| Book Review |
Anyone
who is interested in historical fiction should read Ken Follet's
Pillars of the Earth. The story is set in 11th century medieval England
and follows the life of Tom Builder. As his surname suggests, his
occupation is that of a builder, but at the present moment, he is out of
a job. Having no savings and no work to do, Tom is forced to drag his
family of four through the brutal English countryside as he embarks on
his bitter quest to find employment. Finally, the kind-hearted but
devout prior of Kingsbridge Priory, named Philip, takes on Tom for the
ultimate job: the construction of a cathedral. As Tom and Philips'
destinies become forever intertwined, their joint quest is marred by
black-hearted bishops and ruthless earls who want to see the demise of
Kingsbridge for a variety of political, economic, spiritual, and
outright selfish reasons. Pillars of the Earth is a work that grounds
the reader in the there and then. One feels the hunger of a
family subsisting on meager horsebread, the agony of a princess whose
castle has just been besieged and upended, the cruelty of an innocent
man struck down on behalf of the crown. Pillars of the Earth is the
first book in Follet's Kingsbridge series and is an excellent work for
the novice armchair historian or the curious reader looking for a new
world to get sucked into alike. |
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