Publication Date:November 14, 2007 Availability:Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days Shipping:International shipping available Condition:Ships from the USA. ALL ITEMS ARE BRAND NEW! Delivery takes from 10-14 Working Days.
Low Rating but not for the reason you may thinkOctober 29, 2008 Darlene McDonough(Toronto, Ontario Canada) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read The Pillars of the Earth years ago and loved it. So imagine my surprise when World Without End was released. I wanted to buy both together from Amazon.ca but unfortunately, I will not. I refuse, absolutely refuse to buy any novel that has "Oprah's Book Club" on it. It is insipid and ridiculous to have someone else's name who has zero to do with the actual writing, editing, or reviewing of books! She is a talk show host and nothing more. I think it is unfair to foist this person on the paying public and those of us who feel the same should make our feelings known. Please stop advertising her name on every book she happens to read. I have read many books in my life that did not require her approval. I refuse to pay for a novel with anyone else's name on the cover but the actual writer of the book. Shame, too. I would have loved to buy both novels and enjoy them both. The Pillars of the Earth was one of the best historical novels ever written. Too bad I can't buy it and enjoy it.
A well written noverl but with typical potty mouth partsSeptember 29, 2008 Rick M. Pilotte(Victoria BC Canada) There were a few drawbacks on this otherwise well-written novel. One definite 5 star aspect to this book was the ease with which the characters were easily remembered. All too often in books, you forget who is who and what they did and yada yada. But each character was clear in your mind. One drawback was his tendency get into potty mouth writing when describing the actions of the villain, as though he enjoyed describing it more then getting the message across. Some restraint would have been called for in this one area. This is all too often the case in our movies and books these days and it gets a bit nauseous. Furthermore, it seems every time this character was dealt with he insisted on describing in ridiculous detail more of this nonsense. If you don't like this nonsense you might try a different book. He does pull the carpet out from you if you forget who the principal character of the book is. I have to admit he did spin a pretty good yarn and you never knew exactly what was going to transpire next, and you often guessed wrong, yet the direction it took was entirely plausible. Though he did keep the characters all clear, it was plain that he had a picture of the lay of the land but for some reason was unable to describe it well enough so you knew exactly where you were in relation to everywhere else, so he could include a map for you to follow along with. But besides, is was a pretty good read indeed. However, though this was a huge epic novel, believe it or not it seems he rushed the ending a bit. One of the characters in the beginning of the book who was given beautiful attention, was virtually forgotten at the end. It wasn't a gripping novel that you had to keep turning the pages, but it was interesting enough to keep you reading the 900 odd pages. It was an interesting mixture of Ken's imaginary people and the real people of the period (1050-about 1090 AD), that got me doing research of my own after reading it.
Good readSeptember 24, 2008 dayanara(toronto, on) This book was enjoyable to read and actually kept my interest throughout the approximately 900 pages. It is very delightful, however I haven't really thought more from the book since I finished it. It's one of those novels that one enjoys whilst reading it, but afterwards its put at the back shelf.
A highly readable and engrossing novelAugust 16, 2008 Suresh Peram(Toronto, ON Canada) When a novel is as thick as "Pillars of the Earth", I am usually skeptical whether it will keep me interested throughout. And, the start was slow, but only for a couple of pages. And then, it really started. I had a tough time putting the book down before I reached the ending. The depiction of medieval times was so vivid that I could picture the villages, the buildings and the people quite clearly in my mind, almost as if I were watching a movie instead of reading a novel. The storyline is very good and kept me on my toes as if the book were a modern day suspense thriller. If you want to spend a couple of days reading a good novel, you cannot go wrong with this one.
Excellent characters!August 6, 2008 R. A. Clark(Canada) I've found some of Ken Follet's WW II novels a bit formulaic, but always a great suspense read. So when I saw this on sale at the bookstore, I picked it up - and am certainly glad I did!
The one thing that Pillars of the Earth has in common with other Follet novels I've read is the richness of his characters. Just when a character seems like a great guy, his flaws pop up to frustrate the plot. Similarly, characters who enjoy inflicting pain suddenly reveal some redeemable quality - a tenderness, say, for another character. While all the main characters fall far enough towards the extremes of the good/evil spectrum that one is frustrated by their failures or successes (without being caricatures), many characters fall squarely in the middle, leaving judgment to the reader. And all are well-developed.
While the exhaustive details about architecture and the mathematics thereof sometimes got a bit boring, I found the historical details exciting and delicious. And on the subject of detail, one other thing I love about Ken Follet's writing is that he describes heroines in sexy, tantalizing detail, making them sound like sex goddesses and supermodels while still giving them realistic physical traits.
