Journal Entry 1 by tomatolady from Boise, Idaho USA on Saturday, September 13, 2003

Great book for those interested in gothic architecture. Follows the life of a stone freemason (one of few people that were allowed to travel freely) as he travels from place to place constructing different buildings. Other story lines include love lost and regained and power struggles between the church and secular community. My architect husband absolutely loves this book. 

Journal Entry 2 by tomatolady from Boise, Idaho USA on Saturday, November 08, 2003

Sent to Sissyrun 

Journal Entry 3 by Sissyrun from Modesto, California USA on Thursday, November 13, 2003

I received this book today from tomatolady. Thank you! Boy! This is a thick book. Can't wait to start reading it. I've heard a lot of good things about this book from other BCers. 

Journal Entry 4 by Sissyrun from Modesto, California USA on Tuesday, June 28, 2005

WHY did I wait so long to read this book????
This has to be one of the greatest books I have ever read! Most books about that time period always show the "rich" side of life. Mr. Follett did an extremely excellent job in researching life in the 1100's. The level of poverty is much greater than one realizes. Tom Builder and his family nearly starve to death. And ohhhhhhh... the descriptions of the building of the church and then the cathedrals were stunning. Imagine the back breaking work all done by strong hands, strong backs and great skill.
The fights between the church and the crown. The fights amongst the clergy themselves. The compassion of Prior Philip, the love between Jack and Aliena....
I LOVED this story. Thank you Mr. Follett for writing such a moving story and thank you tomatolady for sending the book to me.
As I usually do when I finish a book, I searched the wishlist and found quite a few people wishing for this book. I have PM'd the BCers in Europe and the book will soon be going on tour as a bookray. First stop.... Finland! 

Journal Entry 5 by Sissyrun from Modesto, California USA on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Great book with quite a few people with this book on their wishlist. Those in Europe have been contacted to see if they are interested in joining a bookray. Received two yeses and the 'ray has begun.
1. RoryG - Finland
2. allycat898 - England
3. aquina - England
4. Witchie - Portugal
5. Miss-R - England
6. kittynic - England <--not answering PMs

Since this book is just a few pages shy of 1000, I know it may take awhile to get through it. All I ask that it moves along timely (2-3 months). Please make a journal entry when you receive the book and I'll update this journal entry so folks will know its current location. Last one on the list gets to release it in the wild or pass it on.
Happy reading and Happy trails..... 

Journal Entry 6 by Sissyrun at N/A in Mailed via media mail, A Trade -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (6/29/2005 UTC) at N/A in Mailed via media mail, A Trade -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to the first on the list...RoryG in Finland. To save money it's on the economy mail train. Should get there in a month. 

Journal Entry 7 by RoryG from Helsinki, Uusimaa Finland on Thursday, September 15, 2005

Picked it up from the postoffice today. It came already yesterday, but didn't fit in the post slot in my door... It's quite big and might take awhile, but I'll try to be quick. 

Journal Entry 8 by RoryG from Helsinki, Uusimaa Finland on Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I'm sorry it took me so long to finish and that I didn't give any notice on my advancement with the book. My life situation has been quite hectic and also due to some renovation, I don't have daily access to internet.

The book was a bit hard to start, but after reading like 50 pages it was hard to put down. Some scenes were a bit graphic to my taste (mainly the violent ones) and maybe a bit too much of specific of architecture. Although, I can see how the architecture was related to the book... But these were really the only faults in the book in my opinion. Yet another discvery from the BC100 list that I hadn't heard of before :)

I will send the book on as soon as I get the next person's address.

Edit 17.11.05: Sending the book tomorrow (18.11.) to allycat898. 

Journal Entry 9 by allycat898 from Lincoln, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Thursday, November 24, 2005

Arrived today, just had a look at page 1, sounds good already, might take me a while to get around to reading as have a couple of essays to write over the next 2 weeks, but it will be the next novel that I read. Thanks. 

Journal Entry 10 by allycat898 from Lincoln, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Enjoyed this book, but, it did seem to repeat itself a little in places, I felt as though a couple of hundred pages could have been left out, I found myself asking the author to just get on with it in places. I'll send this on once I receive aquina's address.

Now Sent 

Journal Entry 11 by Witchie from Espinho, Aveiro Portugal on Monday, April 03, 2006

I got it last week (sorry for the delay) and I'm already reading it (and loving it!)! 

Journal Entry 12 by Witchie from Espinho, Aveiro Portugal on Monday, July 03, 2006

I took a long time to finish this book, I was being sort of a slow reader - don't even know why. But I got to feel that the characters were, in a way, part of my life. And that made me feel closer to them.

I think the book is almost too amazing for words and can't really describe what I think of it and what it made me feel. I can only say I loved it. Immensily.

Thank you so much, Sissyrun, for the chance to read it! I'll mail it to the next person in line as soon as possible! 

Journal Entry 13 by Miss-R from Lingfield, Surrey United Kingdom on Monday, November 20, 2006

I'd completely forgotten I'd signed up for this, so it was a nice surprise. Looks like it might take a while to get through but I'll do my best to read and pass on as soon as I can. 

