There are chapters in history so complicated one needs a score card to understand them. Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth provides that score card for the 39-year period of English history (1135 through 1174) marking the end of the reign of Henry I (son of William the Conqueror); the ensuing civil war between Stephen and Matilde; the ascendancy of Henry II; and the assassination of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Even in novel form, it’s a complex story. Follett masterly crafted a work of fiction to simplify this timeline, yet even his telling of it runs to a tome of 973 pages. His success at this however is underscored by its international bestseller status. This is an amazing accomplishment for any book, rather on one on a deeply important yet dry bit of medieval history: the prelude to the eventual break between the Roman Catholic Church and the state-sponsored Anglican Church of England, three Henrys down the road.
This may very well be the most carefully constructed book I’ve ever read, and I use the world “constructed” quite specifically. The fictional story Follett tell this history with involves the construction of a Gothic cathedral in Kingsbridge, England – a project which spans the entire book. The parallels between the book’s literary construction and the cathedral’s structure are remarkable; it will be the topic of many Literature PhD projects in the years to come.
The fictional story line at times gets as complex as the historical one with multiple and overlapping plots. And with so many religious figures in the mix one expects a lot of claims to moral authority, and there are many, many claims. But in my read, there is only one totally moral person in the book, the character of Ellen, who is, of course, branded as a witch.
My only complaint (and that is really too strong a term) is that if one knows English-British history, then there is no suspense here. And with the fictional story, one always knows what will happen in the next chapter because the groundwork is so carefully prepared in the current chapter. That said, it’s a great read.
