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Holistic Guidance - The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $16.47
Your Save: $ 8.48 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: NAL Trade
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780451225245
ISBN: 0451225244
Label: NAL Trade
Manufacturer: NAL Trade
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 973
Publication Date: 2007-11-14
Publisher: NAL Trade
Release Date: 2007-11-14
Studio: NAL Trade
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Editorial Reviews:
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Ken Follett had long been a staple of the bestseller lists for his novels of intrigue and espionage. Then came The Pillars of the Earth, a grand novel of epic storytelling that readers and critics quickly hailed as his crowning achievement. Now, The Pillars of the Earth is available for the first time to a new audience of readers, in this attractive new trade paperback edition.
In 12th-century England, the building of a mighty Gothic cathedral signals the dawn of a new age. This majestic creation will bond clergy and kings, knights and peasants together in a story of toil, faith, ambition and rivalry. A sweeping tale of the turbulent middle ages, The Pillars of the Earth is a masterpiece from one of the world's most popular authors.
"A novel of majesty and power...Will hold you, fascinate you, surround you." --Chicago Sun-Times
"A towering tale...There's murder, arson, treachery, torture, love, and lust...A good time can be had by all." --New York Daily News
"Touches all human emotions...truly a novel to get lost in." --Cosmopolitan
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pillars of the Earth - a review
Comment: I realy enjoyedthis book despite its length - over 9oo pages. It was a bit violent at times for my taste, but totaly in keeing with the era in which it took place (12th century). I have recommended to several of my friends and have already ordered its sequel. Although a totally different genre than usual for Ken Follet, it stills uses his attention to detail and his ability to transport one to the location and time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A MUST AVOID!
Comment: I am an avid reader (English and history teacher) who loves to dig into a juicy historical novel. Sadly, ths one is like a piece of dry, overcooked steak.
As I was slogging through it, I kept asking my husband (who will read ANYTHING and had read this years ago) if the story was ever going to pick up. He just gave me a Chesire Cat smirk.
Of course the Middle Ages was a violent time, so I was not particularly horrified by the violence. What DID horrify me was the lack of depth, the often bizarre, unmotivated, and improbable actions of the characters, the historical inaccuracies, and the anachronisms. Medieval people did NOT speak like my present-day students, and to find them doing so is very off-putting.
If your life's goal is to build a gothic cathedral, then you should read this book, because you will learn about the process in endless detail. If you would like a story that will immerse you in the time period, look elsewhere.
For the life of me, I cannot understand this book's popularity. I thought it would never end, and it left a bad taste in my mouth when it finally did. Hell on earth would be having to read the sequel!
Customer Rating:
Summary: wow, wow, wow
Comment: Everyone who thinks they don't like historical fiction should read Ken Follett. This book is such a good story, you don't want it to end. I don't give many 5 star reviews, I would give this one 6.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great characters but you might want to avoid this book if...
Comment: ...You might want to avoid this book if you have been a victim of sexual violence. This book kept me reading through its many, many pages because of some really good characterization -- if I hadn't liked several of the characters so much, and found them so thoroughly human and real, I would not have waded through the long and rather tedious descriptions of the thought processes of designing a cathedral. While I understand that this was a violent time period, the graphic rape scenes were unnecessary and gratuitous. One can convey a sense of horror without putting the reader through that. I always wonder at a male author who finds this sort of description necessary - did he get a thrill from imagining the detail, or did he hope that his audience would? Yuck!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal book.
Comment: Phenomenal book. My husband and I read this book and World Without End, respectively, then switched. We loved both!
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