The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story opens with the hanging of a jongleurs, or a traveling storyteller, and it is essentially the story of why and how that happened and the characters involved in that scheme. The story is told like a jongleurs might tell it, with characters that are either very good and wise and others that are evil and cruel, though none of them essentially change. There is love and death, epic battles and amazing miracles. There is witchcraft and politics, pious monks and ruthless nobility. There is much hardship and suffering, small triumphs and dissappointments. But in the end, like every good story, everyone gets what he deserves. Oh yeah, and during this all a cathedral is built...a framework to hang the rest of the story on. If you are looking for a good story, this is a good story...but don't expect much else.
What I liked about the story: the clever and sometimes unexpected ways that the characters were able to overcome trials, especially Prior Phillip; that some of the men of God were rewarded with inspiration and miracles for their faithfulness and were portrayed as smart, clever, and compassionate.
What I didn't like: the sex scenes didn't need to be so detailed, in my opinion; there were several pages of descriptive architecture language that was hard to get through. An illustration here or there could have helped.

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