THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

Some 30 years ago, I watched a film in a London cinema called Eye of the Needle, starring the ever watchable Donald Sutherland and a rather sexy Kate Nelligan. The story of a German spy operating in wartime England, it was the most successful of a series of thrillers written by Ken Follett. But I never read the book.

In 1989, Mr. Follett published a different kind of novel. The Pillars of the Earth is about the building of a cathedral in mid-12th century England, against a background of anarchy and civil war, as Maud, the daughter of King Henry I (who had died without a legitimate male heir) fought against Henry's nephew Stephen, who had taken over the throne and been crowned after his uncle's death. This book has been a phenomenal success. Published in 30 languages, by the end of 2010 it had sold almost 19 million copies worldwide. It was the most widely read book in Spain in 2010. In the BBC's Big Read in 2003, it was voted by readers as one of the 100 best books. In 2006, it was voted the third best book ever in Germany, after The Lord of the Rings and the Bible. A TV mini-series that came out last summer was reputedly one of the most expensive ever made.

In Denmark, where it is known as Jordens Søjler, it is the same story. I know a fair number of people, who don't read many books, yet who have read this one. My 16-year old daughter told me last night that many of her classmates have read it, and that some think it is the best book they have ever read. When I heard that it had been written by Ken Follett, I was rather sceptical; why on earth was it so popular?

And so I decided to read it myself, all 1,076 pages in paperback form. The first thing to say about it is that it is not great literature. The story bowls along fairly easily, the fictional characters are woven into the historical facts, and there is a lot of period detail. But I got much of that a couple of years back from a similar book called When Christ And His Saints Slept, which is much better written. The 1,000 pages got swallowed up without too much difficulty, but at the end I was still left wondering why it had sold so many copies. Perhaps people just don't want anything more demanding in their literature?

Walter Blotscher