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Book Review of The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth
reviewed Haunting, wonderful characters on
Helpful Score: 1


This was my first Ken Follett read. I simply loved it. I finished it in less than a week and haven't stopped thinking about it. Many reviews mention the violence and indeed there is gore, sexual violence and other graphic scenes...but these were not kind times. Nor are these scenes representative of the entire book. However, they were important, I feel, to the story line, the reader's sympathy for some characters and hatred of others. The character development was incredible. Every person was multi-dimensional and even the most lovable were flawed, challenging the reader to understand and forgive them, or not, along the way. I enjoyed this book much the way I enjoyed The Mists of Avalon, The Red Tent, Ender's Game, and other books with flawed, complicated and interesting characters. I found the subplot (primary plot?) of the building of the cathedral fascinating in all its detail...the reading sped along throughout.