The Pillars of the Earth
Reviewed by Hotspur

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The Pillars of the Earth
By Ken Follett

This book, written in 1989, has been popular since it was published but is currently experiencing a sudden increase in popularity due to Oprah Winfrey having chosen it for her Book Club last year. On that recommendation alone, I would normally advise everyone to just ignore the book, but many of my friends kept mentioning it, then my wife read it. Afterward it was laying around the house, so I thought, “Okay, this book is about cathedral building in the middle ages. I’ve had a long career in architecture and construction, I’m a Catholic, I’m a history buff, and what the hell, give me the damn thing.”

The story takes place in twelfth century England during a time of anarchy, civil war, and an intense struggle to gain and maintain control of the throne. That, however, is more of a minor sub-plot. The main plot takes place in the fictional village of Kingsbridge, where an ambitious monastic Prior is the central character in myriad struggles between good and evil that see-saw backwards and forwards throughout the book. As I mentioned earlier, the story is about building a cathedral, but not just any cathedral. It eventually becomes the most beautiful cathedral in the world.

But wait, there’s loads more. To begin with, Mr. Follett’s ability to weave a tale is masterful. His use of historical figures and places mixed with fictional people and places makes the story very believable. The characters literally come alive with personalities that you can’t be indifferent to. You come to love them and you come to hate them and, as I said, there is plenty of good and evil to go around in this book.

There are also many plot twists that make the story lively and intriguing. It’s like turning a corner and seeing something that you never expected to be there, and you long to see what’s next.

Something that mildly annoyed me though, was Mr. Follett’s use of incredible coincidences. There were times when characters were thrown together, or circumstances played out, in what could only be described as dumb luck at best, or at worst complete bullshit. But then there are times when you know what you want to happen next, and you smile broadly when that is exactly where the story goes. There are also times when incredibly sad and loathsome events befall the characters.

If you’re going to read this book, and I highly suggest that you do, be warned, it is nearly 1,000 pages, and very hard to put down. You'll learn about cathedral design and construction, life in the middle ages, some history, what monastic life was like, how the economy functioned, how villages turn into towns, and how politically intertwined church and state were during those times.