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A review by theinquisitxor
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
5.0
4.5/5 stars.
I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and it checked a lot of boxes that I wanted checked. I was in the mood for a doorstopper historical fiction full of detail, action, and nuanced character work and that is exactly what I got.
The middle ages are my favorite historical period, and I felt like Follett did his research and was able to capture and create a solid image of the 12th century he is writing about. Follett isn't necessarily bringing anything new to the table, but certainly shows attention to detail and historical accuracy (up to the 1980s at least), but also manages to craft a world structured around the ideologies of the century and doesn't fall too hard into the trap of generalizing hundreds of years of history.
Life in the 1100s was different from life in the 1400s, and it is too easy for writers to just shrug and say "eh, it was the middle ages, nothing much changed" when lifestyle, cultural, religious, and political views were drastically different century by century. You wouldn't compare the 1800s to the 2000s, now would you? Follett does a good job of distinguishing the 12th century, and some of the societal, cultural, and religious practices that are relevant to that century. For example, Follett has women characters run their own businesses, whether that is Aliena who builds up her business from scratch, or other mentioned women who take over the business after their husbands die.
No one can accurately depict what living in the middle ages would have been like, there is too much we don't know, especially surrounding your average working class person. However, I do think Follett gives a decent depiction here. There's no correct answer, but I think he manages to craft a sound and solid world. I also liked how Follett displays his characters as no less smart than we are today. Some of his characters have the same level of intelligence, problem solving, and empathy as we do today, living in the 21st century. The characters are just working with less collective knowledge than we are. People have always been People, and I think this shines through with Follett's protagonist characters.
This is not perfect, and this story falls under a heavy male gaze (which was a little off-putting at first and also possibly a product of being written in the 80s), takes a very male-centered view of the world, and has several on-page graphic rape scenes. Things are not cheery, and Follett has several truly despicable characters that do horrible things.
Prior Philip was probably my favorite character and was a joy. I enjoyed reading all the main pov characters, even the antagonists (who I did not like) still gave compelling chapters and were just good examples of character work. I definitely am planning on reading the next book in the series set 200(?) years after this one.
I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and it checked a lot of boxes that I wanted checked. I was in the mood for a doorstopper historical fiction full of detail, action, and nuanced character work and that is exactly what I got.
The middle ages are my favorite historical period, and I felt like Follett did his research and was able to capture and create a solid image of the 12th century he is writing about. Follett isn't necessarily bringing anything new to the table, but certainly shows attention to detail and historical accuracy (up to the 1980s at least), but also manages to craft a world structured around the ideologies of the century and doesn't fall too hard into the trap of generalizing hundreds of years of history.
Life in the 1100s was different from life in the 1400s, and it is too easy for writers to just shrug and say "eh, it was the middle ages, nothing much changed" when lifestyle, cultural, religious, and political views were drastically different century by century. You wouldn't compare the 1800s to the 2000s, now would you? Follett does a good job of distinguishing the 12th century, and some of the societal, cultural, and religious practices that are relevant to that century. For example, Follett has women characters run their own businesses, whether that is Aliena who builds up her business from scratch, or other mentioned women who take over the business after their husbands die.
No one can accurately depict what living in the middle ages would have been like, there is too much we don't know, especially surrounding your average working class person. However, I do think Follett gives a decent depiction here. There's no correct answer, but I think he manages to craft a sound and solid world. I also liked how Follett displays his characters as no less smart than we are today. Some of his characters have the same level of intelligence, problem solving, and empathy as we do today, living in the 21st century. The characters are just working with less collective knowledge than we are. People have always been People, and I think this shines through with Follett's protagonist characters.
This is not perfect, and this story falls under a heavy male gaze (which was a little off-putting at first and also possibly a product of being written in the 80s), takes a very male-centered view of the world, and has several on-page graphic rape scenes. Things are not cheery, and Follett has several truly despicable characters that do horrible things.
Prior Philip was probably my favorite character and was a joy. I enjoyed reading all the main pov characters, even the antagonists (who I did not like) still gave compelling chapters and were just good examples of character work. I definitely am planning on reading the next book in the series set 200(?) years after this one.