The pillars of the earth by Ken Follett, is a XNUMXth-century historical novel set in England. In this post we will let you know everything about it. Keep reading!
The novel was adapted into a television miniseries in 2010.
The Pillars of the Earth: Synopsis
It is the Middle Ages, a world of knights in armor, castles and walled cities. In England, a dispute arises between Kings for the throne, causing the Civil War to spread throughout the country.
While, in the county of Kingsbridge, the construction of a Gothic-style cathedral is planned "The pillars of the earth", begins with the public hanging of an innocent and culminates with the humiliation of a King. Love, passion, devotion, death and betrayal are some of the themes that Ken Follett captures in his masterpiece.
The pillars of the earth: Setting
The pillars of the earth, was published in 1989. Its original edition in English was published with Editorial Macmillan Publishers in Wales. And its Spanish edition was translated by Rosalía Vázquez, and was published that same year in England.
The novel focuses on the period of the Middle Ages, where Gothic and Romantic architecture predominates. Among the historical events found in this novel are:
The Civil War, better known as the "english anarchy", during the sinking of the White Ship and the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket. At the same time, there is a recreation of the trip through France and Spain that was made on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Also, there is the Kingsbridge Priory, although in the novel, this location is representative for characteristic use of the typical English town at the time, where popular markets were established around it. If you like books from the Middle Ages we also recommend:
Arguments
Tom Builder, is a bricklayer in ruins who lost his job as a builder in the house of the nobleman William Hamleigh. His wife, Agnes, dies in a forest while giving birth. And when Tom decides to leave the baby to his fate, he comes back for him; but he did not find it. Ellen, a woman who lives in the woods with her son Jack, knows of her whereabouts and tells Tom that the baby is in the hands of a priest.
Tom and Ellen then head to the monastery in the woods, to meet the creature baptized with the name "Jonathan". The father decides that the best thing for everyone is to leave the baby in the care of the monks.
Phillip, a Welsh monk, is the director of the monastery and looks after Jonathan. He leaves his cell at Saint John in-the-Forest to go to Kingsbridge, where the priory is.
Upon the death of Prior James, the Cuthnert brothers and Milius, Phillip puts forward his candidacy for prior and is the winner. But it was all a maneuver by the malevolent archdeacon Waleran Bigod, to manipulate Phillip and thus become Bishop.
After Jonathan and going through necessities, Tom and Ellen meet Earl Bartholomew of Shiring, his son Richard and his daughter, Aliena, with whom Jack, Ellen's son, ends up madly in love.
Tom manages to get a job, but his efforts are frustrated when William Hamleigh conquers the earl's castle upon discovering that Bartholomew is an ally of the legitimate queen, Maud.
William proposes marriage to Aliena, but she rejects him for being a cruel person. Afterwards, Shiring ends up in prison and again, Tom and his family find themselves unemployed.
Arriving at Kingsbridge and finding themselves desperate for work, Jack sets fire to the old and destroyed cathedral, so that the prior is forced to build another.
Both Jack and Tom start building the cathedral. While, in the count's castle, William out of revenge, rapes Aliena and escapes with her younger brother, Richard.
From here, a series of events unfolds that unfold around the time of the construction of Kingsbridge Cathedral, where the search for a secret is revealed during the confession of a character.
"The pillars of the earth", is a novel full of history, whose characters live alongside dramatic events, but learn from their mistakes and manage to overcome the obstacles imposed on them.
Background
When you start reading "The pillars of the earth", you will come across this introduction:
“When I was a boy, my whole family belonged to a Puritan religious group called the Plymouth Brethren. For us, a church was a bare room with rows of chairs around a central table… Therefore, I grew up knowing hardly anything about the great architectural richness of European churches”.
Kent Follette
The author explained that, before writing "The pillars of the earth", read many architecture books. And in the midst of all the documentation that he compiled, he realized that cathedrals generated a lot of interest and enthusiasm.
Some time passed before the idea of writing a novel was in his mind. Follett was aware that, at the start of this project, the book was inevitably going to be long. Given that at the time, the term for the construction of a single cathedral was approximately 30 years. That is if this period had no interruptions such as lack of financing, invasion, destruction, etc.
