The Pillars of the Earth

At Christmas my work does a blind secret Santa which basically means you buy a gift but not for a specific person. I foolishly chose a package that looked vaguely book shaped - and it turned out to be a copy of this book - which I have already read, albeit long ago - around 1992 by best guess.
Initially I though to consign it to re-gifting or selling on, but realised I could not remember a single detail about the book, other than it went into great detail about cathedral building - which interested me at the time, and still does for it's architectural and stonemasonry input. On this basis I though I would commit to the (almost) 1100 page reread.

I had initially rated it four stars, which is above my general 3 star rating for books read prior to joining Goodreads, which meant that in 2012 I recalled enjoying it more than averagely. On completing it this time, I felt that 4 stars was still correct, although it might have been 3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is a pretty thorough historical fiction, set in the years 1135-1174, with a prologue in 1123. Other readers have complained about the detail, but that is perhaps the part I enjoyed the most about this - plenty of detail around the cathedral, the stonemasonry and carpentry but also around the aspects of life in this period for the different people from serfs and poor townsfolk to the monks and the lords, even the small amount we saw of the King.

Based around the priory and village of Kingsbridge, which grew to a city, then reverted to a town and grew again to a city, the story follows many characters, and is written from the individual viewpoint of each, typically changing several times per chapter. The destruction of the old cathedral, the commencement of a new cathedral, and then the completing of the cathedral in a new style are the basis of the action. The primary characters who we see the perspective of are Tom Builder, Ellen, William Hamleigh and Prior Philip, then in the later part Jack Jackson and Aliena. There are a multitude of other characters who play parts through the entire book.

The book explores the complex relationships and politicking of the monks and with the Bishop and the Earl who all live locally and all compete for power. With the country in a continual civil war - Stephen challenging rival Maude to rule England, the Earl (William Hamleigh) battles to remain necessary to the King which allows him to act ruthlessly with the town of Kingsbridge, which he sees as a threat to his own city.

I won't outline more of the plot, as in fiction it is too easy to spoil the story. Probably the most annoying aspect of this book is the use of modern words in the dialogue - it just wasn't necessary, and breaks the historical spell so easily. The other minor annoyance was the recapping / repetition - towards the end of the book there were several occasions where characters make fundamental decisions, and the key events of the story we have just read are rehashed and set out as the basis for making the decision. It is somewhat insulting that the author doesn't think we can recall what we have just read sufficiently to understand the decisions made by the characters.

Glad I read this one again, but I doubt that I will pursue the other books in the series, which are awarded a range of ratings by those who enjoyed this book.

4 Stars