Journal Entry 14 by Miss-R from Lingfield, Surrey United Kingdom on Sunday, December 03, 2006

This is a wonderful book. I'm having a bad time at work lately, but as soon as I opened this I forgot all about real life and was completely sucked in to the world of Tom, Ellen, Aliena, Phillip and the rest of the characters. There were times when I couldn't bear to read on as I knew something horrible was going to happen, but I couldn't put it down for long! This is an excellently written, wonderfully researched book with people and places that will stay with you for a long time. I can't remember the last time I felt so strongly about fictional characters- William Hamleigh has got to be one of the most evil, ruthless people I've ever read about. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction. Actually, I'd recommend it to everyone! 

Journal Entry 15 by Miss-R from Lingfield, Surrey United Kingdom on Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I can't get hold of kittynic, so I'm staring another ray with this book. Participants are
Ibis3 (Canada, will ship internationally)
collectorkerri (US, will ship internationally)
kizmiaz (Portugal, will ship within Europe)
perfect-circle (UK, will ship within Europe)
jax987654321 (UK, will ship internationally)
Aquina (UK, no shipping preferences)
Normy (UK, will ship internationally)
ababaigalit (Israel, will ship internationally)
bartonz (US, will ship internationally)
Bug2004 (US, will ship within the US)


 

Journal Entry 16 by Miss-R at mail in Post office, A Trade -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (1/30/2007 UTC) at mail in Post office, A Trade -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent off to Ibis3 today, to start the second bookray for this book. I sent it by surface mail, so it may take a while to reach Canada. Happy reading when it finally gets there! 

Journal Entry 17 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Monday, March 12, 2007

It safely arrived today along with the postcard from alleycat (I'll keep that with the book). It seems to be a bit worn, so I'll patch it up a bit before I start it. I have 2 other books before I can start this one, however I was expecting a longer 1000 pages (I guess I was picturing a trade paperback size), and I doubt this will take me more than a week or so to read. Very much looking forward to it! 

Journal Entry 18 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Saturday, April 28, 2007

I was right about the time it took to read (only about 5 or 6 days), but it took me a while to get to it and about the same amount of time to get a chance to journal it and prepare to send it on.

This was a good book & it was certainly a page-turner; I guess for what it was, it was fun. But it certainly was no literary masterpiece--with all the hoopla it's been getting I thought it was going to be phenomenal. I still gave it an 8 because I don't think the author's original intention was to aspire to be anything more than his other thriller-type fiction, and for a pulp fiction genre novel it was better than most.

With regard to the historical accuracy, it could have been better; it seemed awfully anachronistic in some respects (yes, women had more status than one might think during this time period, but for Aliena to twice make a fortune completely on her own, starting from nothing is a little too much; the religion of the characters didn't ring true to me either--this book takes place during one of the periods where faith in Christianity (in England of course) was strong, devout, and pretty much universal).

The characters, though well-drawn, were rather one-dimensional. There was no depth really, and no change over time. Specifically, Percy Hamleigh was monolithically evil (with, I might add, no reason for his cruelty except for an overbearing mother--another one-note instrument, btw--and a sense of arrogant justification), and manipulative Waleran, described even at the end as pious (though in what sense he was pious, I could never figure out). The plot itself was also a bit too linear, straight-forward, and single-layered for my taste (especially for such a long book).

However, despite all of its deficiencies, I did enjoy the book very much as one of those "escape into a good story and don't analyse too much" kind of books.

I've PM'd collectorkerri. 

Journal Entry 19 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Saturday, May 19, 2007

Sincere apologies for hoarding this for so long. I finally made it to the post office last night & it's on its way. 

Journal Entry 20 by collectorkerri from Springfield, Illinois USA on Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Received today. Will read ASAP. 

Journal Entry 21 by collectorkerri from Springfield, Illinois USA on Monday, July 02, 2007

A somewhat rare 10 stars from me. I just loved this book. From the first page, I was completely immersed in the 12th century. All the characters were well-drawn, the plot seemed plausible (although, really, what do I know about 12th century England?) and it was overall a great read. Like Sissyrun, I wondered why I had waited so long to read this book. My favorite Ken Follett, by far.

Sent on to jax987654321 today. 

Journal Entry 22 by jax987654321 from Ealing, Greater London United Kingdom on Monday, September 17, 2007

Received as part of a book ring. I enjoyed this, but found it slightly hard to get into and by the end was ready for it to end! This may well be a reflection of me having overdosed on western european historical novels written by men! (and yes, you can tell the difference!)

However, it is a great historical novel and gives a real insight into the abuses people in power (in this case the king and the catholic church - but could apply to loads of other people types/religions) sometimes do and how some people fight this.

Thanks for sharing it with me and sorry I've had it so long.
 

Journal Entry 23 by jax987654321 from Ealing, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 26, 2007

On its way to Normy 

Journal Entry 24 by Normy from Morecambe, Lancashire United Kingdom on Saturday, September 06, 2008

Oh bad Normy! Not only have I hoarded this book for far far too long, I didn't even JE to say I'd got it! Sincere apologies to all.

