The Pillars of the Earth

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 40 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, a devout and resourceful monk driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known...of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect - a man divided in his soul...of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame...and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.

A spellbinding epic tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of 12th century England, this is Ken Follett's historical masterpiece.

©1989 Ken Follett (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

"Follett is a master." (The Washington Post)

"A historical novel of gripping readability, authentic atmosphere and detail and memorable characterization." (Publishers Weekly)

Renewing the passion for the written word

I am on my second round of listening to Pillars of the Earth. The reason I initially began the book was due to a friends recommendation. Ken Follet has since become one of my favorite authors. His talent for detail is an absolute joy to hear. He is redundant in regards to some of the character nuances and at first I found it a little annoying. However, as you get more involved in the series you will be glad he is redundant because, well, there is a lot of depth to these books and characters. The generations that follow make you glad he is redundant so you can remember them. His passion for detail and descriptive words is a joy to listen to. The historical accuracy is captivating. His knowledge of the human personality will have you placing people from your everyday world into the image of the character. I also learned a lot about this time period. I am not usually excited by this era, but Ken Follet made me a fan!

John Lee did a superb job orating this epic series. His character accents and voice range was well done.

My only complaint is that there was a mini series made from the book and it was terrible! Go figure.

Parent perspective: there are multiple sexual scenes. Usually brief and he uses very direct language. There are also rape scenes. The brutality can also be quite graphic at times. This all leads to the over plot of the story. Cursing is used but is limited to appropriate situations. He has a great vocabulary and does not rely on cursing to get his point across which is something I admire. I have a 15 year old and would not let this play freely while he is within earshot.

I highly recommend this series!

even more awesome

I read the original publication as a sophomore in high school. My English teacher had a small library of books that were free for loaning out. It was the first school library I'd seen in 4 years, I devoured the books with single minded voracity. Unfortunately, I also forgot more about the books I read than I retained. I spent the better part of three decades trying to find the book again while only ever remembering the character name of Tom Builder.
Finally, after years of periodic searching, Google Books gave me my answer.
I <3 U Google books.

The Pillars of the Earth, the only book that registered with enough force in a high schooler's brain that 30 years later they still sought the novel out.

Reading the extended edition did not disappoint in the slightest. Thank you, Ken Follett, for this beautiful literary treasure of humanity. I tried to explain to someone what the plot of the book was, and ultimately settled on, "it's the story of a cathedral, and every life that touched it." It was the best I could do, the scope of the story is simply so huge that only Follett's mythical cathedral could hold it.

A Wonderful Story

When you first think about really getting into a book that is about monks building a monastery...it doesn't seem likely at all, but trust me, you will! It was very good...not life changing good. This book was recommended by many as their favorite book of all time. It is definitely in my top 10 and well worth the read. You grow to love the characters and suffer and rejoice along with them.

Great masterpiece from a guy with deep passion for cathedral architecture

It’s hard not to admire cathedral architecture. Ken Follett however obviously have lust for it, and wanted to write about it. He obviously did years of research on the subject and era, and the result is masterpiece story following several families on the span of decades.

The story makes you appreciate the architecture even more, and gives a lot of insight as well, and takes you through journey in time telling how the architecture developed over the years and how it was built.

But not only that. Ken developed a story that makes you as interested in the protagonists as you are with the cathedral itself, making it sound as if the cathedral is there to serve the story, when it might actually be the other way around.

I only disliked few bits of the story.

Great narration as well. The voice did have echo at few minor points, but nothing major.

Hated to have the story end!

Well written and researched. Each character meticulously developed and memorable. Highly recommended. This inspires one to research the time period with a renewed interest in history.

excellent

Superb narration of a modern classic novel. Good for long rides, road trips or flights.

Great Book

Loved this book. I can't wait to listen to the other two that follow. Two thumbs up!

Great!

A great story with so many interesting characters. The character development is impressive and makes the story much more powerful!

Ken's best

No one does historical fiction like Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth is and literary masterpiece.

Ok story, but not a page turner

3.5 stars. I remember reading this book in my early 20s and I loved it then, but I thought it was mostly ok this time around (mid 30s now). It's a very long book and the plot is 'ok'- mostly entertaining but some contrived parts to say the least. The story does a good job of building character, writing is decent, but I did not feel super invested in the fate of the characters and did not feel truly captivated by the story. It's hard to put my finger on why, but perhaps it felt really conventional? There really is no other point to the book besides the story- no philosophical musings and not like you are learning things about historical events...