Taking all this into account, the author takes up a pen and paper to capture a detailed and profound story. With main and secondary characters, whose lives evolve as the construction of a cathedral is carried out, located in Kingsbridge, England.
“In my publishing house they were a little restless about such an unusual subject that, paradoxically, is my most famous work. It is also the book I am most proud of. It recreates, in a quite graphic way, the life of the town and its inhabitants. It's as if you know the place and the people as intimately as if you were living there yourself in the Middle Ages."
The pillars of the earth: Characters
Jacks
Jack Jackson or better known as Jack Fitzjack -later as Jack Builder- is the son of Jack Shareburg and Ellen. He is a young and intelligent architect, with a background in stonework. He works with his stepfather Tom Builder, in the construction of Kingsbridge Cathedral after burning it down in a state of decay out of desperation (they had no job and needed money).
In the story, Jack is included in a trip that will take him to Spain, where he learns mathematics and the techniques of Gothic architecture in France. Physically, he is red-haired with blue-green eyes with fair skin and a slim, yet strong build.
His great love is Aliena, with whom he eventually marries and they have two children. Although they will have to go through an odyssey before they can be happy that way. Jack is able to finish the new cathedral in Kingsbridge, being the first gothic cathedral in England.
Prior Philip
A resourceful and very devout monk. His dream is to one day contemplate the greatness of Kingsbridge. He becomes the prior of Kingsbridge at the suggestion of William Hamleigh.
Its management is done in a peaceful manner and supports the town with the distribution of goods, organization of trade, resolving disputes and imposing justice. Always giving the example that the use of brute force is merely a whim of people who do not use reason and are carried away by greed.
His morals are impeccable, which is questioned by some of the protagonists, but at the end of the story, everyone realizes that he is a person devoid of evil and that he only wants to do good for the community.
Alien from Shiring
She is the daughter of the Earl of Shiring. She is a very beautiful woman with curly brunette hair and fair skin, which makes her very attractive. William Hamleigh longs to marry her, but she refuses and is subsequently raped after her father loses her title and land.
He promises his dying father that he will help his brother, Richard, take back the earldom. She becomes a successful wool merchant, in order to finance her brother's chivalrous ambitions.
But after the attack on the cathedral, she is forced to marry Alfred for money. Although she is, after her brother murders him, she returns with her beloved Jack of hers, with whom she has two children, Tommy and Sally. Aliena, throughout history, is represented as a character with a lot of strength and determination, managing to achieve everything she sets out to do.
Tom Builder
A poverty-stricken master stonemason whose lifelong dream has been to build a cathedral. He is the father of Alfred, Martha and Jonathan and stepfather of Jack. He is described as loyal and diligent, passionate about construction and his family. Physically he is very tall, strong and intelligent.
william hamleigh
He is the son of Lord Percy and Lady Regan Hamleigh, all belonging to the lower nobility and lords of the small village of Hamleigh. He is described as cruel, vindictive, and petty.
William manages to humiliate and desecrate Aliena when she rejects him. In addition to committing violent acts to damage the entire county of Kingsbrisge to the point of burning the cathedral, which causes Tom's death and therefore the entire county despises him.
Ellen
Mother of Jack and wife of Tom Builder. Her knowledge of English, French, Latin, in addition to her ability to read and write, made her stand out from the crowd.
She was a lover of Jack Shareburg. At first, she lives in the forest with a reputation as a witch after having cursed those responsible for the execution of Shareburg. Although over time, this curse will destroy those involved in the peak stage of history.
Bishop Waleran Bigod
He is a clergyman in frank moral decadence. He is a character described as devious and cunning, constantly plotting the overthrow of Phillip, in order to gain power over all of Kingsbridge.
The pillars of the earth. The videogame.
Richard of Shiring
Aliena's younger brother, a skilled soldier and leader, despite being financially dependent on his sister. He is the one who organizes the defense of the town after William Hamleigh's second attempted assault on Kingsbridge. He eventually becomes Earl of Shiring for a time, but is forced to join the Crusades as penance for murdering Alfred.
