The audiobook version of this series is really good. Terrific narrator, and this novel almost made me give the book a 5 star rating, but it's still laThe audiobook version of this series is really good. Terrific narrator, and this novel almost made me give the book a 5 star rating, but it's still lacking a bit more. Can't wait to listen to the next novel, or maybe read it....more
This was a very fun read, but quite disappointing in a way. I believe my disappointment rooted from the fact that I watched the movie adaptations [ParThis was a very fun read, but quite disappointing in a way. I believe my disappointment rooted from the fact that I watched the movie adaptations [Part 1 and 2] first before reading this. If I read this years ago before the movies came out, I'm 100% sure that I would've been fully immersed and would've loved this novel. While reading this, I imagined everything as how the movie adaptation did. I wanted my interpretation of the novel, but I guess the only one we can blame would be me. I don't think it's right to give this a 4-star rating because of something I did, and I'll be logical and say the movie wouldn't be that amazing without the reference in the first place. So I believe this deserves my 5-star rating, and it's also considered as one of my favorites.
The characters are obviously unforgettably superb. Bilbo Baggins is one humorous man, and his adventure resulted to a magical world where millions of people learned to love and appreciate. Gandalf is another character where people will always remember. For me he resembles Dumbledore, or I believe the right comparison would be, Dumbledore resembles Gandalf. His wit and humour added to the amazing adventure this novel offered. So I've managed to mention my third and second favorite characters. Now let me talk about my favorite, Gollum. I've seen the 3 movies of The Lord of The Rings when I was a child, and the character that I remember the most would be Gollum. The very ugly yet funny and entertaining creature. Who wouldn't love this creature?! Even though he only played a minor part in this novel, I'm still glad that he even played a part in the first place. He brought back a lot of good memories.
The world of The Hobbit is magically splendid of course. Middle-Earth would be one of the few fictional worlds I'll never forget. It played a major role in my childhood, and yet it still plays a huge role in my life right now as a young adult. No matter how old I'll be, I'll never learn to get tired of Middle-Earth.
To sum things up, just go read this novel. Stop hesitating, cause after reading this, you'll end up hating yourself for delaying too much. Stop delaying the amazing feeling you'll experience after reading this. 5/5, deserves no less.
The Great Gatsby was a tragic love story and a man's blind battle with obsession. That's the way I perceived TGG after reading it. It's not overwhelmiThe Great Gatsby was a tragic love story and a man's blind battle with obsession. That's the way I perceived TGG after reading it. It's not overwhelming in terms of how long the novel was, but length is not always proportional to depth and substance. While the novel was tremendously short, the plot was still thick.
Jay Gatsby was a rich man, and he has everything that he wanted, except for Daisy. The thing with being rich is that people believe that you're happy, but sometimes, there are things money can't buy. You might think love, but in this novel, I believe it's patience. Daisy and Gatsby used to date/be in love but Daisy wanted a rich guy. She couldn't wait for Gatsby, so she married Tom. Tom was hefty rich, so that should've been enough to satisfy Daisy's yearning for a rich husband. The problem was that Gatsby also became rich. Tom was a rich guy, but Gatsby was someone who she used to love, and now rich too. See, it's a love story about a man who did everything he could to make a woman be his wife. Did he succeed though? You'd have to read and find out on your own.
The Great Gatsby was not as amazing as everyone portrayed it to be, at least for me. It was an enjoyable read, but I can't seem to consider it to be one of the greatest reads I've ever had. Simple yet complex at the same time. The narrator, Nick Carraway was not as great, more on the neutral side. I liked Gatsby a lot more, so that seems to be a bit of a problem. Nick being the narrator, we get more of him, rather than of Gatsby. We get more of his ideas and beliefs, rather than of Gatsby. I don't hate him as a character, but I don't seem to like him that much either.
The symbolism and hidden plot meanings can be found all over the internet, so I really don't think I need to state them here. All I can say is that the ending was tragic, but I didn't like it. It was too tragic and less climactic. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'm not going to discuss it further. I did get most of them though, and I enjoy a bit of a puzzle. You might say that I rated this 3 stars because of me not getting the hidden things Fitzgerald wrote, but believe me when I say that I did. But despite all those, I still see this as an okay novel. I liked it, but I didn't love it.
