Pillars of the Earth

[Libra]

I loved this book, i read it a few months ago and it's on my favorites list , but a lot of people are making the argument that it is not historically accurate. Me personally i am not a history buff so i could not really give an opinion, but i loved the book.

[nj1]

Finished Pillars last night, great read. I agree with the earlier comment about the constant switching between good and evil, a bit much by the end of the book, you kind of knew what was going to happen and that good would come out on top. The fact that William Hamleigh was allowed to get away with all sorts and still be given the post of sheriff was a bit annoying, I know he bought the post, but still. Was also a bit dissapointed with his comeuppance, I felt his end could have been harsher, maybe a bit of torture first, he definately deserved it.
The biggest shock for me was the end of Tom Builder, didn't see that one coming.
Overall an enjoying read and wil definately go back to this book some time in the future.

Any comments on the sequel, is it worth a read?

[Riselka]

Originally Posted by nj1

Any comments on the sequel, is it worth a read?

Well worth the read, IMHO.

It's not the "grand scale" novel that POTE is, as there's no one big building project going on throughout the book. The characterizations are similar to those in POTE - same really bad people getting away with things before finally getting their comeuppance, and good people getting put upon by the afore-mentioned bad people. But that's kind of par-for-the-course with most novels.

In respect to William Hamleigh, it probably would have been more realistic if he never actually got his comeuppance, and instead died peacefully in his sleep of old age, but I guess a lot of readers probably would have gotten very angry if Follett had done this.

[Rosemary]

I did finish reading 'World Without End' and it and 'Pillars of the Earth' will most certainly be re-read.

With World Without End, Follett has written another very good book IMO. I really enjoy Historical Fiction and I would certainly recommend it to other history fans.