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swedisheik 's review for:
World Without End
by Ken Follett
It’s been a long time since I’ve been sucked so thoroughly into the wormhole of a good story. I found time to read in every free moment while I was working my way through World Without End.
The author does a great job of keeping the reader on top of a sweeping cast of characters. I often have difficulty keeping track of this many souls in one book. Here, just when you start to get in the weeds, a reminder brings you back to something about the character that reminds you how they fit into the story.
The plot, the intrigue, the boss female characters who killed it in a society that was designed to keep them powerless - I was hooked.
There was one thing Mr. KF did that kept pulling me out of the narrative: the way he described women, sex, and childbirth.
Nearly every single physical description of a women included details about her breasts: old and young, large and small (the characters AND the breasts). When someone describes one by breasts, the reader is guided to think of them primarily as sex objects. The female characters in the book had so much depth, but frequent boob checks made it difficult to focus on their personality and intelligence.
Sex scenes were invariably “take me now,” no-foreplay affairs, and the sole childbirth scene felt like a modern hospital birth had been transplanted into the Middle Ages.
It’s clear a ton of research went into writing the book. Why not spend a little of that research time on sex and childbirth in the 14th c.? The depictions of hierarchy, lifestyle, clothing, relationships, food, and job descriptions were so wonderful that it was frustrating to see these intimate moments fall so flat.
I thought as I read that perhaps the author may have neglected to have women involved in the editing and early draft reading process, but the acknowledgments at the end of the book indicate that’s not true.
Ken, I want a rewrite. Let’s describe women and sometimes not include their cup or nipple size. Let’s write childbirth the way it would typically have happened at that time. And for God’s sake, at least for the consensual sex, let’s include a bit of foreplay.
The author does a great job of keeping the reader on top of a sweeping cast of characters. I often have difficulty keeping track of this many souls in one book. Here, just when you start to get in the weeds, a reminder brings you back to something about the character that reminds you how they fit into the story.
The plot, the intrigue, the boss female characters who killed it in a society that was designed to keep them powerless - I was hooked.
There was one thing Mr. KF did that kept pulling me out of the narrative: the way he described women, sex, and childbirth.
Nearly every single physical description of a women included details about her breasts: old and young, large and small (the characters AND the breasts). When someone describes one by breasts, the reader is guided to think of them primarily as sex objects. The female characters in the book had so much depth, but frequent boob checks made it difficult to focus on their personality and intelligence.
Sex scenes were invariably “take me now,” no-foreplay affairs, and the sole childbirth scene felt like a modern hospital birth had been transplanted into the Middle Ages.
It’s clear a ton of research went into writing the book. Why not spend a little of that research time on sex and childbirth in the 14th c.? The depictions of hierarchy, lifestyle, clothing, relationships, food, and job descriptions were so wonderful that it was frustrating to see these intimate moments fall so flat.
I thought as I read that perhaps the author may have neglected to have women involved in the editing and early draft reading process, but the acknowledgments at the end of the book indicate that’s not true.
Ken, I want a rewrite. Let’s describe women and sometimes not include their cup or nipple size. Let’s write childbirth the way it would typically have happened at that time. And for God’s sake, at least for the consensual sex, let’s include a bit of foreplay.