Being showcased as one of the greatest literary works of all time, I have to say that I'm terribly disappointed. I'm not sure if my age os the reason why I didn't enjoy this that much, but surely I'll be reading this again after 10 or 20 years. Hopefully then I'd have a different opinion of this romance novel. 3/5 stars. I liked it, and that's probably the most I can say for this novel....more
Set in twelfth-century England, The Pillars of Earth is an epic tale of remarkably unforgettable characters in pursuit of building the greatest GothicSet in twelfth-century England, The Pillars of Earth is an epic tale of remarkably unforgettable characters in pursuit of building the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known. As simple as the plot may sound, the novel offered more than what it appeared to have.
This is the best Historical Fiction I've read as of today. This gigantic piece of treasure didn't seem that huge while I was reading it. I'm serious when I say that this even felt shorter than some 300+ pages novel I've read. The whole novel was compelling, and if I weren't in my final week of exams, I would've finished this in 2 days the longest. I didn't want to put this amazing thing down, even during the time wherein I had to study for my Organic Chemistry finals. I chose to read a few more chapters of this instead of studying. I've never made that sacrifice before, so that says a lot about this novel.
So the biggest question is, what's there to love about The Pillars of the Earth? All I can say before you read on would be that obviously this review will be opinionated. If you hated the novel, then too bad for you. I didn't go around and bash people who gave a negative review of this just because they voiced out their opinion. Now, on to the review.
Am I seriously the only one who felt like I was sort of reading A Game of Thrones? Yes, they're both epics, and maybe that's why they're similar in some ways. I'm not saying anything about copying and all, what I'm trying to say is that I enjoyed this as much as A Game of Thrones. Both books were gigantic, yet once you started reading them, you won't even notice that you're halfway done with it. and that's a sign of an amazing novel.
Characters ALL of the characters were unforgettable in their own ways, in this novel. No matter how much I hated them, I will always remember them because each character played a role to make this novel amazing.
Let's talk about the bad characters.
William Hamleigh just made it to my list of hated characters of all time. Not hated in a way that I hated the novel, but in a way that he was an awful character, and that contributed to the greatness of the novel. Who would like this piece of shit who did nothing but rape women, and try to cheat his way to the throne? All I'm saying is, the author surely wanted to make him look bad, and he really did. He started as a really strong asshole, but in some parts we see that he's afraid of damnation in hell? He can rape and murder with no guilt, but a few holy words spurted at him made him weak? That's doesn't seem consistent. Once again I'm not saying it was a bad thing, all I'm saying is that William's a fucking pig.
Alfred is another piece of shit that I hated. He's like a mini version of William, only just as cowardly. He also raped women, and beat his brother(view spoiler)[ I don't wanna end up putting everything in a spoiler tag, so I said brother. I obviously meant step-brother. (hide spoiler)] up, just because he could. He's bigger and stronger, and he felt the urge to show that to everyone. All I can say is Karma will surely bite his fat ass one way or another.
I didn't really hate any other character, but Prior Philip actually faltered off after about 75% of the novel. He wasn't as likeable as he was in the beginning. He started making weird decisions, and I began to question his reputation in the novel.
Good characters Tom Builder of course. He's sort of the main character here, but this novel being an epic, I believe each character should be considered as a main character. He's the strongest character of all, for me at least. I really liked the decisions he made throughout the novel. The only questionable thing he did was (view spoiler)[ leaving the baby, Jonathan. Yes, they were out of food and Jonathan would've probably died, but I still don't see it as moral to leave the baby there in the forest. (hide spoiler)]. Tom had a dream of building the best cathedral, and he will do no matter what to build it. (view spoiler)[ Why the fuck did he have to die? Or, let me rephrase that, why the fuck did he have to die like that? His skull being crushed? The author gave him such a harsh faith. (hide spoiler)]
Aliena and Jack. I really liked both of them a lot. Aliena for looking out for her brother, Richard. Jack on the other hand, for looking out for himself. I honestly can't go into detail without spoiling, so I'll just do several spoiler tags. (view spoiler)[ Jack defended himself as best as he could from Alfred. Even when he thought Alfred was gone in the latter part of the novel, Alfred still came back and made Jack's life miserable. I mean, Alfred married Aliena for the sole purpose of making Jack furious for pete's sake. William also raped Aliena when she was stilla virgin. Just thought that I should write that as to remember it in the future. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ Aliena and Jack's relationship had to be one of the most realistic ones out there. Most relationships in books are very forced, but theirs was not. It felt quite natural, even their hardships were not unbelievable. I really liked that about them. (hide spoiler)]
So I'm not going to go more into detail about the characters because I'm sure I'm gonna spoil something to you guys. To wrap things up about the characters, all of them were amazing. I didn't even made mention of a few notable ones, because if I did I'd have to explain where they came from and I'll be ruining the novel for you guys.
