Over, coincidentally, I recently finished Pillars of the Earth. I agree with the better criticism you can find. It is entertaining but the characters are off. They are engaging but surreal. He had a long enough text to explore motivation more. I wouldn't go as far as to say two-dimensional but it just so plot-driven. I was hoping for more. I realize Follett makes a conscious effort to write plain prose (noted on his website) but I was hoping for something more lyrical. He connects to a modern reader by using, perhaps, too many modern phrases. As one critic correctly noted, I do not recall enough similes or metaphors.
Hah, with all that said I just started World Without End! I must be a masochist. But I am enchanted by the picture he paints of brutal living in those days. Makes me feel better every time I turn the water on in my sink or flush the toilet at home!
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