Hubba, hubba...that was one chunky book!

Publisher: Signet

Date: July 1990

Number of Pages:  992 pages

Pillars of the Earth is now the second of the required books for the Chunkster Challenge 2008.  It was a heavy read all around.  Luckily, a coworker and I were reading it at the same time so we could cheer each other on.  I greatly enjoyed the characters but after 400 pages of bad luck for them all it took a good deal of self-motivation to finish this one.  My favorite characters were the two strong women in the story...Ellen and Aliena.  I saw a lot of myself in both of these women.  I have a tendency to fall a bit outside of "the norm" whatever it might be.  I like to push the envelope a bit in the name of common sense and right.  And in spite of a lot of hard knocks I've kept my chin up.  These two women do a wonderful job of that in this book.

The men of the story struggle throughout.  Tom Builder nearly starves, his wife dies, he loses his baby, his son Alfred is an ass, and so forth.  Prior Phillip strives for only the good and gets caught up in the politics of the times.  Jack is literally beaten by Alfred, he struggles to find himself.  William is just William and is responsible for nearly everyone's misery.  

Pillars of the Earth is a monumental record the 12th century.  The times were definitely a struggle no matter what your social status; your own social status could change at the fall of a sword.  The text comes full circle but not necessarily as I either expected or maybe I should say...as I wished.  But a book to take the time to read for sure.