More than a decade ago, I made my first attempt at reading Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth (1989), after hearing that it was one of the annual readings by our late brother-in-law Bob Reedy. A year and a half later saw the miserable failure of my effort. Into a tome of 1011 pages, I covered no more than a mere 20 pages. Partly, it was because of my ignorance about the cathedral building; partly, it was because of unbearable hardship in 12th century England, but mainly it was Tom Builder's fruitless search for work and ambition to be a cathedral builder reflected too closely to my own life and career.
Last month, I decided to try Follett again by listening to his Fall of Giants (2010) on eAudio, and surprised myself by actually enjoying it. July 8th, 2023 marked not only the revival of our book club after nearly four year's inactivity, but also my renewed effort at the Pillars, for it was the club's choice of the month.
This noon, I completed my epic journey by completing approximately 41 hours' listening. It was not without trepidation and anxiety when I first started, but it is with a full triumph when I finished. The Pillars of the Earth unfolds like a human life, from childhood, youth to maturity in an anarchic society ridden with extreme betrayals, disasters, turmoil and violence, during the time between the sinking of the White Ship and the killing of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. No wonder I wanted to find a way out on more than one occasion. However, curiosity won the upper hand about the fate of different characters.
According to Ken Follett, the book took him three decades from the start to finish. His readers will find themselves taking a similarly long time to reach the end when Jack Jackson is finally able to move on, the 66-year-old Philip becomes Bishop of Kingsbridge, and King Henry repents publicly for his order to kill Becket. Follett begins by telling a story of cathedral building, but ends by tracing a familiar tale of human life. That is perhaps one of the reasons that Bob chose to reread each year.
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