The Pillars of the Earth

Length: 973 pages

Date Published: February 2012 & October 2007 (Deluxe Version)

The Pillars of the Earth

By Ken Follet

My mother, who not only admired the author’s captivating style of writing, but also his ability to describe the construction of the breathtaking Kingsbridge Cathedral, introduced the book to me. My mother had urged me to read it, insisting that I would come to love it as much as she had. However I did not start reading it until several months later. As I was unpacking boxes in my room (I had currently moved from Colombia to Mexico) I came across the heavy, but beautifully decorated book, “The Pillars of the Earth”. At first, I have to admit, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about reading it. My mother is an architect, so naturally I assumed that the book would include a lot of technicalities about construction that I would simply not be interested in. I stared at the book curiously, read the comments and the summery, and decided to give the book a chance.

 “The Pillars of the Earth” takes place in the year of 1123, in a little town known as Kingsbridge. The book begins with a hanging, a pregnant mother cursing a prior, a knight and a bishop. Somewhere near the town, across the forest, a master builder loses his job as well as his wife after she gives birth to their child. Percy Hamleigh takes the earldom from its owner, restoring the family pride after the earl’s daughter turns down his son.  In Kingsbridge a young monk is made prior after years of prayer and hard work while an ambitious man becomes bishop. Soon enough, each of their stories will be interlaced, as they become friends, family, lovers and enemies.

Ken Follet’s Writing

 “The Pillars of the Earth” is the first book I’ve read by the author, and I have to say, Ken Follet is a truly talented and witty writer. The moment I read the first sentence, I was instantly taken to 1123. Reading felt as if I had left 2013 in a time machine, and suddenly arrived to the town of Kingsbridge. Ken Follet’s descriptions where so vivid, I felt like my eyes could view everything, my ears could hear every word and every emotion touched my heart. Not only was the scenery so real, but also the whole town appeared to come to life. Little by little I got to know the characters and since the book takes place throughout several decades, I feel like I watched them grow up. I was there from the moment some of them where born and others until their death. Through their struggles and accomplishments, I found myself smiling, crying, frowning, gasping and at times feeling useless for not being able to help them. Each character was so unique and his or her personality so incredibly described that I could feel myself loving them as if they where my friends and hating others as if they where my enemies.

Ken Follet is brilliant when it comes to plot twists. The book reached a climax at several points in the story and as soon as I thought that the heroes and heroines of the story where safe, somewhere in Shiring others where plotting a plan to end them. I particularly grew to despise the character of William Hamleigh. This vicious character kept me from breathing easily, knowing that sooner or later, with the help of cold bishop Waleran, they would find a way to make everyone miserable. However it also happened the other way around. When one of my favorite characters, strong and independent Aliena, appeared to have lost everything in a fire set by our villain, William, she managed to find happiness. Throughout the book William and bishop Waleran would do anything to prevent prior Phillip from ever building the most beautiful cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge, but Jack, Tom, Aliena, Richard and many others would not go down so easily.

The Ending

There is only one thing that I was deeply disappointed in, the last two pages. There where times in the book that at the moment, I wished would have been different, but at the end I always understood why that had to happen. However, as I read the last words, I was perplexed, confused and unable to comprehend the author’s purpose. Prior Phillip was a wholly man; He did not think of his life as his own to live, but dedicated every action to the servitude of God. His visionary ideas and good will where crucial for the development of Kingsbridge, as well as the cathedral and character’s lives. Despite the adversaries and obstacles he encountered, prior Phillip laid his fate in the hands of God. He never took success as his own and he constantly felt remorseful for having sinned of pride. With that said, the actions taken by prior Phillip at the end of the book are so out of character, I began to question weather I knew him.

Following the shocking murder of his ally and friend, Archbishop Thomas Becket, prior Phillip dedicated the rest of his life preaching what he had witnessed. Thomas Becket died a martyr in the eyes of the people, but it was prior Phillips determination for justice that the deceased became a saint and those responsible where hanged.  Leading the people in crusades around Europe, he captivated the attention of hundreds of others, including the most powerful of them all. “The death of Thomas had shown that, in a conflict between the Church and the Crown, the monarch could always prevail by the use of brute force. But the cult of Saint Thomas proved that such a victory would always be a hollow one. The power of a king was not absolute, after all: it could be restrained by the will of the people”. (Pg. 972 The Pillars of the Earth).

The book ends with King Henry entering the cathedral barefoot, head bowed and humiliated. As he enters, hundreds of people stare in awe as they watch their king enter as a peasant to confess his sin publicly. The King was to be whipped by each priest and monk present, a symbolic number of times, beginning with the bishop of London, followed by prior Phillip.“ Phillip stepped forward to whip the king. He was glad he had lived to see this. After today, he thought, the world will never be quite the same.” (Pg. 973 The Pillars of the Earth). Those are the last sentences of the book.

As I said before, I fail to understand the author’s purpose for having ended Phillip’s story in such a way. I do understand that the ceremony, in Phillip’s eyes, represents his life struggle between the brute and the just. The Church would punish the most powerful man in the country; something never seen in history, and it might wrongly be confused as justice taking place. If it hadn’t been for the whipping, there would be no arguing that the story’s conclusion was perfect after all the struggles that our heroes and heroines face throughout the book. However, based on the Church’s principals and beliefs, it is not up to wholly men to inflict harm on another human being. In the afterlife, God will be the ultimate judge in deciding the fate of those who sinned, and those who forgave.