Unputdownables Book Club discussion
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Fall of Giants
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I agree with you. When I went to purchase this I was put off from the reviews on Amazon. I am glad I looked further and saw the reason why. It almost made me reconsider. I think that I can't be the only one who would assume it was about the book, not the kindle price. I am glad I did look further and the book is on its way. I am looking forward to it.
Vicki wrote: "I agree with you. When I went to purchase this I was put off from the reviews on Amazon. I am glad I looked further and saw the reason why. It almost made me reconsider. I think that I can't be the..." Thanks for your reply! Wallace encouraged me to open a new discussion thread and I was a little scared to do it...as in...what if nobody replies...oh crap, I'll probably get my feelings hurt. I'm glad I did though because I just know this is going to be a really great book and it deserves some talk about it. You are going to love this novel. Did you know that this is the first in a trilogy? I pre-ordered two copies from Amazon, one to keep and one to give as a Christmas gift for a friend. They arrived two days after it came out. I didn't start it right away because I was deep into another unputdownable book, The Gargoyle.
I loved The Gargoyle. In fact, I had it from the library, but I got a copy later on. I am looking forward to the Fall Of Giants. I am glad you opened the thread, because I am sure it deserves some positive talk! Amazon is taking so long. It took 9 days for them even to ship my package and I am still waiting. I waited a bit because I am going by reputation. I still haven't read Pillars, though I have it. I need a good chunk of time to focus. Maybe we can chat when I get it :)
Vicki wrote: "I loved The Gargoyle. In fact, I had it from the library, but I got a copy later on. I am looking forward to the Fall Of Giants. I am glad you opened the thread, because I am sure it deserves some ..."I would love to chat with you about Pillars. It's been a long time since I have read it but I would like to read it again.
I am on page 341 of Fall of Giants and I love it. The book just rolls along at a fast pace because it is so interesting. I have read much criticism about the graphic sex in this book and I think that's just silly. In my opinion if you took out the humanistic situations and relations of people you might as well be sitting in on an 8th grade history class listening to a boring teacher who demands that you memorize historical dates. I love they way Follett interweaves history with interesting people to bring the story all together while you are learning new things about things that have really happened. I have wondered and asked in the last few years what caused WWI and what were the issues. Surprising no one I knew seem to be able to say anything that made sense until I started reading this marvelous novel where real life people are interwoven with historical fact.
I just got the book today. I haven't gotten too far yet, but I am looking forward to it. Are you going to continue to talk about it here?
Vicki wrote: "I just got the book today. I haven't gotten too far yet, but I am looking forward to it. Are you going to continue to talk about it here?"I will continue the talk. I love the book. I wrote a post but somehow lost it. I hate when that happens. I'm tired, I'll write more tommorrow.
Hi Vicki, Yes, I will continue to write about FOG, that is, if I can tear myself away from reading it long enough .ha ha There's something interesting and controversial that I want to say today about the book. There are no spoilers ahead.Some of the reviews I have read about this book have negative comments about how the sexual descriptions have taken away from the book. First of all, I don't find that the parts with sex in them are extremely graphic in description. The thing about Follett's historical novels is that he weaves stories about regular people through his historical epic novels such as Pillars of the Earth & World Without End. You can't write about the human condition, and make it interesting, without adding some sexual situations. I think that the people who are saying this are extreme history buffs that don't want to be bothered with books containing people situations in them. I say to these people read Edward Rutherfurd. He writes historical novels with a few people scattered through them to give the novel some substance. It's just a matter of two different writing styles. I have also read reviews that criticize Rutherfurd's writing style about bogging you down with too much history and not enough human interest stories. I happen to love both writing styles being somewhat of a history buff myself. But at least, by reading both styles I know what I facing when I start either author's books. Excuse me for going on about this subject but I think it's important, if you are a reader, to examine why you like one author's writing styles and don't like another's. I have tried to read some books that it seems like the whole world loves and they just didn't appeal to me. Sometime I know why I like or don't like a book and sometimes I don't know or care, but I always try to give careful thought to why I might dislike a certain book. It doesn't matter to me because there still are so many books out there that I will love, that I'll probably never get to read. That is one of the many reason that I love Goodreads. The people who post on it have helped me open my mind to more books that I could never imagine and to think about what I'm reading.
Mod
So, Judith, are you liking it as much as you liked Pillars and WWE?
I agree, once upon a time I wouldn't read historical fiction, but now I love it. I think goodreads has a lot to do with opening me up to new books. I love being surprised or even haspy I tried something new, even if I disliked it. I definitely would rather read a book that intertwines the life of people with history. I would love to talk more about the book but I spent a lot of time grading and writing lessons today. I am enjoying it, but it will take me awhile to get through. I will stop in to see how it's going with you and comment on where I am.
Wallace wrote: "I LOVE Ken Follett. I am in the middle of another historical fiction chuncker right now, so can't join you ladies... but if I finish soon I might hop onto the tail end of this read-a-long. So, Ju..."
Yes, I really loved Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and I love Fall of Giants just as much!
I just finished and here is my review:WOW! I loved this book! It never ceases to amaze me how Ken Follett can take simple words and make them so interesting and at the same time give you wonderful information to educate you in things you didn't know. Who knew that I would become interested in coal mining?. The only negative thing I can say is that the next one in the trilogy isn't ready for me to read yet. ha ha
The epic novel spans from pre to post WWI. It tells about the war that should never have happened because it was pushed on the people against their will by the European aristocrats, finally dragging America into it towards the end. The events that happened changed the world forever. The five families ,Welsh, English, German, Russian and American are romantically and politically interwoven with the events that led up to and through WWI and the Russian Bolshevik revolution. Follett creates such interest in the characters and the events that you can't stop reading. I carried my 3 pound book around with me for several days like it was a newborn baby! The characters were easy to follow , especially if you will refer to the cast of characters in the front of the book as they are introduced. It will soon become easy to switch from one set of characters, (and there are many) to another . Ethel and Maud are my two favorite characters. Maud comes from aristocracy and Ethel is her maid at the beginning of the book and from the middle on they become best friends while fighting together for the rights of women. They both go through some difficult times in their fight, but they courageously stand by their decisions. There are some despicable characters such as Fitz , a Welsh Viscount and his spoiled Russian wife Bea. They are they kind of characters that you "love to hate." I can hardly wait for the next book in this series!
For those of you who don't know what's going on at the Amazon site of this new novel, here's my take on it. A lot of ebook readers have decided to band together and protest the ebook price by writing 1 star protest under the review bring Follett's new book down to a two star rating. While I understand their anger to a point, I don't think that banning the book with one star reviews is the proper way to do this. This book is wonderful so far and I didn't expect anything less based on the fact that I have read all of his books and loved almost every one. Below is a comment that I made to a girl who mentioned this on Goodreads. Up until now I did not mention what I like to call the "Kindle Wars" because I didn't want to be the spreader of bad news. According to the readers who gave real reviews on Amazon this book is much higher than two stars.
For any one interested this is what I wrote in the comment. Please excuse my redundecy:
I too was blown away by the 2 star rating on Amazon until I realized that the ebook readers were using the 1 star rating to create a platform for their outrage at the pricing. I wrote my opinion of what was going on in an Amazon review. Being a long time Ken Follet fan, I was outraged at this situation of slamming a really great author to try to make a statement to the publishers about pricing but I still understand the complaint . Amazon was wrong to have let this occur because they review every review posted so I hold them ultimately responsible for "The Kindle Wars." By the way I am a lover of real books and my husband is a lover of ebooks.