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challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book had graphic descriptions of terrible events (rape, murder, animal cruelty and death). I was interested in the characters and continuation of the series but wish rape hadn't been used as a plot device multiple times. The book and story of kingsbridge could have been told without that and it would have made almost no difference. The characters here were more likeable than in book 0 of the series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent
This is a mature book with a frank view of history, graphic descriptions of violence, and uses rape to advance the plot multiple times. Animal abuse occurs at least twice in the book.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: War
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a funny combo. Once you know the context that this book was a passion project and huge departure for an author of thrillers, everything clicks both in a good and a bad way.
On one hand, Pillars has a sincere Name of the Rose like interest in the medieval world even to the level of dry detail. I came away knowing a little bit more about the flavor of what it was really like to live back then, and I imagine most readers did too. This was a charm of the book for me, because I could really feel the passion of the writer as he was doing all this research, but it was also kind of a weakness, because often that research just flatly interjected itself in a non-artful way. There's lots of passages that go into detail on, say, a piece of agricultural technology or the physics of church architecture which don't really make sense to include in the character narration and are very "out-of-voice". I appreciate that Follett cared to really understand the time period and make the world real, but at times it becomes so tell-don't-show that it ends up disrupting the reality of the book.
This fully fleshed medievalist study gets merged with a multi-generational melodramatic action story, which, forgive me, I believe the most apt point of comparison that I could find was Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It's one of the real pleasures of the story to see, over such a long timespan and pagespan, the characters age and their material conditions ebb and flow. And as time flows, the same characters face off against each other again and again, fated to battle like by forces beyond the story like Hatfields and McCoys. Rivalries just grow and grow with each layer of intensifying plot, and romances build up with the same fervor. Even though I am definitely someone who tends to read more dry and academic these days, this bursting at the seams epic style was definitely far more appealing to me then the attempts at seriously approaching theology or medieval culture. It's been a minute since I've read something I truly felt was plot driven rather than character driven, so it was a refreshing experience. And maybe making something high stakes plot driven like this comes at the cost of needing to have single faceted, simplistic characters that are plot engines more than compelling portraits. My biggest critique was that the writing was often just way too simple for me to savor, and that characters showed their personality and intentions on their sleeve. (Alongside that, I found the sexual violence gratuitous and a bit unnecessary. William is so obviously a character an audience loves to hate from the get go, but Follett acts like he is obligated to show every horrible act to prove that. Maybe again a creative impulse from his thriller background?)
As I was articulating these two criticism/compliments of the book, I did end up thinking, well hey, Les Miserables could be faulted for the same issues on both fronts. And I think that's a fair cop, and that Follett honestly might be taking a page out of the book of Hugo or Tolstoy in making this grand scale historic epic where the forces of fate and morality duke it out. But I do think that Hugo, although his characters are just as obvious, wrote more sublimely and incorporated historic detail much more smoothly than anything Follett had to offer here. Overall a really fun read and, even with all its ambition, not something you have to take seriously to enjoy.
On one hand, Pillars has a sincere Name of the Rose like interest in the medieval world even to the level of dry detail. I came away knowing a little bit more about the flavor of what it was really like to live back then, and I imagine most readers did too. This was a charm of the book for me, because I could really feel the passion of the writer as he was doing all this research, but it was also kind of a weakness, because often that research just flatly interjected itself in a non-artful way. There's lots of passages that go into detail on, say, a piece of agricultural technology or the physics of church architecture which don't really make sense to include in the character narration and are very "out-of-voice". I appreciate that Follett cared to really understand the time period and make the world real, but at times it becomes so tell-don't-show that it ends up disrupting the reality of the book.
This fully fleshed medievalist study gets merged with a multi-generational melodramatic action story, which, forgive me, I believe the most apt point of comparison that I could find was Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. It's one of the real pleasures of the story to see, over such a long timespan and pagespan, the characters age and their material conditions ebb and flow. And as time flows, the same characters face off against each other again and again, fated to battle like by forces beyond the story like Hatfields and McCoys. Rivalries just grow and grow with each layer of intensifying plot, and romances build up with the same fervor. Even though I am definitely someone who tends to read more dry and academic these days, this bursting at the seams epic style was definitely far more appealing to me then the attempts at seriously approaching theology or medieval culture. It's been a minute since I've read something I truly felt was plot driven rather than character driven, so it was a refreshing experience. And maybe making something high stakes plot driven like this comes at the cost of needing to have single faceted, simplistic characters that are plot engines more than compelling portraits. My biggest critique was that the writing was often just way too simple for me to savor, and that characters showed their personality and intentions on their sleeve. (Alongside that, I found the sexual violence gratuitous and a bit unnecessary. William is so obviously a character an audience loves to hate from the get go, but Follett acts like he is obligated to show every horrible act to prove that. Maybe again a creative impulse from his thriller background?)
As I was articulating these two criticism/compliments of the book, I did end up thinking, well hey, Les Miserables could be faulted for the same issues on both fronts. And I think that's a fair cop, and that Follett honestly might be taking a page out of the book of Hugo or Tolstoy in making this grand scale historic epic where the forces of fate and morality duke it out. But I do think that Hugo, although his characters are just as obvious, wrote more sublimely and incorporated historic detail much more smoothly than anything Follett had to offer here. Overall a really fun read and, even with all its ambition, not something you have to take seriously to enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Bad pacing, no character development, really boring at times. Too much rape
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Don't read if you want to keep your sanity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment
So many more. But be warned, you will spend a lot of time uncritically in a rapist head, and while he is punished by some of the narrative, he will never get satisfying comeuppance, infact the ending we deserve is ripped from us disgustingly. I hate it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, War
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Until the last quarter, nothing was particularly grabbing me, and it really felt like it was unsure of what story it was trying to tell for a good portion of the book. At a certain point I kept thinking about other, better books I could be reading. That's not do say I regret reading this or that I had a terrible time or anything -- I very much didn't, and I maintain that things really start cooking towards the end -- but it was all very dour. A very "people and their problems' style of plotting, where every section break we go to a different one of our pov characters, and boy do they have their own problems, and boy are some of them never mentioned again, and very few have anything to do with the overarching plot or theme.
There's this but in the second season of Twin Peaks, where the evil entity, BOB, has lept into a few different bodies and is generally causing havoc and upset throughout the town, so the sheriff and the gang are discussing the nature of this evil. Miguel Ferrer's character essentially looks down the camera and says "BOB is the evil that men do." And like while I appreciate that as a moment in a television show that seems to be one of the primary themes of the book -- isn't humanity nasty -- with very little elaboration. I'm not saying that every atorcity had to have narrative justification or have characters receive a cumuppence, but at some point it just starts feeling voyeuristic.
And aside from all of that I do truly love a "will someone rid me of this turbulent priest" moment and due to the historical setting this bad boy gets to have the original.
There's this but in the second season of Twin Peaks, where the evil entity, BOB, has lept into a few different bodies and is generally causing havoc and upset throughout the town, so the sheriff and the gang are discussing the nature of this evil. Miguel Ferrer's character essentially looks down the camera and says "BOB is the evil that men do." And like while I appreciate that as a moment in a television show that seems to be one of the primary themes of the book -- isn't humanity nasty -- with very little elaboration. I'm not saying that every atorcity had to have narrative justification or have characters receive a cumuppence, but at some point it just starts feeling voyeuristic.
And aside from all of that I do truly love a "will someone rid me of this turbulent priest" moment and due to the historical setting this bad boy gets to have the original.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War