seen. ...more

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Mar 08, 2008 Lorena rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-fiction

This book was just OK. The writing was fairly simplistic, and it seemed like a lot of the plot was driven by the need to fill enough time for a cathedral to be built by hand than by the organic demands of the story itself. Sort of like the author was staring at the manuscript and thinking "crap, it's going to take them at least another 15 years to build this thing...let's see, I guess the villain should do something else villainous for a while." Even the villainous deeds got pretty repetitive. I ...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Candice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My husband read this book and suggested that I read it. I told him I would wait until our vacation. Since it is so long, I figured I would have to take just one book. I was right. When did I finish? As the plane landed. How's that for timing? It was quite a tale. At its heart is the building of a cathedral in 12th century England. But there's a lot more. Lots of intrigue regarding the succession to the throne, the rich vs. the poor, and the shifting of alliances. While most of the characters wer ...more

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