Scan barcode
mepresley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I once again learned a lot while enjoying the reading experience. The main action spans from 1961 to 1989, and the epilogue takes us all the way to 2008. Here we have the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, the gay rights movement, the MLK/ JFK/ Bobby Kennedy assassinations, rock n' roll, hippies, Watergate, and the fall of the USSR/ Communism.
By this point in the Century Trilogy, the characters just felt plugged in, so to speak, to the historical events, chess pieces being moved around to show us crucial moments, with personal drama pinned on as an afterthought. The pacing also struck me as completely uneven, with relatively too much time devoted to the 1960s and too little to the 1970s and 1980s. We branch out geographically in Edge of Eternity, spending time in Cuba, Vietnam, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, & Lebanon, but at the expense of seeing much of anything at all in England / Wales, two of our primary locations in Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. I get that Follett couldn't really tackle the time period without mentioning the Vietnam War, but I also felt the novel was crucially lacking in engagement. I can only think of three real scenes about it, outside of George's discussions with Maria: Dimka & Natalya as part of a diplomatic commission trying to deescalate military engagement because the USSR couldn't afford to back the war , a single day of Jasper's time fighting, and the photo op of Evie in North Vietnam, which just turns into Cam taking personal revenge on her by smearing her publicly.
Reading through other reviews, I was also struck by the accuracy of the assessment that the more liberal historical figures are fleshed out and appear "on screen," so to speak (JFK, Bobby Kennedy, MLK, Gorbachev) whereas the conservative ones are seen only from a distance and essentially villainized.
My favorite moments in the book were sort of quiet, background happenings: every Rebecca-Hans interaction, especially the confrontations in the opening chapter; Fitz and Ethel (their final meeting; Fitz telling Lloyd that Maud died; Fitz and Dave going to East Berlin for Maud's funeral. PS Follett did Maud dirty with that lack of a sendoff); Bella standing up to Woody about Beep & Dave getting engaged; Grigori's deathbed scene; the dinner at the Lindeman household .
Of the new characters (or new focus characters) in this novel, I really enjoyed Verena, Maria, Evie, Dave, & Walli and loved-to-hate Jasper (who grew on me), Cam & Hans (who did not). I found Rebecca, Lilly, and Karolin kind of boring. George was also a bland character, but he was our access point to a lot of interesting moments. Tanya & Dimka were fine but my least favorite of the Russian mains in the trilogy. In the case of Dimka, it was the third iteration of growing disenchantment with Communism by a high-level government official (preceded, of course, by Grigori & Volodya). It's not that this feels unrealistic, it's just that I've read it before.
By this point in the Century Trilogy, the characters just felt plugged in, so to speak, to the historical events, chess pieces being moved around to show us crucial moments, with personal drama pinned on as an afterthought. The pacing also struck me as completely uneven, with relatively too much time devoted to the 1960s and too little to the 1970s and 1980s. We branch out geographically in Edge of Eternity, spending time in Cuba, Vietnam, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, & Lebanon, but at the expense of seeing much of anything at all in England / Wales, two of our primary locations in Fall of Giants and Winter of the World. I get that Follett couldn't really tackle the time period without mentioning the Vietnam War, but I also felt the novel was crucially lacking in engagement. I can only think of three real scenes about it, outside of George's discussions with Maria: Dimka & Natalya
Reading through other reviews, I was also struck by the accuracy of the assessment that the more liberal historical figures are fleshed out and appear "on screen," so to speak (JFK, Bobby Kennedy, MLK, Gorbachev) whereas the conservative ones are seen only from a distance and essentially villainized.
