World Without End

Having read "The Pillars of the Earth" earlier this year, I didn't wait long to pick up this volume. The first three hundred pages were very reminiscent of the first book, but then it came into its own. Contrary to the few reviewers on this site who panned the book as dull and its characters as poorly developed, I enjoyed the book thoroughly. In fact, this 60 year old college professor was very sad when the book ended. I felt like I had lived the main characters lives with them and that I knew them like friends or relatives. Yes, Follett inserted many anachronisms in speech and sensibility. But the book makes you realize the humanity of those who lived in those days and the constraints they lived under. The two main characters - Merthin and Caris - are very unusual in their times. However, that makes them stand out in as individuals. Most of their peers believed in spirits and potions. The medieval doctors in the book believed in humors and bleeding, beliefs that lasted into the 18th century. But there must have been many skeptics during this century, like the two protagonists. To follow up on the novel, I'm re-reading Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," written later in the 14th century in which "World Without End" takes place. The number of lecherous monks, adulterous wives and libidinous episodes is rather high in Chaucer. The sophistication of the people narrating Chaucers "Tales" correlates well with the advanced consciousness of Follett's characters. But Follett is writing in the 21st century, for us. His novel speaks to us and is not intended to be limited to what was current thinking in 1360. He is a great storyteller. If you can't enjoy this book, I feel sorry for you.

After reading Pillars of The Earth and enjoying it immensely, I had to buy Mr. Follets second offering. I truly liked how the first book laid flat while reading it. The second book, after a couple hundred pages also has this nice feature, even though it is a hard cover and over 1000 pages.

It is amazing to me that the human race has continued when you read how they only bathed once a year. I felt the dialogue was more current for now than that time. It keeps you interested in how the various characters will survive the latest mishap and what will eventually do them in. A good read all the way.

I have just read about 100 pages and I cannot stop reading... utterly amazing and advisable...

Received promptly, in great condition, packaged well. Thank you. Am still reading last book bought on Amazon.com.

Could not read more than one hundred pages. The prose is extremely dull and the plot very dry, very black and white, lack of depth in characters.

My wife loved it. Tore through its substantial pages in three days. I'm not equipped to judge it on my limited (and annoyed) experience with it. No doubt, some will love it. Good for them. It's prose, yes, but it's ugly prose. Like staring at a deformed baby and wishing its mother (author) would have loved it enough to have provided the surgery (revision) necessary before parading it through the city square. Dig it?