Pillars of Great Reading

Pillars of the Earth

Ken Follett

0451166892

In the interest of full disclosure, I should confess at the outset of this review that this is the fourth time I've read this novel, and that it is in my all-time top five of fiction books I've ever read and in the top ten of all books.

That said, Pillars is a monumental piece of literature.  That's literature, as opposed to mere mindless thriller fiction.  Ken Follett, known for his taught WWII thrillers, stepped way outside of his box with the writing of Pillars.  Set in the 1100s, the book's plot centers around two monumental figures.  The first is a monk named Philip - a pious but somewhat naive servant of God who disciplines wayward monks and seeks constantly to improve the monastic devotion.  The second monument is the massive cathedral Philip seeks to build for the town and for his monastery.

Filled with intrigue, treachery, love and lust, the storyline twists and turns in so many unexpected ways that a reader is hard-pressed to keep up.  The characters are incredibly well-developed and the interplay between personalities is authentic and real.  All in all, I would heartily recommend this book to anyone at anytime.  It's long, but you don't notice it because, after the first few pages, you are so engrossed in the tale of Philip and Tom Builder and others that you just can't put it down!

The Art of Stealing Art

The Art Thief

Noah Charney

1416550313

I picked up this book on a lark while at Waldenbooks the other day, intrigued by the title and by the plot description on the back cover.

As its title suggests, The Art Thief is about, well, the theft of art.  The plot ranges from London to Rome and places in between.  The human characters are interesting, if somewhat forgettable.  Where Charney's effort excels, though, is in the inclusion of many "art characters" - paintings that are brought to life through the brilliant descriptions employed by Charney.  Of course, this is to be expected from Charney, who is himself an art historian and the founder of an international thinktank on the topic of art theft.

It is, however, this same expertise that proves to be The Art Thief's downfall.  In many chapters, Charney delves so deeply into the esoterica of the art world that he risks losing the interest of all but the most intellectual readers.  These educational excursions frequently come across as just that, academic lectures that would be more at home in the classrooms of any major university.

Beyond the somewhat obtuse forays into the technical side of the art world, Charney's use of two foreign languages - French and Italian - provides another obstacle to a reader's thorough enjoyment of the tale.  While adding to the authentic feel of the plot, Charney's frequent uses of these languages frequently leave the reader wondering whether he or she should drop everything and get a translation of the conversation in question or risk missing out on some intricate part of the plot.

The overall verdict on The Art Thief?  If you're interested in art and understand the foibles Charney brings to the book, it can be quite entertaining.  In the interview with the author that is included at the end of the book, Charney reveals that he has two upcoming nonfiction releases.  I suspect that Charney's extreme expertise and ability to make the technical at least somewhat approachable will make both of these must reads.  For the time being, though, Charney's fiction comes across as average to slightly above average.

Appalachian Mischief

A Walk in the Woods

Bill Bryson

0767902521

It has been a little bit over a week since my last review, which means I am getting behind my goal of one per week.  I will do better at this in the coming weeks...

This week's book is considered by some to be a classic of travel writing, that genre of odd experiences on the road and the hilarity that ensues.  In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson chronicles his attempt to take on the Appalachian Trail, some 2000+ miles of hiking up mountains, down mountains and everywhere in between.  His companion for the trip is a man by the name of Stephen Katz - who Bryson had the (mis)fortune of traveling with some years earlier and who Bryson could barely tolerate.

One can hardly even imagine the riotous comedy that would result from both the odd couple of Bryson and Katz and from their task.  Starting with Bryson's trip to buy equipment and continuing through Katz' decision to throw out half the food one day into the trip and the obnoxious fellow hiker who latches on to the two of them for some time, A Walk in the Woods brings to its readers both humor and poignancy.

When reading this book, one feels as if he or she is travelling alongside Bryson and Katz, experiencing what they experience and feeling what they feel - such is the quality of writing.  To be sure, readers should beware that Bryson is occasionally, shall we say, a wee bit excessive in his choice of language...but even in those cases a reader begins to feel as if it were totally appropriate.

From my perspective, A Walk in the Woods, written over 10 years ago, is a fantastic read for people who don't understand the contemporary cry to protect our environment and our natural treasures.  Even if you don't appreciate that, though, you should pick this up and read it just for the laughs and for the opportunity to experience, albeit vicariously, a uniquely American trek.