My boyfriend read Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth. It took him a while, but he loved it and refers to it as one of the best books he has ever read.
After he was finished he gave it to me to read. And, I have been reading, and reading, and reading.
I must say that I am enjoying it. All 973 pages. I'm currently on page 442. And, I will admit to glazing over part of it.
It is about a monk in the 1400s who builds a cathedral. Now that is a grand simplification. There are a dozen subplots and all of the characters are interesting. I am learning about the Middle Ages - its mason work and how these great cathedrals were built, the Church and its influence over every day life, politics of the time, what life was like for both the peasants and upper class, life on a monastery, etc. It was not an easy life not matter where you lived or what you did! Plus, there is a lot of violence, raping and just plain meanness going on. On the flip side, it also shows love between a man and a woman, love of family and love of God.
Since I started it I have read one other book (Dogs of Babel for my book club, which I recommend). I doubt that I will take another book break from it as I'm pretty caught up in it now that I'm almost half way through.
So, if you want to spend these long winter evenings reading a good book, I recommend this one. It will take you through to spring!
Oh, one more thing. I thought of listening to it on CDs in my car. Thirty-two CDs for the unabridged version! I'd have to drive to China and back!
2 comments:
I've heard of this - isn't it an Oprah pick? I'm tempted to get it from the library & burn my own copies of the CDs. Should take me several weeks to listen, even with my commute! Long audio books are a good thing for some of us!
Yes, it is a recent Oprah pick. From what I understand this book has been around for close to a decade, gaining popularity as time when on. Sue and I were laughing about listening to it on CD. I could drive to Atlanta, back to Milwaukee and almost back down to Atlanta before finishing it! The longest book I've ever listened to was 17 CDs and that was a lot!
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