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| World Without End | 
 enlarge | Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $6.00
You Save: $29.00 (83%)
New (60) Used (72) Collectible (18) from $6.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  423 reviews
Sales Rank: 1001
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1024
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 2.2
ISBN: 0525950079
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780525950073
ASIN: 0525950079
Publication Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hugely disappointed October 18, 2007
40 out of 69 found this review helpful
I read the first book in the series years ago, and was excited when I heard there was another one coming out. I waited anxiously for months, and have just finished reading World Without End. I am very unhappy that Ken Follet chose to make this a quasi-porno book. He seems preoccupied with sex, even raunchy, explicit sex, homosexual sex, you name it, it is on almost every page. I started just skimming instead of really reading it about halfway through.
Aside from the unnecessary sex scenes, the writing at times is almost juvenile. I have a hard time even believing this was written by an acclaimed and highly regarded author. Much of the dialogue seems like something written by a ten year old (no offense to ten year olds).
All in all, a big disappointment. I wish I could send it back and have my money back. It was that bad.
I wanted to like this book...a lot. But it is not worth the time.
Bloated and Endless December 12, 2007
33 out of 43 found this review helpful
I, too, was a fan of Pillars of the Earth. When I read about this book's imminent release, I was very excited. I suppose I would feel cheated about the total lack of payoff that the sequel provided but it was so bad that, at times, it was good and provided me with some measure of entertainment. Some measure. Right now I'm still marveling that I made it through all 1,000 pages. Reader beware: spoilers will abound in this review.
Where to start? How about with the controversial issue over the sex scenes. I agree with the reviewers who wrote that they were gratuitous--were they ever. It's one thing to have sex scenes in a book if they propel the plot but that certainly wasn't the case with this book. The sex scenes were unnecessary and so poorly written that they were unintentionally humorous. I felt like I was reading the lascivious ramblings of an adolescent male. The scenes were all more or less the same and even when they were supposed to take place between characters deeply in love they were completely devoid of emotion. What's more, I found some of the terminology used to describe the bodies of female characters rather offensive.
As for the plot...well, there is no real plot. Instead, there is a series of episodes that are linked together to create a tale of the less than compelling lives of the characters. Some of it is interesting, such as the recounting of how the social and monetary structure of towns and villages fell apart in the wake of the plague. Some of it was just graphic and grotesque, such as the detailed description of a flaying. Some of it was just plain absurd, such as two nuns traveling unprotected through very hostile territory as they attempted to track down the English army and bother the bishop with their petty--when compared with the fact that people are at *war* here--concerns.
Perhaps the worst thing about the story is the unrelenting misery that falls on the heads of the characters. Tragedy is heaped on the good characters in such copious amounts it's a wonder any of them manage to get out of bed in the morning. By contrast, the evil characters experience triumph after triumph. Sure, it's all tied up very neatly in the end--practically with a bow--but it's certainly not satisfying. Perhaps the sitcom style-ending is appropriate to a book that is pretty much one big medieval soap opera.
As for the characters, with whom should the reader sympathize? For the most part, they are all so stereotypical they might as well have their roles tattooed on their foreheads: hard-working peasant, strong female character, noble builder, evil prior... There is precious little internal dialog and so the characters are very stunted.
Merthin should be the character for whom the reader roots but he's so boring and his devotion to his brother is just unfathomable. Caris is little more than a self-centered harpy who is so out of character as a medieval woman that it's laughable. I certainly don't object to the idea of an unconventional female character. In fact, I welcome it. However, she must still be within keeping of the spirit of her times if she is to be believable. The love between her and Merthin is inexplicable and his supposed devotion to her is made cheap by his hopping into bed with various other women the minute he is slighted by her--and then Caris has the nerve to be mad about it. How can Merthin be such a sex object when he's so unexciting? How can Caris be the love of his life when she spends most of the novel using him in various and assorted ways?
Ralph is unrelentingly evil and his occasional twinges of guilt with regard to how Merthin views him were completely unconvincing. Godwyn is much the same, though his evil is more of the ignorant and arrogant nature than Ralph's. Either way, both characters would have benefited a great deal from a healthy dose of nuance. If evil characters are to appear in a book, they should at least be interesting. If they're meant for nothing more than to just be evil, they should take up a whole lot fewer pages than these two do.
As for Gwenda, she is a woman who more or less sells her body and then commits several murders. Though the first two are clearly a struggle for survival, the last two are appalling. Yes, the two men she kills are evil but that doesn't justify her taking their lives simply to protect a secret that she brought upon her own head. I was very disgusted with her character in the end, though I didn't like her all that much when she tried to seduce Wulfric into marrying her rather than Annet. However stupid Annet is, it hardly justifies the depths of Gwenda's deception. The reconciliation between the women is so cheesy.
My other big gripe about this novel is its repetitiveness. Did no one edit this thing? How many times does the reader need to be told that the people of Kingsbridge come to view Caris as something of a saint? Why does the reader need a rehash of everyone's pasts when he or she reaches the last section of the book? The book is bloated enough without everything being repeated over and over ad nauseam. I really have no idea why this book is earning so many rave reviews.
World without end.... and I wish it had November 7, 2007
23 out of 35 found this review helpful
I purchased World Without End (WWE) because I had read Pillars of the Earth when it first came out. Pillars was an OK book although on the second read last month (after I had already ordered World Without End) I realised it wasn't all I had thought it was the first time around.