The plot, once again, was supposedly very simple. It's all about building a cathedral, and presenting complications while doing so. Yes, that's what happened in the novel, but once you get attached to the characters, you'll want to know what would happen to them. A lot of shocking things happened in the middle. You'll have to read to experience the amazing ride this novel gave me. All I can ask the author is, why did he give some of the characters such terrible outcomes? Honestly all the rapes that happened didn't really bother me as much as it did to the others. I took it in as something that was really evident in the medieval times. Why curse the author for trying to make the novel as spot on as it should be. I know that it's not something that's moral, but this is a novel, I don't think people should be complaining about it as much. It's not advertising rape, but rather the novel even condemned the shameful act. What happened to those rapists in the novel truly served them right.
This was not really about building the cathedral alone, but rather to what extent could good and evil dominate the people. A lot of wars and political issues were present in this novel. I really wasn't expecting those things, but I'm really glad they were there. Not only did it give depth to the plot, but it also added to the enjoyment I experience while reading the novel. An epic is an epic, and Pillar's is the perfect example of a great one.
Even the most ruthless people have some scruples, ultimately.
The pity of his enemies was the most humiliating of all.
To end this review, before I spoil anything, go ahead and read this novel. The size surely is unappealing at first, but once you start reading this, you'll only notice that you haven't been productive because you were too busy finishing it. 5/5 stars, and it possibly claimed the top spot of my favorites list. The best novel I've read as of now, alongside some of the novels of A Song of Ice and Fire. An easy and clear recommendation to anyone....more
The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.
So I finally finished this gigantic
The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.
So I finally finished this gigantic brick. This freakin' gigantic heavy brick, and all I can say is, this is probably the best freakin' brick ever made. With a heaping 1439 pages, this book managed to hurt both my wrists, and probably injured some of my fingers. That's the price I had to pay to read this amazing novel. I never thought that I wouldn't finish this, fuck it I never even thought of putting this book down and read something else for the meantime. All I can say is, Stephen King managed to impress me again. Not that I doubted him though.
Its a typical thing for King to serve us with multiple characters with different stories, and plunge them together at some point. And as usual, some were amazing, and some were dreadfully boring unforgettable. This was also my experience while reading Needful Things, but his characters here are way better. I got an in depth description of each one, and I either loved or hated each one. That technique of King is truly remarkable. What goes best with an amazing plot? Well, freakin' amazing characters that's what. Ask me who my favorite is, and I'll probably end up describing most of them instead because I loved almost all of them.
I remember complaining how long the novel is. I've read quite a few epics, but all of them were way shorter than this. When I finished though, and pondered upon what could've been excluded, none came to mind. I believe everything happened for a reason, or let me rephrase that, everything was written for a reason. You can't really take out something from the story, because then the plot holes would reappear. The length of the novel is proportional to the enjoyment I experienced while reading this.
Once again, the characters were amazing and fully developed. I actually cared for them, and I didn't want them to die. This novel focused on the battle between good and evil, in a lengthy epic like feeling. We have Mother Abagail on the good side, and Flagg as the devil. It's King's second time to introduce a devil-like character, and the character turned out just as amazing. Flagg truly depicted a strong devil. He's really a strong character that I would love to read more about in his other novels (really hoping for a guest appearance).
Harold is the one I hated the most while reading. That pig really annoyed me. Everything he did was really annoying, and I wanted him to die at one point in the novel. Although I do have to point out that I hate him for a good reason. My hatred of him led to a better enjoyment of the novel. We all hate a character, and we want to see awful things done to them. I'm more than satisfied with the characters King created.
