Alaska Book Group discussion

This thread is for discussing the first four chapters of Pillars of the Earth (PotE or Pillars).

Pillars is a long book, the holidays are coming up and this is a small group still, so I'm thinking we'll stick with this book through December. Though we'll see how it goes.

I just started reading it today, but feel free to begin discussing below. Also, if others are way ahead, feel free to create threads for the other sections as you go. Otherwise I will as I get to them.

Happy reading and I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts. :)

Ok, so it's the end of November and I'm almost finished with this section. I really can't say I'm wild about the character of Tom, or many of the other characters for that matter. I do like how Follett has put the book together though, stringing the various storylines together as we go, gradually making things more and more complex. Kind of like a work of architecture, which I suspect may be part of his point.

What frustrates me is how predictable the character flaws and general story arcs are. That said, I still have trouble putting the book down even though I know what's going to happen.

lol. Looks like I was off by about ten years for this discussion. Maybe next time.

Yeah, I thought for a book about things I don't care about, in a time period I really don't relate to, and rather normal characters, it really kept me flipping through the pages. So, I would say Ken Follet is a great author.

Had to read this one for school. =)