Alfred Builder
Son of Tom Builder. He is described as stubborn, jealous, and as the story progresses, he becomes cruel. He marries Aliena out of spite, just to prevent her brother Jack from being with her.
Alfred is an inexperienced builder, and he proves this by building a stone vault in Kingsbridge Cathedral, which collapses on its inauguration, killing 79 people.
Jonathan
Son of Tom and Agnes Builder. Raised by Prior Phillip and the Kingsbridge monks. He is Phillip's successor as Prior of Kingsbridge, when Phillip becomes Bishop.
Lord Percy Hamleigh
William's father. A greedy man thirsty for power. He is an effective ruler. He detests sharing the Shiring quarry with Kingsbridge Priory and therefore tries to prevent the construction of the cathedral. He dies of a heart attack and leaves a county weakened and in debt. He was one of those involved in the murder of Jack Cherbourg.
Lady Regan Hamleigh
Mother of William Hamleigh and wife of Percy. Physically, she is a repulsive woman. She though she makes up for her personality with her intelligence. She is manipulative and exercises absolute control over her husband and son.
King Stephen
The bastard son of the late King Henry. His ambition to obtain the throne of England leads him into a civil war with Empress Maud, who is his stepsister.
Empress Maud
Known as the rightful heir to the British throne. But, she is betrayed by Esteban.
Bartholomew of Shiring
Earl of Shiring and father of Aliena and Richard. His alliance with Maud being discovered, he ends up in prison, where he dies.
Ken Follet: Biography
Welsh writer was born in Cardiff (Wales) on June 5, 1949. He is the eldest of three brothers, with extremely religious parents. So much so that they were not allowed to enjoy the radio or television.
For Follet, the library was his biggest distraction, eventually becoming a calling. At the age of 10, his family settled in London and when it was time to go to university, he decided to study Philosophy at the University of London.
Graduated, with a specialization in journalism, he worked in different media. He worked as a reporter for the South Wales Echo in Cardiff and was a columnist for the Evening news London.
Ken Follett dreamed of becoming a successful investigative journalist, but frustrated that it wasn't going as well as expected, he quit and worked for Editorial everest books.
In his spare time, he devoted himself to writing. He went on to complete several works that were published, but remained low-profile in sales. However, with the support and advice of Al Zuckerman - his literary agent for him in America - he continues to write until he creates"Island of storms".
Later, when published: "The Eye of the Needle", has a resounding international success, which allowed Follet to devote himself entirely to literature professionally. The style of this writer is varied, given that his writings are made up of various literary genres such as: police. thriller, adventure, history, intrigue, etc.
Ken Follett is one of the most successful writers in the literary world. His works, especially "The pillars of the earth", have been translated into many languages and join the repertoire of best-selling books.
In 2017, "The pillars of the earth", was also adapted into a video game for PS4, Xbox and PC.
author's books
- “The Mystery of the Planet of the Worms” (1976).
- "Night on the waters" (1991).
- "In the mouth of the dragon" (1998).
- "On target" (2004).
- "A world without end" (2007).
- "The fall of the Giants" (2010).
- “The winter of the world” (2012).
- “The threshold of eternity” (2014).
- “A column of fire” (2017).
- "The Darkness and The Soul" (2020).
In 2003, "The pillars of the earth", was positioned at No. 33 by the BBC, during a survey of the most beloved works of British literature. Won the award Oprah's Book Club in 2007.
The novel has an extension of more than 1000 pages that has managed to captivate its readers and satisfy its editors. being the eldest Bestseller on Ken Follett's career.
"World Without End", is the second part of this work, published on October 9, 2007. This book was recognized as one of the great successes of the early 2008st century, granting it the Olaguibel Prize of the Official Association of Basque-Navarro Architects in XNUMX.
Ten years later, it is published "A Pillar of Fire", end of the trilogy "The pillars of the earth". On the other hand, Follet's works were brought to the big screen. “The Eye of the Needle”, “The Third Twin” y “The key is in Rebecca”, were some.