The Pillars of the Earth has been hailed as one of the most triumphant novels of all time for decades now, and it deserves every bit of praise it has received. “When things are simple, fewer mistakes are made. The most expensive part of a building is the mistakes.” If you've been following my reading journey this year, you'll know I've been struggling to find a book in the genres I usually read—fantasy and science fiction—that truly blew me away. In fact, even though it's already July, I stil...

7.2 MILLION STARS!Did I just devour one of the most incredible books ever written? Yes, yes, I absolutely did!I can't sing enough praises for Ken Follett's *The Pillars of the Earth*: the story, the writing, the characters – every single element is perfect!If someone had pitched me, "Here's a thousand-page epic about the construction of a cathedral in England a thousand years ago," I probably would have dozed off before they finished the sentence. But never judge a book by its description! Yes, ...

"He was mesmerized by the challenge of making soft, round shapes out of hard rock. The stone had a will of its own, and if he tried to make it do something it did not want to do, it would fight him, and his chisel would slip, or dig in too deeply, spoiling the shapes. But once he had got to know the lump of rock in front of him he could transform it." There are so many memorable characters populating this epic novel that I would be hard pressed to even say who is the main character of this no...

“The most expensive part of building is the mistakes.” Okay, so it's tough to put into words exactly *why* I loved this book. Seriously, if you glance at the blurb, clock the **973 pages**, and realize it's a seriously long story about constructing a cathedral in Medieval England, you might think I'm off my rocker. But for me – and I suspect for tons of other readers – it was **utterly gripping**.Let's get the unpleasant stuff out of the way first: if scenes of rape are a trigger for you, DO ...

This book, *The Pillars of the Earth* by Ken Follett, was so completely fantastic that I almost forgot the outside world existed while I was reading it. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a story as I was with this one. It’s a rare book that does this to me. I think it’s because it follows the characters through such a large proportion of their lives, resulting in a large amount of intimacy and investment with them. Indeed, *The Pillars of the Earth* spans a massive period of forty years...

This book, "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett, was popular? Like, a mini-phenomenon? Seriously? Am I being punked? Tell me the truth—did anyone *actually* read "The Pillars of the Earth"? It feels like an elaborate media/pop culture scheme to trick *me* into reading this book. Please lie to me and say that's true. I'm not sure I can go on living if I have to believe that this is what my fellow humans are reading these days. I need a good book review to restore my faith in humanity!My utte...

I devour books. That's my euphemism for being so obsessed that I can't put them down and basically abandon my life until I finish them. For shorter books, that's usually not a problem, but for Ken Follett's 974-page *The Pillars of the Earth*... well, let's just say we ran out of food, my children were clinging to my legs begging for snacks, and the floors didn't get vacuumed for a solid five days while I chipped away at this massive book. CLIFF HANGER: *The Pillars of the Earth* isn't the kind...

I know I'm going to be in the minority here, but this is truly one of the worst books I have ever read. I came so close to throwing "The Pillars of the Earth" across the room on several occasions, and ended up skipping through many pages just to get to the final and not too surprising finish. The characters were flat and lifeless and seemed to have been transplanted from the 20th century into medieval England. The book was rife with unnecessary profanity that in no way enhanced the storyline an...

I wouldn't say I *hated* **The Pillars of the Earth** (hate's too strong, and I give Ken Follett props for *trying* to write an epic). But I definitely didn't *like* it. From page one, his writing style hit me like a ton of bricks. Jim loved it, so I kept trying to convince myself to give it a chance, hoping it would improve. Around page 500, seeing my misery, Jim asked why I didn't just quit. But by then, I was invested. I'd spent so much time already, I *had* to finish, and I couldn't wait for...

Seriously, "The Pillars of the Earth" is one of the worst books I've ever subjected myself to. The only reason I actually finished Ken Follett's doorstop is because I'm pathologically incapable of abandoning a book once I've started. Consider yourself warned: this is less a historical novel and more a historical endurance test. The writing itself is just…terrible. The plot lurches along with all the subtlety of a medieval siege engine, but I couldn't muster a single iota of interest in any of t...