The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
by Ken Follett
List Price:
Our Price: $4.45
You Save: $20.50 (82%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ken FollettEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-14
ISBN: 0451225244
Number of pages: 973
Publisher: NAL Trade
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780451225245
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: the spirituality and politics of building a church
Summary: 5 Stars
My first exposure to Follett was in the early 80s with a trio of spy thrillers, Eye of the Needle, Triple, and The Key to Rebecca. I like the spy genre and though I didn't think Follett had the nuanced political and psychological depth of a LeCarre or Deighton, he delivered intrigue, twists, and turns at a Frederick Forsythe (Day of the Jackel) level. Smart, action-packed escapist reading!
Follett wrote The Pillars of the Earth in 1989 and I completely missed it. For 20 years. Once I've read an author a couple times and like him or her that usually doesn't happen. But it should have come as no surprise. In Pillars, Follett switched genres from international political thrillers to historical fiction with this 973 page tome. I'm sure his publisher was aghast when he brought the proposal to the table. Follett was undoubtedly told that this was a bad "self-branding" move for any author, that he would confuse and lost his core audience. I'm Exhibit One that his publisher was probably right in a business sense. But if Follett had listened, we would have missed out on a literary treat. It hasn't turned out too bad for Follett either, as Pillars is his backlist title that continues to sell the most copies every year.
So what prompted Follett to write a book that features a devout and godly monk who dreamed of building a cathedral to God's glory; the ups and downs of a couple of stone masons and their families; and some really rotten earls, barons, sherrifs, bishops and priests? Was it Follett's own act of devotion and religious fervor? In his preface he claims to be atheist despite a Plymouth Brethren upbringing. But he did have what can be described as a near religious experience on a business trip to Peterborough for the London Times. He had recently read a book on European architecture and was fascinated with Nikolaus Pevsner's description of all that went into the building of Gothic cathedrals. With an hour to spare before his train left for London, Follett took a tour of the Peterborough Cathedral and says he was instantly "enraptured." This began a personal hobby of visiting and studying cathedrals all over England and Europe.
Follett may have left modern politics behind in Pillars but not the politics of 12th Century Europe. With the death of King Henry, Stephen and Maude wage a civil war for the throne spanning decades, with a constant and ensuing political fallout for earls, cities, and counties. Even the building of a castle or cathedral became a political roller coast ride with access to lumber, stone or labor determined by which combatant won the last battle of the season and which barons and earls had the right allegiance to be rewarded or punished.
Follett shows Medieval churchmen at their superstitious and barbaric worst - and their enlightened, progressive, spiritual, and charitable best. I think he is very fair to represent the true spirituality of the Medieval - and modern - believer. He doesn't succumb to the temptation to paint crude caricatures. My own reading of Medieval history is cursory but from what little I know, Follett actually helps dispel the myth that these were simply "Dark Ages." Watching Jack - a stone mason and master builder - wrestle with how to make his cathedral roof taller but still safe and finally discover the pointed arch is a marvelous glimpse into the technological developments of the day.
Pillars is set around the building of the Kingsbridge Cathedral, but Follett takes us on a historically plausible side journey through France, over the Pyrenees, and into the Iberian Peninsula, where Medieval monks traveled to the library of Toledo, Spain, and were introduced to Euclid (his algebra and geometry play a role in the building of cathedrals), Plato, and other great writings from antiquity. Throughout the story Follett introduces the historical seeds that blossomed into the modern political mind and arena, from worker's and women's rights to the question of whether kings and nobility must answer to the law.
Toward the end of the book, Prior Philip, the stern, austere, kind, hard nosed, fair, loving hero of the story witnesses the assassination of Thomas Becket at Canterbury - carried out under the urging of his nemesis, Waleran, a bishop who made Machiavelli seem like an author of positive thinking and encouragement titles. Philip faces his ultimate test of faith, namely whether he will keep his faith in God and whether that faith in God has the efficacy to make the world a better place. As a reader, we have followed his life as orphan, monk, reformer, and builder for sixty years up to the year 1174 A.D. But the question he must face in the closing pages of Pillars is just as relevant today!
Summary of The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
Make this your next book club selection and everyone saves.
Get 15% off when you order 5 or more of this title for your book club.
Simply enter the coupon code FOLLETPILLARS at checkout.
This offer does not apply to eBook purchases. This offer applies to only one downloadable audio per purchase.
View our Ken Follett feature page.
Learn more about The Pillars of the Earth miniseries on Starz.
The spellbinding epic set in twelfth-century England, The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known?and a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.20
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar Books and other products
Pillars of the Earth (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)by Ken Follett
Turtleback; Published: 1996-06-01; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $12.03
Price in other shops:
Eye of the Needleby Ken Follett
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-11-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
Eye of the Needleby Ken Follett
Harper; Published: 2010-07-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.35
Price in other shops:
Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy)by Ken Follett
Dutton Adult; Published: 2010-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
A Dangerous Fortuneby Ken Follett
Island Books; Published: 1994-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops:
Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogyby Ken Follett
NAL Trade; Published: 2011-08-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.69
Price in other shops:
World Without Endby Ken Follett
Dutton Adult; Published: 2007-10-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops:
World Without Endby Ken Follett
NAL Trade; Published: 2008-10-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.94
Price in other shops:
The Pillars of the EarthSony; Release date: 2010-11-23; DVD
Best price: $27.95
Price in other shops:
World Without Endby Ken Follett
Signet; Published: 2010-07-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.57
Price in other shops: