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Loading... Pillars of the Earth (1989)by Ken Follett
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoyed reading what I did, the book is too explicit about sexual abuse and violent thoughts. I had to put it down less than halfway in and still can't pick it back up over a year later. This was a gift from my daughter, or I never would have tried it. I enjoyed it very much, and loved the stories of the construction of the early cathedrals. An epic history of a few families in England, over long spans of time. A book I enjoyed back when I enjoyed long books. I bought this book on a whim several years ago and for a LONG time, was not inclined to read it. Partly this was because it’s long – my copy was almost 1100 pages – and partly because a book based around the building of a cathedral in the 12th century didn’t quite grab me (I know, I know, nobody made me buy it!) Anyhow, for whatever reason I finally decided it was time I read it and overall I would say I’m glad I did…but I probably wouldn’t read any more in this series. After a short prologue where a man is hanged for theft and the people who condemned him are cursed, the story proper starts. There’s a lot of characters but centering around one core group and right from the outset it is absolutely clear who the good people are and who the villains are. This for me was one of the things that annoyed me slightly; there isn’t a great deal of character development and the villains are almost cartoonish or pantomime villains (not that I think any of their crimes should end up in a cartoon or panto.) I think the author did try to infuse the decent and good characters with some small flaws, but nothing to make the reader ever suspect that these were the ones we should be rooting for. Nonetheless, the story did hold my attention and I cared enough to want to see the bad people get their comeuppance – no spoilers here though. There were some quite lengthy sections about the actual mechanics of building the cathedral which left me somewhat cold – I found it hard to picture of the finished building and after a while decided it didn’t matter – but these parts may appeal to others. On reflection, the story is pretty much a soap opera set in mediaeval times – there are two sides and it is clear which one the reader is meant to be on. But it did become slightly repetitive after a while and I feel that a good editor could have improved this book by cutting out some of the superfluous parts. On a side note – the language used by the characters seemed very 20th century to me and not at all what I would have expected from a book set in the 1100s – this may annoy some readers although it did not personally bother me. An interesting read but not one I would particularly want to revisit. Avevo intenzione di leggere I pilastri della terra da tantissimo tempo e ho preso la palla al balzo quando mi è stato proposto di prenderlo in prestito. Inutile specificare che avessi della buone aspettative su questo romanzo, così osannato in lungo e in largo. Ecco, bisognerebbe sempre fare molta attenzione a crearsi delle alte aspettative quando ti presentano un libro con strilloni del tipo “il romanzo che ha venduto oltre 14 milioni di copie in tutto il mondo”. Di fatto non vogliono dire niente: magari il libro ha fatto schifo alla maggioranza di loro. Comunque, lasciando da parte le strategie di marketing dell'editoria, cominciamo a parlare de I pilastri della terra e di cosa non mi è piaciuto. Innanzi tutto, è troppo lungo. Ken Follett ci ha propinato 1030 pagine di monotone e fastidiose ripetizioni: l'intero romanzo è una partita di calcetto tra buoni e cattivi. Chi segna più reti vince – e indovinate un po' chi saranno i vincitori? Ogni cento pagine si ripete ossessivamente lo stesso schema: i buoni vogliono fare qualcosa, i cattivi glielo impediscono, i buoni riescono a fare goal lo stesso con vari stratagemmi. Mamma mia, che palle! E pensare che Follett ha voluto pure giocare in casa con una sapiente scelta di personaggi: ognuno di questi, infatti, è stato etichettato in modo da suscitare naturalmente simpatia o antipatia nell'animo del lettore. È difficile non parteggiare per la donne violentata e il giovane selvaggio ma brillante; allo stesso tempo, si può facilmente odiare il vescovo arrivista e il signore violento. Peccato che l'insieme risulti così vuoto da rendere per lo più inutile il tempo speso in questa lettura. Al di là della mera narrazione di fatti, infatti, I pilastri della terra non trasmette nulla. Quale dovrebbe essere il messaggio? Il bene vince sempre? La Disney trasmette il messaggio in maniera decisamente più efficace.
Great literature? Of course not. To begin with, the plot relies far too heavily on coincidence, and the characters tend to be chiseled into predictability. The writing depends heavily on dialogue - and although it's well-done dialogue, it's the stuff of escapism, not of the ages. But so what? It's a long, rich and rewarding story, full of glory and violence told in the tradition of medieval troubadors. Few among us could turn away from a tale that begins: ''The small boys came early to the hanging.'' A novel of majesty and power. Is contained inKen Follett The Kingsbridge Novels Stories Collection 3 Books Set (The Pillars of the Earth, World Without End, A Column of Fire) by Ken Follett (indirect) Set of 16 Techno-Thrillers by Ken Follett (Whiteout, Hornet Flight, Jackdaws, Code to Zero, Hammer of Eden, Third Twin, A Place Called Freedom, A Dangerous Fortune, Night Over Water, Lie Down with Lions, Man from St. Petersburg, Key to Rebecca, Triple, Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth) by Ken Follett ContainsHas the adaptationIs abridged inHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsWhitcoulls Top 100 Books (9 – 2008) Whitcoulls Top 100 Books (22 – 2010) Notable ListsHungarian Big Read (69)
Set in twelfth-century England, this epic of kings and peasants juxtaposes the building of a magnificent church with the violence and treachery that often characterized the Middle Ages. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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