Pillars of the Earth

I. Finally. Finished. I have no words for how freaking long that book was - 973 pages. It's the longest book I've ever read. I'm not quite sure what compelled me to want to take that on, maybe just a personal goal or something. But I did it, and I'm so excited to be done.

Ok, so first off. The title and length makes it sound SOO BORING, doesn't it? Well, it's actually quite readable and moves along really well. It's about building a cathedral, back in the 1100's. I can't remember anything I've ever read from that time period so it was educational and cool in that way. There were a few really great characters too. And all kinds of multiple storylines and interconnectedness. I mean, when you have 973 pages to play with, there better be some depth, right?

I gave it 3 stars on Shelfari... I probably would have liked to give it 3 1/2 if that were possible. It was great, but here's my main beef with it: too graphic. I may never hear the words "rape and pillage" the same again... which I guess in a way might be good, I don't want to get desensitized to the way things were and the struggles of former eras, blah blah. But yeah, a little graphic. And I guess at times the writing got a little tedious, so that's the extra half a star off. :)

I think part of why I was so antsy to finish is I am re-re-reading the Time Traveler's Wife this week - under the deadline of the movie release. I'm So. Excited to go see it and cry my eyes out reading the book. I can't really explain it. I get so happy just thinking about it.