Lloyd and Nick were really amazing too. One is part of the dark team, and the other of the good team. I'm not gonna spoil who belongs where. All you need to know is that Nick's a kickass deaf-mute, and Lloyd's an annoying yet funny character. Tom's really cool too, despite being a retard. I didn't care for him that much in the beginning, but things started to change as I read along.
Stu and Fran's story would have to be my favorite of all the ones in the novel. Ever since the early parts of the novel, Fran's story already caught my interest, and it continued till the end. Larry Underwood's also really interesting. His pride overcoming him then more awful things happening really kept me interested in what would happen to him. I'm only going to mention those characters though, because who would want to read a spoiler and ruin their reading experience right? Those 3 are my favorites, but that doesn't mean that the others were boring. I will repeat, almost all the characters are amazing. There will obviously be a few that would stand out, and those 3 are my choice. Wait, I forgot to mention another favorite, the freakin' dog Kojak!! I always love dogs in novels. Kojak didn't disappoint!
(view spoiler)[ Yes!! The baby lives, and King kinda went Sci-Fi with all the science talk, and I loved it. He further expanded the world building, and in the end, he actually created a perfect world. With 99% of the world gone, and a super virus that is still haunting the citizens even though it's eradicated, the readers will wonder what would happen to the human race, and what King gave us is probably the perfect solution. The baby problem in the latter part of the novel was really cool for me, and the solution was even cooler. I actually though either the baby or Fran would die, thankfully neither did. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ STU DIDN'T FUCKING DIE. I actually thought he would, because King fucking wrote "and they never saw Stu Redman again". But that actually meant that the other three died. Even though Larry died, Stu's still my favorite so I'm not complaining. His survival was also really interesting for me. Pneumonia and other sicknesses associated with his situation. Flawless writing from King. (hide spoiler)]
Okay, enough feet kissing and let me get on with some negative aspects of this novel.
The back of the book states that "The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge - Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg the nefarious "Dark Man", who delights in chaos and violence. Yes, both of them possess those amazing qualities, but I don't think it's right to say that both of them are the leaders of the novel. I get that people in the novel looked up to the both of then [in fear and in doubt] but neither of the two became my genuine favorite. I really liked them both, yes, but that's that. Randall's really outstanding with all the violence don't get me wrong, but Mother Abagail was presented as somewhat disgusting . Obviously opinionated, but hey, aren't all reviews opinionated?
Maybe I should've said that I had one problem, because that's all I can think of as of right now. I had problems along the novel though, but all [except the one stated above] were resolved. Major problems like plot holes and all were resolved at the end of the novel, and that's awesome. Mostly when I read a novel, the problems that I had while reading didn't get fixed. The Stand proved itself otherwise. The main problem would be that we tend to complain even if we're not yet done with the novel.
The ending's really great. I'm not going to complain anymore because I really liked it. It gave me closure, and honestly, the ending's really witty. You'll have to read it yourself, but I really liked it. I'm not gonna put it in a spoiler tag anymore, because there's no reason to do so. Just read this amazing novel and see for yourself. Once again, real witty of you King. This is why you're my favorite author.
(view spoiler)[ The nuclear blowout in the end was not as amazing of an ending as I was hoping. Flagg being the devil, I kinda figured he wouldn't end up dead. Why use a man made creation to kill a supernatural being right? I'm not considering this as a major problem of mine though, I just thought that King could've ended the novel in a different way. I can't think of a better ending though, so I also don't get this contradicting and useless spoiler tag. (hide spoiler)]
So to wrap things up, this is now my favorite King novel. It is clearly superior to The Long Walk and Needful Things, both in length and substance. I'm not saying don't read the other two, because they are both amazing in their own ways, and I'm also recommending them. The Stand is just King's novel that had the biggest impact on me, as of now. Such a shame to say that he's my favorite author yet I believe I've read less than ten books of his, and I've only read this now. I'm planning to change that soon though, I can't wait to read more amazing novels written by King. 5/5 stars, and a worthy addition to my favorites list. A clear recommendation, and I can say that this is one of my best reads of 2014. ...more
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