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The Pillars of the Earth | 
 enlarge | Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Pan Books
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £3.32
You Save: £5.67 (63%)
New (32) Used (8) from £2.19
Rating:  124 reviews
Sales Rank: 199
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 1100
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.9
ISBN: 0330450131
EAN: 9780330450133
ASIN: 0330450131
Publication Date: April 6, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book dispatched from stock in the UK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 119 more reviews...
 Gripping page turner set in medieval England July 4, 2008
Interweaving the lives of two families with a celibate monk and their arch-enemies, this tale brings to life adventure, conquest and power-lust in the twelfth century. Against the backdrop of cathedral building, all human emotions are exposed in the ruthless villains and (mostly) virtuous heroes. A classic tale of good and evil that captivates from the start - I couldn't put the book down.
Brilliant read July 3, 2008
From the first page I could not put this book down. At first sight a story about monks wanting to build a cathedral does not seem very exiting but the historical events and all the sub plots where fasinating.Not sure if I want to read the follow up "World without end" because usually it would be a let down, would be very hard to top this.
 This book seems to be like Marmite... June 26, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
... you either love it or hate it! And, with apologies to all the fans, I'm not keen. It came highly recommended, interestingly enough (if you read Ken Follett's introduction to the latest edition), by my German other half. But I found the book clunking. It is quite obvious, by the tedious descriptions of the technicalities of cathedral building, that this is a subject dear to the author's heart. Fair enough, I'm just not into cathedral building at great length: that's my problem, you might say. But I found the characterisation shallow - it has been mentioned before that the goodies are clearly goodies and the baddies unmistakably baddies - the relationship between Tom the builder and Ellen stunningly unbelievable, the reiteration of what has just happened before you turned the last page patronising, and much of the historical detail inaccurate. For example Tom has a fourteen year old son who is described as a child. In those days a twelve year old would be sent out to work and fight wars not allowed to play with the children - Alfred helps his father, but would surely have already been apprenticed at his age. Had he cut down on description of the building work (but since this is Follett's passion he would hardly have done so) and treated his readers a bit more like intelligent adults who can remember what was said a few pages ago, the shorter version of the book might have been more readable. I hovered between two and three stars but in the end decided that I couldn't justify the third.
Amazing story May 21, 2008
I bought this book based on a recommendation made by Amazon, and I wasn't disappointed.
I've read most of the reviews written, and with some I agree, with others not so much.
Most have said much about the plot, and I think I don't need to say much more.
What I can tell you is that, this book has some memorable characters. Usually a character doesn't bring to dislike him like I did with William Hamleigh.
I was in a constant array of emotions such as love, hope, despair, anger, just to name a few.
Although this book is about a 1000 pages long, it's a very pleasurable book to read.
And it was a bit difficult for me with some technical terms regarding the cathedral, since English is not my primary language.
I would recommend this book to anyone I know.
WOW - What A Marathon ! May 18, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a fabulous book of over 1000 pages but don't be daunted by the size of it. Many authors would have made this into a trilogy costing the reader 3 x 6.99 but this single book is very good value for money. The story follows three or four main groups of people through around fifty years of their lives with never a dull moment. It's a great reminder of how our ancestors used to live and how Medieval Britain used to be a savage, tribal country with much lawlessness. The story smoothly flows between monasteries, castles and the building of a cathedral. Although monks play a large part I certainly wouldn't say it is a religious book, on the contrary, it shows deviousness and politics between the monasteries and the people who run them. This book is a great find and very much look forward to reading the next book set in Kingsbridge - World Without End.
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