In WWE I had my hopes up thinking that Follett would have written a book similar to that of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. I was very disappointed.
The book is ok (though overly long) if you don't mind moving from one unbelieveable crisis to another each one more contrived and worse than the last. The whole book seems to be written as if the plauge had happened in the 20th Century rather than in the 1300's. There's enough sex in the book to make it seem like Desperate Houswive's set in a monastery -
To put it mildly - I didn't like it. I expected more and was let down a lot.
I would have probably given this book to someone as a gift but it was so bad I think I'll just donate it to a charity (one that doesn't expect too much).
Not quite up to the level of Pillars October 13, 2007
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
As most people know, World Without End is a sequel to Pillars of the Earth. I read Pillars about 16 years ago, and was mesmerized by it, and it's been one of my all time favorite books ever since. When I heard there was to be a sequel I pre-ordered it right away.
I'm sure other Pillars... fans will want to know: is it as good as the original? In my opinion...almost, but not quite.
The author does manage to bring 14th century Knightsbridge as much to life as he did the 12th century Knightsbridge of Pillars. It's a couple of centuries older, bigger, more crowded, and more cumbersome; the priory is no longer run by visionaries like Prior Phillip, but by conservative, small minded men. The great cathedral is showing some cracks (literally and figuratively). There are conflicts between the merchants of the town and the monks, and there's also a new element - a convent of nuns that is wealthier and better managed than the monastery.
I guess that the more complex (even muddled) society of the 14th century is one reason why World Without End a bit less enjoyable than Pillars. The characters are in a lot more shades of grey. The building of a bridge and the repairing and renovation of the cathedral are less awe-inspiring perhaps than the building of a cathedral from the ground up. So you feel that the characters are a bit less small, a bit less challenged.
One factor that had the possibility of challenging this society in a huge way was the plague (the Black Death), but I felt that the plague part of the book was a bit rushed through, or dealt with a bit lightly. (I got the feeling that the author cared a lot more about describing the bridge construction than the parts about the plague, which may account for that feeling of uneven weightedness.) It didn't seem that earth shaking in the course of events somehow - though it does show how the plague pushed some people up the ranks of society far quicker than would have been expected, often undeservedly.
Ultimately this book pales a bit in comparison to Pillars of the Earth because it lacks the larger than life characters that dominated that book - Jack, Aliena, and in particular Prior Phillip. (There's a paler version of Jack, a different-but-equal, sort of, version of Aliena, a very similar version of William...and no equivalent really to Phillip.) The characters in World Without End are appealing, but not unforgettable.
That being said, it is still an excellent book, and I hope Mr. Follett decides to write more historical fiction.
 A medieval bodice-ripper November 30, 2007
21 out of 25 found this review helpful
I liked Pillars of the Earth, and have read it several times. It is fascinating and richly woven with detail and character. It highlights the struggle between good and evil, in society and in each one of us. Decent book, good story. In Pillars, there are hints that the author feels disdain for clergy, but it's not the main story line.
But Ai-yi-yi, where to start with World Without End? Some things are distracting -- nearly every cleric has a lover, and most of them are homosexual. It's just too obvious.
The sex in the book is monotonous. Two people kiss, then hands fondle breasts -- IMMEDIATELY. Every kiss in the book. Sheesh!
The common usage for the term "nunnery" in the middle ages meant "brothel", not "convent." Given the contempt of Christianity and virtue on display in this book, I can only imagine that the word "nunnery" was selected on purpose, and then repeated without variation for 1000 pages. World Without End, indeed!
Count how many times the transition "After a while, " is used. Distracting -- poor editing.
For the most part, the book was engaging, but not compelling. There were interesting sections on the engineering of structures -- that was really the best part of the book.
The love affairs of Caris and Merthin were amazingly and needlessly complicated. **SPOILER ALERT** They meet and find one another fascinating. They fall in love. Will she marry him? No, she doesn't want to give up her dreams. She aborts his baby. Years pass, they are still in love. Will she marry him? No, she wants to be a doctor. Will she marry him? No, she stands accused of witchcraft. Now she takes refuge in the church, begins her medical learning in earnest. He loves her still. He's terribly unhappy. He leaves town, travels Europe, learns a lot about architecture and engineering, marries, has a baby. Caris is heartbroken on hearing the news. She becomes lovers with another nun. The two nuns travel to France to try to persuade a bishop to DO THE RIGHT THING with regard to their town. But wait! There's hope! Here comes the plague! She becomes an even better doctor, her nun lover dies; he contracts plague and survives, but his wife dies. Reunion! Will she marry him? No way, she just can't give up her work. He says THIS IS THE LAST TIME I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO MARRY ME. No, she won't. Desolate, he becomes lovers with his brother's wife (oh, yes! it's true). The plague comes back. In the end, boy gets girl, middle aged though they are. This, along with corrupt clergymen and -women, deserving peasants, violent gentry, a gruesome execution, 50 incidents of breast-fondling, and a secret buried in the ground comprises the plot. **SPOILER END**
It was tiresome and tedious. The engineering sections were interesting. The medicine was engaging. The love story was silly. The plot twists were predictable. The pettiness was eye-rolling. There was not much loyalty, piety, honor, or faith on display.
I'm a booky sort of person. Skip this one, unless you're a Ken Follett junkie or love tantalizing glimpses of the homosexual clergy. Go reread Pillars.
Sheesh.
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