| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Literature & Fiction |
| Author: | Ken Follett |
In paper back, it was a thousand page long and the task of reading it seemed insurmountable so not unlike the building fo the cathedral of kingsbridge which is the central focus of the novel.
Thanks to typhoon Egay, to the government's predilection for holidays, and the two day weekend which is one of the perks of being a teacher, I got myself a total of five days to finish the entire thing under a leaking roof and amidst hundreds of papers to check.
When I went back to work last Tuesday, I immediately informed Christian that I had finished reading the novel. Judging from the way he looked, I think he felt happy and proud that I agree with him.
Reading the novel was an adventure. It was meeting new heroes in the person of Philip the Prior of Kingsbridge, who is religious in every sense of the word, but very human, Tom the builder and Ellen who in her eccentricity was judged a witch, Aliena and her love Jack.
Philip is not like any religious protagonists I encountered in the past. He struggled against his pride and against antagonists who are also working within the Church. He experienced fear, doubts, and uncertainties, and yes even temptations of the fleshy kind. He emerged in triumph at the end of all his struggles but there was no false pride in him for he got truly bruised in all his fights.
While plowing through the novel, I remember with gratitude my Medieval History teacher at the Ateneo, Fr. Bartolomew Lahiff, SJ for instructing us about gothic churches for that knowledge assisted me in making sense of the church building and in appreciating the struggle against gravity that medieval mason-builders had to face.
The novels had numerous twists and Ken Follett's genius in tying up all the loose ends was amazing.
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