World Without End

Book Review
World Without End, Ken Follet’s new novel is a sequel to his previous masterpiece, Pillars of the Earth. Sequels, as such are usually disappointing. A good story is complete in itself. And it is a very rare storyteller who can extend the time line of his characters out of a previous book with an intensity that is matched in the original.

Follet, therefore, does not pick up where Pillars ended. He lets two hundred years pass. And he opens the gates of the Kingsbridge city in the fourteenth century, on a cold day in November and introduces the reader to four kids.

One is Gwenda, daughter of a thief, a man who got his hand chopped off because he was caught stealing. Gwenda is terrified that she will received the same punishment, but she is more afraid of hunger and cold. Another is a girl called Caris, daughter of a rich trader. Caris’s mother is sick and at twelve years of age, Caris has inkling that when the monks bleed her mother, it is not doing her any good.

The boys are brothers, but very different in temperament. Ralph, the younger brother, is born to be a soldier. He has a knack of killing, and his first victim is Gwenda’s pet dog. Merthin, the elder, lacks the killer instinct, and hence is low on self esteem. His parents force him to become an apprentice of a carpenter and slowly the concepts of architecture unravel in his mind.

Other than Gwenda, all three are descendents of the Builder family’s of Pillars of the earth. In Pillars, the propelling factor was the building of the Cathedral. In this book, it is the transformation of thinking patterns from blind faith to experience and logic. The evolution of medical practice, a slow painful process augmented by repeated attacks of plague and an intelligent approach of research.

In any society, it is the heros who are worshipped that determine the flow of the tide. In medieval England, the Church and the Aristocracy dominated over the people ruthlessly, and people accepted them, blinded by the faith of fear and superstition. The monks were God’s men, and if they thought a sick person should be bled, nobody questioned them. If a nun said you must wash your hands after you touch a patient who has the plague, she was easily ignored because she was a woman.

The feminine was suppressed, by the practice of killing the so called witches. A rapist who is about to be hung receives a pardon because the king needs soldiers to fight in the war. An eighteen year old girl can be ‘sold’ by her father to an outlaw, by her father who needs the money to feed his other children. And this happens in broad daylight, and it is sanctified by a monk.

And so it is the times they are living in that is the villain of the story. A beautiful aspect about time is that it changes. Bad times become good by certain characteristics in our four characters. One is a basic intelligence, something that is not of much value when people are superstitious. One might say it is courage, and persistence which can bring fruits to an enquiry.

However, the fascinating aspect of this book is how the change in mindset is a result of the circumstances in the flow of narrative. In fact, this is the reason that literature is an easier way to study and appreciate history than text books. Because a book, specially a novel set in historical times, gives us the entire picture.

World Without End is an experience of living in medieval England, during exiting times.

The author takes you through all the different steps of hierarchy, from a peasant to an earl, from a builder to a nun. Their lives are woven into a compelling read.

This book is a reminder to us, to value the times we are living in. Our ancestors have paid a heavy price and gone through immense mental, emotional struggle for us to get a democratic life.

What I liked about the book:

The complexity of the characters make them very real. Caris, for example, is in love with Merthin but does not want to marry. She would rather attend the town’s meetings, write a book on how to deal with plague victims, and fight with the monks. Not because she is ambitious, but because she has a calling. A calling is something which fulfills itself.

What I did not like about the book:

The first part is rather slow. Maybe because as a sequel, it has to deal with the hangover of Pillars of the Earth. But it did not have to go into such long descriptions of the politics a monk plays to become a Prior. The author’s preference towards nuns as compared to monks is a bit too obvious.

However, going by the theme of the narrative, which was a rise of the smart woman, and the falling of the superstitious folk, this preference was necessary.

World Without End

World Without End, Ken Follets new novel is a sequel to his previous masterpiece, Pillars of the Earth. Sequels, as such are usually disappointing. A good story is complete in itself. And it is a very rare storyteller who can extend the timeline of his characters out of a previous book with an intensity that is matched in the original.

Follet, therefore, does not pick up where Pillars ended. He lets two hundred years pass. And he opens the gates of the Kingsbridge city in the fourteenth century, on a cold day in November and introduces the reader to four kids.

One is Gwenda, daughter of a thief, a man who got his hand chopped off because he was caught stealing. Gwenda is terrified that she will received the same punishment, but she is more afraid of hunger and cold. Another is a girl called Caris, daughter of a rich trader. Caris’s mother is sick and at twelve years of age, Caris has inkling that when the monks bleed her mother, it is not doing her any good.

The boys are brothers, but very different in temperament. Ralph, the younger brother, is born to be a soldier. He has a knack of killing, and his first victim is Gwenda’s pet dog. Merthin, the elder, lacks the killer instinct, and hence is low on self esteem. His parents force him to become an apprentice of a carpenter and slowly the concepts of architecture unravel in his mind.

Other than Gwenda, all three are descendents of the Builder family’s of Pillars of the earth. In Pillars, the propelling factor was the building of the Cathedral. In this book, it is the transformation of thinking patterns from blind faith to experience and logic. The evolution of medical practice, a slow painful process augmented by repeated attacks of plague and an intelligent approach of research.

In any society, it is the heros who are worshipped that determine the flow of the tide. In medieval England, the Church and the Aristocracy dominated over the people ruthlessly, and people accepted them, blinded by the faith of fear and superstition. The monks were God’s men, and if they thought a sick person should be bled, nobody questioned them. If a nun said you must wash your hands after you touch a patient who has the plague, she was easily ignored because she was a woman.

The feminine was suppressed, by the practice of killing the so called witches. A rapist who is about to be hung receives a pardon because the king needs soldiers to fight in the war. An eighteen year old girl can be ‘sold’ by her father to an outlaw, by her father who needs the money to feed his other children. And this happens in broad daylight, and it is sanctified by a monk.

And so it is the times they are living in that is the villain of the story. A beautiful aspect about time is that it changes. Bad times become good by certain characteristics in our four characters. One is a basic intelligence, something that is not of much value when people are superstitious. One might say it is courage, and persistence which can bring fruits to an enquiry.

However, the fascinating aspect of this book is how the change in mindset is a result of the circumstances in the flow of narrative. In fact, this is the reason that literature is an easier way to study and appreciate history than text books. Because a book, specially a novel set in historical times, gives us the entire picture.

World Without End is an experience of living in medieval England, during exiting times.

The author takes you through all the different steps of hierarchy, from a peasant to an earl, from a builder to a nun. Their lives are woven into a compelling read.

This book is a reminder to us, to value the times we are living in. Our ancestors have paid a heavy price and gone through immense mental, emotional struggle for us to get a democratic life.

What I liked about the book:

The complexity of the characters make them very real. Caris, for example, is in love with Merthin but does not want to marry. She would rather attend the town’s meetings, write a book on how to deal with plague victims, and fight with the monks. Not because she is ambitious, but because she has a calling. A calling is something which fulfills itself.

What I did not like about the book:

The first part is rather slow. Maybe because as a sequel, it has to deal with the hangover of Pillars of the Earth. But it did not have to go into such long descriptions of the politics a monk plays to become a Prior. The author’s preference towards nuns as compared to monks is a bit too obvious.

However, going by the theme of the narrative, which was a rise of the smart woman, and the falling of the superstitious folk, this preference was necessary.