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Originally Posted by commonsense
I'll have to look at this one, is it similar to James Michener's historical novels - if you've read any of those?
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No I haven't read any, but yes this would be in a similar vein. It spans about 50 years or the central characters' lives, and is a true epic - greed, deception, love, betrayal, war, redemption - you name it. It's magnificent. The main antagonist is one of the most emotionally provocative characters I've read - he's just so evil.
And the book inspired in me my lasting obsession with and love for cathedrals. Some might find the details of this in the book tiresome (it's essentially about the building of a cathedral at a monastery in the 12th century) but I loved all the nitty gritty of the architecture, the sheer volume and scope of the work, the fact that working on a cathedral could provide a family with a lifetime's employment and a good prospect of wealth, the way it enriches and grows a township - it was just amazing to me.
Plus even though it's a fictional novel, it includes real historical events in the story. Just wonderful.
In fact, I really, really want to go and read it again now!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liberty
I've almost bought it about five times. I have a problem with buying books faster than I can read them -- but have been doing better lately. I think there are literally 60 or 70 behind me in my office that I still have to get to (and four on the way from Amazon) -- I have a little personality disorder of my own  |
I think we might share that disorder. The Chesboy has recently banned me from entering bookshops unsupervised.