My favorite moments in the book were
Of the new characters (or new focus characters) in this novel, I really enjoyed Verena, Maria, Evie, Dave, & Walli and loved-to-hate Jasper (who grew on me), Cam & Hans (who did not). I found Rebecca, Lilly, and Karolin kind of boring. George was also a bland character, but he was our access point to a lot of interesting moments. Tanya & Dimka were fine but my least favorite of the Russian mains in the trilogy. In the case of Dimka,
aejohnson85's review against another edition
2.0
Certainly the weakest in the trilogy. I had difficulty getting through this one as I found that I didn't much like the characters! The events were much more political in nature and I found that while it was hard to believe the events that previous characters were involved in, this one was over the top - from a character who witnesses Martin Luther King's assassination to one who has an affair with JFK. It was just too hard to suspend belief in this one. I found the dialogue poor as well. Things people said were often a way of recapping for readers but it just didn't sound realistic at all! The their two books focused on a much tighter time period, whereas this one spanned from just after the Second World War through the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the epilogue ended with Obama's presidential win. Too much time covered, in my opinion! Overall, I'm not sure if I would read it again, though I would certainly pick up the first two again!
bruprisco's review against another edition
4.0
Not as good as the first two books in the series, however once you get involved with the story, it is impossible to stop... it just takes a little longer to get involved...
fuzzkins's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
ecdereus's review against another edition
4.0
Dit derde deel van de CENTURY-trilogie speelt zich af van 1961 tot november 1989 (met een korte epiloog in 2008).
We maken kennis met een aantal leden van de derde generatie van de families die we al kenden uit de eerdere delen en hoe zij gedurende deze woelige jaren hun weg zoeken om een betere wereld te creëren voor hun kinderen en kleinkinderen, waarbij veel aandacht voor politieke gebeurtenissen als de bouw (en aan het slot van het boek de val) van de Muur, en het leven in Oost-Duitsland onder voortdurende bedreiging van de Stasi, in de VS de burgerrechtenbeweging en rassengelijkheid, de moord op president John F. Kennedy en enkele jaren later die op ds. Martin Luther King en senator Robert F. Kennedy, de starre houding van de diverse opeenvolgende machthebbers in het Kremlin, in Tsjecho-Slowakije de Praagse Lente en het neerslaan daarvan, de Solidariteitsbeweging in Polen van Lech Walesa, het aftreden van president Richard Nixon na het Watergate-schandaal... maar ook de rock-'n'-roll scene en de opkomst van de popgroepen, hippies, flower-power, vrije liefde en drugs.
We maken kennis met een aantal leden van de derde generatie van de families die we al kenden uit de eerdere delen en hoe zij gedurende deze woelige jaren hun weg zoeken om een betere wereld te creëren voor hun kinderen en kleinkinderen, waarbij veel aandacht voor politieke gebeurtenissen als de bouw (en aan het slot van het boek de val) van de Muur, en het leven in Oost-Duitsland onder voortdurende bedreiging van de Stasi, in de VS de burgerrechtenbeweging en rassengelijkheid, de moord op president John F. Kennedy en enkele jaren later die op ds. Martin Luther King en senator Robert F. Kennedy, de starre houding van de diverse opeenvolgende machthebbers in het Kremlin, in Tsjecho-Slowakije de Praagse Lente en het neerslaan daarvan, de Solidariteitsbeweging in Polen van Lech Walesa, het aftreden van president Richard Nixon na het Watergate-schandaal... maar ook de rock-'n'-roll scene en de opkomst van de popgroepen, hippies, flower-power, vrije liefde en drugs.
louisalouisa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
craalm's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the first book in this trilogy so much, and I enjoyed the second one too. But I feel really disappointed with this third book in the series, for so many reasons. The main one is that the beauty of the first book was that we got to see how the war impacted the common people, people who had no influence in what the decisions were but whose lives were shaped by those decisions. These characters that Follett created were put into a real life situation and what was so intriguing was how they dealt with those situations, and the book was still shaped around those people. But in this book, it was like his characters were put into the political decisions, rather than the political decisions being put into their lives, if you know what I mean. This book, especially the latter half, was all about the main leaders during the period of the Cold War, with his characters there just to tell the story. That isn't a story. That's a history text book with an element of fiction there. I don't know much about politics myself, but I've read other reviews saying that even the stance on the political stuff that happened during the Cold War was very much biased, though I cannot comment on that, not knowing much about the situation.
