Comment

Oct 27, 2015lmad rated this title 1 out of 5 stars
I had high expectations of this book but it fell very short. It turns out to be, not so much about cathedral building, as it is an excuse for literary pornography and vulgarity. The numerous rape scenes and sadistic behaviour of William are the core of this book, not cathedral building. Follett pretends he did research for this book but for one thing, historically, women of that period always covered their hair with a wimple or a bonnet and except in private their hair was always braided or up it some fashion. This book is lurid and disturbing to read. I know modern writers like to expound on violence and rape but frankly I prefer "brutally raped" to several pages of the description of a rape. I compare this book to "Kristin Lavrandatter" and the contrast leaves Ken Follett in the dust compared to Sigrid Undset. She too has a very long story, over 1000 pages, rape and violence, set in the 15th century Norway, but it is written in a way that brings it to the reader without making one feel like a voyeur of pornography. I hated this book