I absolutely loved this book - I know next to nothing about the time period so wasn't troubled by any anachronisms, and I now know a darn sight more about architecture than I used to - with the result that I can now go into a cathedral and actually understand some of the building. I even ended up buying 'Architecture for Dummies' - who says Bookcrossing discourages people from buying books? I would never have bought that in a million years if it hadn't been for Pillars of the Earth.

I enjoyed the characterisations, the plot, everything - it provided a wonderful escape at a time I sorely needed it. Will contact ababaigalit and get the ray moving again. Again, I'm so sorry to have been a staller.

7th September: Ababaigalit and bartonz have asked to be skipped, so contacting Bug2004.

8th September: On its way back to the US! Will probably take about 5 weeks as I've sent it surface mail. 

Journal Entry 25 by Bug2004 from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Saturday, September 13, 2008

Re'cvd today!! I so look forward to this one...will get to it as soon as I can and will be sure to ray it forward when I am done! 

Journal Entry 26 by Normy from Morecambe, Lancashire United Kingdom on Sunday, September 14, 2008

Wow! Less than a week surface mail to the US! I'm amazed! Hope you enjoy Bug2004 - I'm sorry I hoarded it so long :o) 

Journal Entry 27 by Bug2004 from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Sunday, January 25, 2009

Well, I was finally getting ready to read this and I rec'vd a surprise copy for Christmas! So, I'm going to get another ray going so it can continue it's journey!! 

Journal Entry 28 by Bug2004 from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Thursday, January 29, 2009

Continuation of the Bookray....

NMReader
BecksterCa

PM'ing NMReader for the address. 

Journal Entry 29 by Bug2004 at Albuquerque, New Mexico USA on Saturday, January 31, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (1/31/2009 UTC) at Albuquerque, New Mexico USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed off to NMReader as a continuation of the bookray. Enjoy! 

Journal Entry 30 by NMReader from Herndon, Virginia USA on Thursday, March 19, 2009

I use to love Ken Follett and I am looking forward to seeing if this is as good as I remember his books being 

Journal Entry 31 by NMReader from Herndon, Virginia USA on Thursday, April 02, 2009

I should be starting this book tonight or tomorrow. 

Journal Entry 32 by NMReader from Herndon, Virginia USA on Friday, April 17, 2009

I thought an update might be nice.

I contacted BecksterCa and asked for her address but she said she was swamped and didn't think she could get to it any time soon. I told her I was having the same problem and suggested she send me her address and I would read more leisurely on this book and then send when I was done but she never responded back.

I am going to postpone reading this book until I finiah another book and then I will concentrate more fully on it 

Journal Entry 33 by NMReader from Herndon, Virginia USA on Tuesday, February 02, 2010

I am ashamed of how long I have had this book and hate to admit it is still unread.

I pm-d BecksterCA yesterday. I have been given a copy by my sister and will get this one moving again when I hear from BecksterCA.

 

Journal Entry 34 by NMReader from Herndon, Virginia USA on Monday, February 15, 2010

I posted and found other people interested in continuing this ray

The order is:

spoiledrotten - USA only
kitiarablue - will ship anywhere
silvia-pco - prefers Europe but will ship anywhere 

Journal Entry 35 by NMReader at Herndon, Virginia USA on Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Released 2 yrs ago (2/16/2010 UTC) at Herndon, Virginia USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I hope to drop in the mail on the way home from work

Delivery Confirmation Number: 0308 0660 0001 6599 9381

Label/Receipt Number: 0308 0660 0001 6599 9381
Class: Package Services
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 12:34 PM on February 22, 2010 in FAIR LAWN, NJ 07410.
 

Journal Entry 36 by spoiledrotten from Waldwick, New Jersey USA on Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thanks so much for sending this book on to me and including in the ring. I have one book ahead of this. Please be patient.

04/07/10 Should be finished with this within the next two weeks. I already have the next person's addy and will mail & journal as soon as I am done. Thanks all for you patience! 

Journal Entry 37 by spoiledrotten from Waldwick, New Jersey USA on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

This was a fabulous book! It is a saga taking place in the 1100's about a man whose dream is to build a cathedral. This book has it all, love, intrigue, politics and the struggles that must be endured between the countrymen and the church. Thanks so much for including me and being patient. 

Journal Entry 38 by spoiledrotten at Jersey City, New Jersey USA on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Released 2 yrs ago (4/14/2010 UTC) at Jersey City, New Jersey USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent this book on its way to continue the ring. 

Journal Entry 39 by kitiarablue from Jersey City, New Jersey USA on Saturday, April 17, 2010

Arrived today. I have one bookring in front of it, will be finishing that one up this week. Hope to start this one shortly. 

Journal Entry 40 by kitiarablue at Jersey City, New Jersey USA on Sunday, June 13, 2010

I absolutely loved this book! And as I logged on to journal this book, the Starz television network premiered a new miniseries based on this book starting in July! I am so looking forward to it! There isn't much I can say that hasn't already be said, except just read it! I will be contacting the next person in line immediately to keep this book moving.