Scan barcode
mrbear's review against another edition
4.0
If you've gotten this far in the series, you probably mostly know what to expect and will be excited to listen to the third book. This book starts with the Cuban Missile Crisis and concludes roughly with the falling of the Berlin Wall. It studies the rise to prominence of music over this period, the slow deterioration of the communist economy, the civil rights movement, free journalism, and a few other more minor themes. Unlike some of the previous books, I felt this book did less of a good job connecting the generations. Though some families, such as George's and Rebecca's, are still relevant in the story, most of the characters from the previous book take a very secondary role in this one and are rarely if ever POV characters, despite the previous book ending just 10-15 years before the start of this one. While new characters were certainly needed to carry through to the end of the time period, I felt this decision was a little questionable.
Overall, if you've gotten this far, it's absolutely worth the read. That said, trying to piece through the Follett books in my head, I think I probably enjoyed the Kingsbridge trilogy more.
Overall, if you've gotten this far, it's absolutely worth the read. That said, trying to piece through the Follett books in my head, I think I probably enjoyed the Kingsbridge trilogy more.
cllamach's review against another edition
3.0
A great book, a fitting end to an amazing trilogy, it catches you from the start and at least for me was a point of finishing in a couple of days with a long sitting in one day in which i practically devoured more than half the book.
A vision of times of great changes, expertly combined with human and personals histories that give this book a sense of placement in space rather than just the time of political shifts and conflicts. A great cast of characters, although i must say that lacking in regards of the first two entries of the series, but with a good touch of endings for some that were a part of the stories since the first book, not so, in my opinion, for the ones in the center of this particular novel.
That is the thing that did this book great for me, reconnecting with names and personalities that make a deep impact in "The Fall of the Giants" and the "Winter of the World", and although some were left implied, it's lack of closure felt for the primary ones in this last entry that leaves a weird taste after closing the book.
Without a doubt the fall of the infamous wall is the perfect point from a historical point to set an end to the historical part of the novel, but the fictional part of it, somewhat suffers for it, some of the most charismatic and dear characters were in the URSS, that continued to exist still for some time after the german reunification and missing to show the reader their reactions, expectations, plans and dreams make it hard to say i was satisfied with a mere epilogue that treated only a single portion, and i would dare to say not the main one, of the political conflicts in the book.
So, making a long list of ramblings late in the night short... a great book with a expected, but somewhat lacking ending for a book expected by me for years.
A vision of times of great changes, expertly combined with human and personals histories that give this book a sense of placement in space rather than just the time of political shifts and conflicts. A great cast of characters, although i must say that lacking in regards of the first two entries of the series, but with a good touch of endings for some that were a part of the stories since the first book, not so, in my opinion, for the ones in the center of this particular novel.
That is the thing that did this book great for me, reconnecting with names and personalities that make a deep impact in "The Fall of the Giants" and the "Winter of the World", and although some were left implied, it's lack of closure felt for the primary ones in this last entry that leaves a weird taste after closing the book.
Without a doubt the fall of the infamous wall is the perfect point from a historical point to set an end to the historical part of the novel, but the fictional part of it, somewhat suffers for it, some of the most charismatic and dear characters were in the URSS, that continued to exist still for some time after the german reunification and missing to show the reader their reactions, expectations, plans and dreams make it hard to say i was satisfied with a mere epilogue that treated only a single portion, and i would dare to say not the main one, of the political conflicts in the book.
So, making a long list of ramblings late in the night short... a great book with a expected, but somewhat lacking ending for a book expected by me for years.
meghanrherold's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
andrew_m's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
b0hemian_graham's review against another edition
5.0
Follet did it. He managed to condense essentially 47 years of history and political turmoil into approximately 1000 pages. I enjoyed this one the best out of the entire trilogy. I especially liked how music was employed as a political tool and tied everything together. There was some sensationalism, and some rather ridiculous plot points, but at the same time, they worked within the frame of the novel as 1961-1989 (with the 2008 epilogue)were pretty sensational, and at times, utterly ridiculous in so many ways.
I'm also very surprised and slightly disappointed over the lack of Britain other than the music scence of the 1960s. You'd think there would be more on Thatcher in this novel.
I'm still trying to adjust my thoughts on this one, but it's definitely a trilogy I wouldn't mind seeing adapated into a miniseries such as his Pillars of the Earth novels were.
Edit: Also, Follett still seems to be unable to write sex scenes that don't come across as if they were written by a horny 13-year old boy who writes fanfiction in his spare time. Thankfully, they didn't seem as prominent as they are in some of his other novels, but some of them were still distracting and entertaining for the wrong reasons, as in, I was giggling like a school girl and rolling my eyes at how bad some of them were.
I'm also very surprised and slightly disappointed over the lack of Britain other than the music scence of the 1960s. You'd think there would be more on Thatcher in this novel.
I'm still trying to adjust my thoughts on this one, but it's definitely a trilogy I wouldn't mind seeing adapated into a miniseries such as his Pillars of the Earth novels were.
Edit: Also, Follett still seems to be unable to write sex scenes that don't come across as if they were written by a horny 13-year old boy who writes fanfiction in his spare time. Thankfully, they didn't seem as prominent as they are in some of his other novels, but some of them were still distracting and entertaining for the wrong reasons, as in, I was giggling like a school girl and rolling my eyes at how bad some of them were.
msavich's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5