The next up on my reading of the 305 greatest books is The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. The book can be found on the BBC Book List.
I am of two minds about this book. I keep seeing people rave about this book (and the subsequent series) and I can understand it. The Pillars of the Earth is an intriguing and absorbing story that is essentially about the building of a cathedral in the small English town of Kingbridge, back in the mid 1100's. The trials and tribulations that it takes to build this cathedral are fun to watch and the in-depth analysis of revolutionary inventions of architecture are fascinating to read about. Doing outside research, I also discovered that the story is, more or less, historically accurate. Which makes this an even more enjoyable book to read. The principle character is Prior Phillip, who leads the creation and building of the church throughout the story. Besides him there are several characters who come and go throughout the story. And while some of them are probably considered our heroes, and some considered our villains, most of them were insufferable. While the story of the church was fascinating, the characters were the major drawback. It was the women in particular that I found problematic. This story emphasizes why I have been more drawn to stories written by women, because the few women in this story are used and abused by the other characters to such a point that I can't imagine any woman reading this story and actually enjoying it. To give the author credit, the main female character, Aliena, despite going through the worst ordeals possible throughout the story, still manages to become a person of some influence. However, many of the men throughout the story fail upwards. And while that may be akin to real life, I would prefer not to see it so plainly laid out on the page. So, while I am considering continuing on in the series with the other books, I can't in good conscious recommend this on my list.
