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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
I just finished reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. And, wow, I really had no idea what WWI was about. WWII overshadowed it so significantly in my education that other than knowing it happened, I had no idea what it was about. And based on this book, it was pretty much about...nothing. Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Serbia and Austria took the opportunity to attack Russia. And, Germany took the opportunity while on the side of Austria, to try to gain territory in France and Russia. Then, France, Britain and ultimately the United States teamed up to fight them off. All of this lead to the Russian Revolution and Lenin taking over Russia. And, at the same time, women in Britain were fighting for the right to vote. This book was very interesting and had some really great characters. Billy Williams went to war and became a leader and took what he learned to join the Labour Party. His sister, Ethel used her pregnancy by an Earl to better her station in life and work on the women's suffrage movement. Grigori Peshkov used his missed opportunity to go to America to become one of the leaders of the Russian Revolution. Gus Dewar worked to help Woodrow Wilson foster an armistice. I look forward to the next two books in the trilogy.
informative
slow-paced
This is definitely one of the worst books I have ever read. It's been sitting in my TBR pile for a couple of years and I've been in the mood for a good, historical fiction novel and assumed this would satisfy my craving.
Everything about this was bad. The writing, the characters, the dialogue, the romance. At 985 pages, I couldn't find one aspect I genuinely liked about any of it. Every few pages, particularly when another new romance bloomed, I was rolling my eyes. The sex scenes were completely awful. They felt very much like they were written for the author and were so ridiculously cringe-worthy.
They had not made love since the evening Jayne McCulley had proposed Ethel as candidate. Ethel was missing it badly. She held her breasts in her hands. The cold air in the room was making her nipples stand up. "Do you know what these are?"
"I believe they're your bosoms."
"Some people call them tits."
"I call them beautiful." His voice has become a little hoarse.
"Would you like to play with them?"
"All day long."
"I'm not sure about that," she said. "But make a start, and we'll see how we go."
"All right."
Ethel sighed happily. Men were so simple.
I'm sorry, but to me, this sounds straight out of a porn period piece. I'm very happy to be done with it and won't waste my time with the rest of the series.
Everything about this was bad. The writing, the characters, the dialogue, the romance. At 985 pages, I couldn't find one aspect I genuinely liked about any of it. Every few pages, particularly when another new romance bloomed, I was rolling my eyes. The sex scenes were completely awful. They felt very much like they were written for the author and were so ridiculously cringe-worthy.
They had not made love since the evening Jayne McCulley had proposed Ethel as candidate. Ethel was missing it badly. She held her breasts in her hands. The cold air in the room was making her nipples stand up. "Do you know what these are?"
"I believe they're your bosoms."
"Some people call them tits."
"I call them beautiful." His voice has become a little hoarse.
"Would you like to play with them?"
"All day long."
"I'm not sure about that," she said. "But make a start, and we'll see how we go."
"All right."
Ethel sighed happily. Men were so simple.
I'm sorry, but to me, this sounds straight out of a porn period piece. I'm very happy to be done with it and won't waste my time with the rest of the series.
Truly an epic book encompassing the ever intertwining lives of so many characters. I never felt confused or whiplashed despite the continuous changing of scenery. I felt really transported into the era of war
I finally finished this book! The book is thick in size and in characters, both being why it took so long for me to finish. It was an embellished history lesson about WW1 which kept my interest.
Great story! I loved that it was a fictional story with fictional characters experiencing real history with some real historical figures. This book follows Welsh, German, Russian, British, and American families as they deal with the new world before, during, and after WWI. It was full of rich characters and history. I have already began reading the next book, and I am so excited to see where it goes. I particularly loved it as an audio book because the reader used different accents for all of the people and it really made them come to life.
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
I loved this book. I am becoming a big fan of Follett's work. This is the third book of his that I have read. It was well researched. I am a fan of historical fiction that is heavy on the history. I love reading about WWI and WWII because of the importance of not forgetting from where we come. I like that Follett characters were on opposing sides of the controversy so that as the reader you are asked to see both sides as well. I became emotionally invested in the characters and wanted to see everyone happy in the end. However, life is not fair. The book was amazing and am glad there are more in the works.
Follett sets this sweeping epic against the background of World War I and the social and political developments that came along at that time. It's a tale of the people of that time: aristocrats, politicians, women, laborers, petty criminals, and it holds its events up to the light and examines issues of family, love, marriage, social conscience, nationalism, and revolution in various contexts. It's been a while since I read a real historical novel. This one fits the bill. It was entertaining, and it really grabbed hold of the reader quickly and didn't let go.
I really enjoyed this book! I didn't even plan on reading it ... it just happened to be on my iPad when I needed something to read and nothing else was handy, but I liked it right away. I think that part of what made me love it was how it mirrored Downton Abbey, which I had just finished watching (and loved!) when I started reading Fall of Giants. I also loved it, in part, because of its short sections. I would read it as I rocked Alice to sleep for naps, and the short sections were absolutely perfect for early motherhood reading, when you can just catch snatches here and there during the day. And finally I loved it because of how well it drew me into a topic that I tend to not be so interested in ... WWI just doesn't do it for me!! And because of that, I knew NOTHING about it. But I found myself reading this book and really understanding why things played out how they did. I'd finish a section and then go have a long chat with J about historical events (to his delight) and how WWI lead right into WWII and how WWII has shaped the terrorism wars we fight today. So fascinating! All of that because someone shot the Archduke! Crazy. I also really loved the characters and how they all interconnected so thoroughly.
However, it wasn't a home run for me. Sandy, I really have to agree with you about the writing. I didn't have as much of a hard time with the dialogue, though, as I did with some of the narration. There were actual definitions peppered into the text!!! It read more like a text book than a novel, at times. It's true that I frequently did need those definitions or expositions, but I would have preferred Follett to have let his readers look those things up on their own ... it just interrupted the flow of the book too much. I also had a problem with the way that Follett tied up each story line .... I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll just say that some of it felt rather unlikely.
But, all in all, I really enjoyed reading it, and am looking forward to the next installment in the trilogy.
However, it wasn't a home run for me. Sandy, I really have to agree with you about the writing. I didn't have as much of a hard time with the dialogue, though, as I did with some of the narration. There were actual definitions peppered into the text!!! It read more like a text book than a novel, at times. It's true that I frequently did need those definitions or expositions, but I would have preferred Follett to have let his readers look those things up on their own ... it just interrupted the flow of the book too much. I also had a problem with the way that Follett tied up each story line .... I don't want to give any spoilers, so I'll just say that some of it felt rather unlikely.
But, all in all, I really enjoyed reading it, and am looking forward to the next installment in the trilogy.