Week 2: World Without End – Ken Follett
Recommended by: Katie Lewis
If I've not read a lot of historical fiction in general,
it would be fair to say I’ve read even less ‘genre’, or perhaps ‘fantastical’
historical fiction. Therefore I’m in the slightly odd position of not really
having a reference point here. I know little about the Black Death or the
Hundred Years’ War, the backdrop to the novel. Nor have I read The Pillars of the Earth, the
multi-million-selling predecessor (this is more of a follow up than a sequel),
though I certainly don’t feel it was necessary except perhaps as a point of
comparison, for which I would be grateful at this point in time!
There are many reasons one could criticse World Without End. It’s anachronistic,
pushing 21st century values onto 14th century people. The prose is nothing
special; the dialogue somewhat clichéd. The characters are a bit too black and
white – most people are clearly good guys or bad guys. For instance, there’s a
lot less grey compared to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, and while Follett is prepared to be a
bastard to his creations, it lacks both the brutality and finality of Westeros.
The blood ties and numerous relationships between the characters could leave it
feeling a bit like Hollyoaks in petticoats. The plot twists, of which there are
myriad, follow a clear pattern and build up a sense of nothing lasting forever;
all decisions can be reversed. The central plot device of the letter is largely
irrelevant and rather anticlimactic in that it wasn’t exactly a gamechanging
reveal. And yet…
And yet I really enjoyed it. It was a proper page turner
(good job too at 1250 pages!), had compelling characters that I cared about and
whose stories I wanted to follow, and for the most part held up the narrative
drive throughout this absolute doorstep of a novel. The central love story was
endearing and I was rooting for them. The endings were earned, people reaping
what they sowed, and maybe it’s the moral arbiter in me but I do appreciate
that and I’ve always been a sucker for a happy ending. It had backstabbing and
politicking, it had thrills and spills, and most of all it was fun, an
enjoyable romp through an imaginary England.
As well as being fun, it did raise some interesting
issues too. Anachronistic they may have been but I suspect many of the issues
raised will strike chords with readers, particularly Caris’ struggle to balance
what it means to have a career and what is expected of being a woman. The same
applies to Gwenda and Philippa, particularly concerning motherhood and the
limits of a woman’s place. You can’t charge the author with writing weak female
characters, and the male ones are interesting too. Thanks to Merthin
engineering has never been so sexy.
There is also a healthy social liberalism throughout, the
spirit of the permissive society, that one suspects may not have been terribly accurate,
but echoes messages of tolerance fitting for a time of legalised gay marriage.
And in our increasingly secular society, religion is not painted terribly well
– it shows people who are greedy or power-hungry are so regardless of their
place in the church or society and that belief in god has little to do with
being a good person or doing the right thing. Mother Cecilia is perhaps the
only character we see much of who balances genuine faith, political
practicality, and being a paragon of virtue. It might not have been terribly
realistic on a historical level, but Follett’s Kingsbridge is an entertaining
playground and if you’re after a hefty slab of escapism, you could do an awful
lot worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment