Review: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

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While working at the book stall there are certain books that get repeatedly recommended to me, I love chatting with people and finding out about new books. I noticed that Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett came up in conversation with lots of people, with many of them citing it as one of their favourite books. I'm an avid audio book reader, I listen to books as I'm making my work for Nice Day Designs, and at well over 30 hours this seemed like a good one to go for(don't worry I don't just chose books by their length, but it does help).

In brief Pillars tells of the lengthy construction of Kingsbridge Cathedral, from the first brick to the last. This building entangles the lives of  it's master builder Tom and the monastery's prior Phillip. There are many struggles and trials of funding, wicked power hungry peers, towns being ransacked, and disaster being over come. It's an historical novel set in the 12th century, but much of it's content reminded me of the many fantasy books I've read; just without the magic and dragons. If you are into reading of castles, kings, and serfs with lofty ideas then this will probably appeal to you.

I'm pretty torn about this book, I would probably recommend it to a friend as there are elements that were really enjoyable, the story at it's core is a compelling one. Yet at the same time there are massive problems with some of Follett's writing that just can't be ignored. To be honest when I closed the book(not literally as it was audio) I was more than a little baffled as to why so many people loved it. I think I may have enjoyed it more if I hadn't expected so much.

I'll start with the good parts; it's 'nice to be nice' as all mammies say. I really enjoyed the scope of the story, we see all the characters develop over a large expanse of time, it's satisfying to see them grow and develop. At the same pace we feel the Cathedral rise around the story, it's slowness is foreign to a modern reader, and this is a perfect metaphor for the speed of this time, so different from our own. It's when Follett is talking of the building and architecture that his writing really shines. It appealed to my art history background, and this book brought to life lots of stale facts I had gathered in lecture halls about transepts and arches. I read in other reviews that they found these parts too technical, and maybe they are for some readers, but I thought them a joy. There are also some genuinely likable characters such as Jack Jackson and Aliena, which helps to keep interest going when other areas are waning.

I had major difficulties with some aspects of the book though. The writing style leaves a lot to be desired, aside from where he shines in discussing architecture a lot of the time it feels flat and forced. This is especially noticeable when building connections between characters, and some particularly awkward and blue sex scenes. Please don't mistake me for a prude, but you just shouldn't cringe at the self consciousness and woodenness of a writer, especially during a point when trying to create intimacy. The sexual interludes vary between baffling, the initial woods scene with Tom builder, and needlessly violent and strangely detached.

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If the flaws ended there I would have forgiven the book, and still loved it, but they don't. Follett shows a very black and white view of the world, good people do good things, have bad things happen to them, and are beautiful and/or talented. Bad people only do bad things, are wealthy, and become more ugly as the book progresses. This is so shockingly naive that it nearly becomes funny as we follow the predictable trials and tribulations of the poor worthy folk. There is a seesaw flow to the story, good thing followed by disaster, followed by good thing, and so on. All the crisis are perpetrated by the same evil overlord, who gains a silly ghoulishness by wearing his Scoobydoo like 'bad man' mask. If there was a variation in characters of wrong doers it might have made the constant drugery a bit more believable. Instead about half way through the book I became numb to the hardships the main protagonists had to face, as I knew the inevitable positive was coming. Compare this to Martin's Song of Ice and Fire where no character is truly good or bad, people do things for very complicated reasons to do with honour, fear, selfishness and greed.

So if you read this book don't expect to be bowled over by amazing writing, expect the expected, but sit back and enjoy a very easy, if albeit lengthy, read.

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(On a side note I would recommend the tv series in much the same way; it's not ground breaking but it's certainly entertaining. Particularly Eddie Redmayne and Hayley Atwell).

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A Review of The Long Walk by Stephen King

I consider The Long Walk to be one of Stephen King's finest books, and that's saying a lot because I really like his work*. This dystopian work was written in 1979 and is one of the most chilling novels I've ever read.  The premise is that 100 teenage boys start a walk, and the winner is the last man standing, one of the prizes being that you live to survive the race. There is no set distance, but if you stop walking you die, if you incur a penalty three time penalties you die, there is only one survivor. It's a horribly simple idea, and it's this single mindedness that is so chilling; there is no stepping away from this procession, you are with these boys as nearly all of them walk towards their deaths.

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The story is told through the eyes of Ray Garrity, one of the competitors, we are introduced to the other boys via friendships he makes and gossip that trickles down through the line. I found myself getting invested in other characters, rooting for them, and then it would hit home that there is only one survivor. This idea is made sharply poignant as various boys talk to each other about winning, in some ways blocking out the fact that for this to happen their comrades must perish. The huge truth of their near certain death is almost blinding, they can't talk about it, but they can think of nothing else; hope and despair are clung to with equal measure. Because of the omnipresence of death in this story we are forced to look at the futility of their struggle against all the odds, and question is it worth it. It's like King has boiled down the essence of our own daily struggles and our own inevitable death. In their blisters, aching legs, and cramping muscles we can see our own travails through life.

It's the small details that are most shocking in the book, after a short while you accept the horrifying premise that 99 boys will die for the sake of a televised competition. But the idea that they can't stop to take a crap seems like a cruel and needless punishment, that they might die because they took too long to relieve themselves, it brings a whole new meaning to stage fright!

I recently watched The Hunger Games(which I've yet to read) and was struck by the similarity to The Long Walk; a gameshow where teenagers compete for their lives, survival of the fittest, retaining humanity in an inhuman fight for your life. I'd love for this to be made into a film, but I'd hate to see it go the way of so many other of King's books like The Langoliers, Dreamcatcher, and The Tommyknockers, which were all truly awful.

I would highly recommend this book, it one of my favourite reads of this year so far, it was one of those books that I slowed down nearing the end as I didn't want to finish it.

*A somewhat uncool thing to say on front of people who consider themselves serious readers, but I find mostly they've never read his work and just him on the fact that he writes about the supernatural.

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Hello and Welcome

Welcome to our first blog post!

It will mostly be me, Ruth, writing these updates, but now and then John might pop in and say hello too. We've have a second hand book stall at the Milk Market, and for a while now I've been toying with the idea of starting this blog. I've been blogging for about 5 years already with Nice Day Designs, and I've found that lately I've been blogging about books, reviews, and illustration quite a bit, so it seemed to make sense to separate out the two.

I'm an avid reader, I have been since my mother first brought me into the library at the age of 3. Reading has always been a way for me to relax, escape, learn, and fall in love with new worlds. I'm one of those people that slows down when I near the end of a book because I don't want it to end. 

On this blog I hope to talk about this life long love of the written word, and maybe you'll enjoy my ramblings too.

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