Comments on: Ken Follett’s World Without End http://capetownnews.co.za/2008/04/17/book-review-ken-folletts-world-without-end/ Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:58:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Richard Catto http://capetownnews.co.za/2008/04/17/book-review-ken-folletts-world-without-end/comment-page-1/#comment-3723 Richard Catto Thu, 19 Aug 2010 19:16:15 +0000 http://capetownnews.co.za/?p=490#comment-3723 @Star: You should read it the whole way through. I read it three times in a row. Each read is a different experience. Details that didn't make sense to you early on, are more profound in the context of what is to come. @Star: You should read it the whole way through. I read it three times in a row. Each read is a different experience.

Details that didn’t make sense to you early on, are more profound in the context of what is to come.

]]> By: Star http://capetownnews.co.za/2008/04/17/book-review-ken-folletts-world-without-end/comment-page-1/#comment-3722 Star Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:40:55 +0000 http://capetownnews.co.za/?p=490#comment-3722 I finally started reading World Without End and loved the first half of it, then it got to be very frustrating for some of the reasons you outlined. I liked Pillars of the Earth because it was Kingsbridge against the world, but when the leaders of Kingsbridge cheat and lie and steal from the town, I felt as helpless and frustrated as Caris and Merthin. I admit that their struggle seemed kind of pointless after a while - afterall, if the descendents of Jack and Aliena and Tom Builder could turn into creeps like Ralph and Godwyn, what was the point of any of it? The book stopped being enjoyable for me, and the struggle (Caris's and Merthin's and mine) just got depressing. I decided to stop reading. I cared enough about the characters to see what happened to them in the end, so I flicked ahead and also read the full outline on Wikipedia. I wish I had kept reading because it sounds like there were many twists and turns in the last 1/3rd of the book. I wish Ken had given us little victories to celebrate throughout the middle of the book, rather than making everything come out happily in the final chapters. I finally started reading World Without End and loved the first half of it, then it got to be very frustrating for some of the reasons you outlined. I liked Pillars of the Earth because it was Kingsbridge against the world, but when the leaders of Kingsbridge cheat and lie and steal from the town, I felt as helpless and frustrated as Caris and Merthin. I admit that their struggle seemed kind of pointless after a while – afterall, if the descendents of Jack and Aliena and Tom Builder could turn into creeps like Ralph and Godwyn, what was the point of any of it? The book stopped being enjoyable for me, and the struggle (Caris’s and Merthin’s and mine) just got depressing. I decided to stop reading. I cared enough about the characters to see what happened to them in the end, so I flicked ahead and also read the full outline on Wikipedia. I wish I had kept reading because it sounds like there were many twists and turns in the last 1/3rd of the book. I wish Ken had given us little victories to celebrate throughout the middle of the book, rather than making everything come out happily in the final chapters.

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