2000 Pages Later

There is a lot of healthy discussion in the blogosphere about the current trends in publishing and I enjoy reading and engaging in that discussion. But this post is about something at the heart of publishing: the simple fact that I love to read books.

I don't know when Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett was first published, but I do remember reading it in Hardcover - all 1000 pages of it. It seems to be one of the few benefits of gradual memory loss, but it was a great thrill to be able to pick this epic book off my Dad's book shelf to re-read it in January - and not really remember what happens next. I remembered the general tones of the book and some color of the central characters of the book, but that was it. It was like being re-introduced to a great friend from grade school 30 years later and slowly piecing the memory together of the adventures shared.

Of course, I felt that I ought to read Pillars of the Earth again before digging into the new and slightly heftier World Without End - a sequel which takes place a couple of centuries later, but heavily reliant upon the basis and characters from Pillars of the Earth.

Both books take place during the middle ages, 1100 and 1300, and are centered around kings, earls, bishops, priors, masons, sheriffs and outlaws. The first book is based around the multi-decade building of a cathedral, while the second book is based around the complex cultural system and the city of Kingsbridge that grew up around the cathedral.

There are several aspects of these books that I find utterly compelling. The characters that Ken Follett creates are powerfully rendered. In my opinion, the main characters in Pillars were more starkly cast - it was easy to tell that Prior Philip was a good guy while Sir William Hamleigh was just plain evil. Tom Builder was a hard working craftsman, his stepson Jack a genius. The threads of the characters were more consistently portrayed. In World Without End, however, it gets more slightly muddled. This book contains multiple branches of decendants from characters in the first book - with many shades of gray used to portray the main players. As in real life, the family tree spreads and the picture gets more confused. The story line is less defined in World, but remains as riviting as the first book.

The thing that srikes me most about these books is the unvarnished cruelty and injustice. Especially throughout World Without End I felt as if I kept taking punches directly out of the book for the 'good guys'. They get knocked down, stand back up and attempt to move forward. Civilization in the middle ages was really, well, medieval I guess. It makes me recognize that the 'injustices' we face in modern times pail in comparison to the fiction of the middle ages. Carpricous judgement abounds.

I must admit to feeling a bit of an epic 'literary hangover' from reading these books back to back. I don't tread lightly in books, but tend to go all in. However, with every hangover comes that slight internal glow knowing that, to be this hungover, it must have been one heck of a party.

Or so I am told.