karen.d

No it doesn't mean that you are a crappy reader if you do not like this. Everyone has their own opinions and it's great if we can all share them, particularly on a board like this. I have 'Wuthering Heights' on my TBR list, so I will reserve judgement until after I have read this.

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Hi Tim

'War Horse'. It's a brilliant film.

Publisher: Macmillan ISBN: 978-0-330-53544-1 Length: 941 Pages What the 'blurb' says: 'Five families are brought together through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution and the struggle for votes for women. It is 1911, and the coronation day of King George V. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams begins his first day of work in a coal mine. The Williams family is connected by romance and enmity to the Fitzherberts, aristocratic coal-miners, Lady Maud Fitzherbert falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German Embassy in London. Their destiny is entangled with that of Gus Dewar, ambitious young aide to U.S President Woodrow Wilson. Two orphaned Russian brothers soon become involved, but Grigori and Lev Peshkov's plan to emigrate to America falls foul of war, conscription and revolution.' Opening Line: '22 June 1911- On the day King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey in London, Billy Williams went down the pit in Aberowen, South Wales.' What's good with this novel? The opening to this novel is gripping. It was so gripping, that during about the first 100 pages, I couldn't put this book down. When Follett focuses on the purely character elements of the story, the writing is brilliant. I found the conflict between the miners and the issue with the safety within that work environment, very interesting. I also liked the elements which talked about votes for women. What's wrong with this novel? Whilst I found the character focused elements within this novel gripping, I felt that 'Fall of Giants' was too bogged down with war strategy and indepth description about war. At times, I almost felt as if Follett was glamourising a war which, in my opinion, was useless anyway. I was also disappointed to find that even though Follett sets the multiple characters within 'Fall of Giants' successfully, I felt that he did not maintain equal attention to them throughout the novel. During most of the novel, the story focuses on one or two of the characters which were heavily involved in war or politics then at the end, Follett hastily concluded the stories of the remaining characters. The pace of this novel is unsatisfactory also. Whilst the beginning of the novel was well paced, I found the rest of it to be slow and at times, rather boring. To be honest, I was desperate to end this novel, because it could not hold my attention throughout its 941 pages and I couldn't wait to start something new. I was also disappointed with the ending of this novel. Is this worth a read? If you enjoy novels which focus heavily on war, you may enjoy this. If you are looking for a novel which more character driven, you will be disappointed.

You're right, a doorstop sized book has to not only pulling in the reader at the beginning, but maintain that pace and story throughout I have read 'Pillars of the Earth' and really enjoyed it. It gripped me from the beginning and I cared about all of the characters. With 'Fall of Giants' however, the beginning of the story gripped me and I thought that I was going to really enjoy it. As the plot progressed however, I found that it diverted away from the human element of the story and ended up being full of war strategy and politics. That's when it lost my interest. This won't put me off reading doorstop sized books in the future, but it might put me off reading more of Ken Follett's books.

I have FINALLY finished 'Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett, after at least a month of ploughing through it. I'd love to say that this book was worth reading, but unfortunately I found this novel very disappointing. Now I'm returning to 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' by Arthur Conan Doyle. The is the first novel I have read on my tablet PC and I have only had the chance to read a little of the story, due to trying to finish 'Fall of Giants'. Time will tell whether reading a novel on a tablet, will be as good as reading a 'real' book.

Welcome to the board Lucille! I look forward to reading your views on books.

I'm FINALLY on the home straight with 'Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett! When I say home straight, in reality I have still got 125 pages to go until I have reached the end. To be honest, the end can't come any sooner. What started off to be a very enjoyable book, has transformed into a tedious mission to reach the end, so that I can begin a new book. I could give up but, seeing as I'm so close to the end, I feel obliged to complete this book. I'm not saying that this book is all bad, there are nuggets of brilliant writing but overall, this is not my kind of book. Have you ever read a book like this? Here's a 'snippet': P816- 'Gus had heard a rumour there would be a ceasefire at eleven a.m, but his commanding officer had ordered the assault so he was carrying it out.' 'Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett.

I'm not a big fan of James Herbert, but I have read 'Others' and I really enjoyed it. I hope you do too!

I went to see 'J.Edgar' last night at the cinema. It was a well made film, but not really my kind of thing.

This is beautiful. I really love the rich colours of the sky.

Hi Inexco

Hi welcome to the boards!

I'm tempted to say the Shire, but I think I'm going to choose Hogwarts. I'd love to learn all of the magic spells!

Welcome to the board!

Half

I'm glad it's not just me! I have previously read 'The Pillars of the Earth' and was impressed by the way in which Follett can juggle many different characters within the story, but give equal attention to each one. With 'Fall of Giants' however, I'm finding that this attention isn't equally distributed. As this is the first in his 'Century' trilogy, it's possible that we will read more about certain characters who have so far, fallen on the wayside. I don't know at the moment however, whether I would want to continue reading more of the series.

Due to playing with my new tablet computer and suffering from a bad back this week (both things aren't connected), I haven't read as much as I would have liked. To be honest, I'm started to not enjoy 'Falls of Giants' by Ken Follett. The reason being is that the story has detracted completely away from how it was at the beginning. It has become increasingly more political than I had anticipated. Whilst some of you may enjoy this, I'm more interested in the characters within the story and so for me, it's disappointing. I only have a few 100 pages until the end, so I will continue. Here's a 'snippet': Page 667: 'Vyalov's Packard Twin Six was waiting at the kerb. A new chauffeur stood proudly beside it, a kid from Kiev. The commissionaire hurried to open the rear door for Lev. At least I'm still riding in the back, Lev thought.' Fall of Giants' by Ken Follett.

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