What really disappointed me was that there was so much potential to write about life in Berlin with the Wall in place. My favourite scenes, when we finally got a break from the political ones with Dimka, Tania and George, were the ones featuring Walli (along with Dave), and the ones focusing on Carla and her family, including Karolin. Those scenes were like Fall of Giants - these people weren't in a position to influence what was happening but they were forced to deal with it and that was what made the first book so good. However, there was still a lot of potential here that was never seized upon. After Rebecca escaped, we could have had an insight of life both in West and East Berlin, but Rebecca moved to Hamburg and, towards the end of the book, became involved in politics herself. One of my favourite scenes was when Walli and his band performed in West Berlin by the Brandenburg Gate, but placed speakers so that the East Berliners would be able to hear the performance. I loved it when he dedicated a song to his daughter, Alice, 'I Miss Ya, Alicia' and Alice was crying tears of happiness to know how much she was loved by the father that she never had a chance to meet. These people were forced to endure a system which was being enforced upon them, and that was what made those chapters a breath of fresh air amongst the constant political chapters. It's interesting to have an insight into what was happening at the top, but Follett's characters just seemed so sidelined. It seemed like they were only in the book in order to give us a perspective on what was happening at the top, and this was so disappointing after the first book especially.
I'm glad I read this book though. I loved the first book so so much, and I enjoyed the second one. I had heard that this book was not as good as the rest of the series, but at least I now know what happened to these families that I care so much about by now.
What really disappointed me was that there was so much potential to write about life in Berlin with the Wall in place. My favourite scenes, when we finally got a break from the political ones with Dimka, Tania and George, were the ones featuring Walli (along with Dave), and the ones focusing on Carla and her family, including Karolin. Those scenes were like Fall of Giants - these people weren't in a position to influence what was happening but they were forced to deal with it and that was what made the first book so good. However, there was still a lot of potential here that was never seized upon. After Rebecca escaped, we could have had an insight of life both in West and East Berlin, but Rebecca moved to Hamburg and, towards the end of the book, became involved in politics herself. One of my favourite scenes was when Walli and his band performed in West Berlin by the Brandenburg Gate, but placed speakers so that the East Berliners would be able to hear the performance. I loved it when he dedicated a song to his daughter, Alice, 'I Miss Ya, Alicia' and Alice was crying tears of happiness to know how much she was loved by the father that she never had a chance to meet. These people were forced to endure a system which was being enforced upon them, and that was what made those chapters a breath of fresh air amongst the constant political chapters. It's interesting to have an insight into what was happening at the top, but Follett's characters just seemed so sidelined. It seemed like they were only in the book in order to give us a perspective on what was happening at the top, and this was so disappointing after the first book especially.
I'm glad I read this book though. I loved the first book so so much, and I enjoyed the second one. I had heard that this book was not as good as the rest of the series, but at least I now know what happened to these families that I care so much about by now.
robertwhelan's review against another edition
3.0
Somehow seems both rushed and too long. I would have preferred the Vietnam war to have had a bigger role in the book. Too much politics.
The whole series was definitely an ambitious work attempting to encompass the 20th century. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
The whole series was definitely an ambitious work attempting to encompass the 20th century. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
paul_gallagher's review against another edition
5.0
I loved every word of the trilogy, especially as read by John Lee. Anyone complaining it is too long and boring should seriously check out audiobooks at ~1.3x speed.
No, it doesn't cover every world event, and although the message could be called liberal I found at every turn it sided with reality over blind ideology.
After recently reading some great works on 20th century history (e.g. Postwar by Judt, The Zimmermann Telegram by Tuchman), I found in the trilogy the human stories that bound it all together and lead me to a deeper, more visceral, appreciation of the journey that (primarily western) society has taken over the past 100 odd years.
If I wanted to get cynical and political I could probably come up with a pithy tagline, such as "every historical mistake Trump is blithely intent on repeating"
No, it doesn't cover every world event, and although the message could be called liberal I found at every turn it sided with reality over blind ideology.
After recently reading some great works on 20th century history (e.g. Postwar by Judt, The Zimmermann Telegram by Tuchman), I found in the trilogy the human stories that bound it all together and lead me to a deeper, more visceral, appreciation of the journey that (primarily western) society has taken over the past 100 odd years.
If I wanted to get cynical and political I could probably come up with a pithy tagline, such as "every historical mistake Trump is blithely intent on repeating"