Ken Follett is well known as a thriller writer and I have read with interest his Eye of the Needle (1978). A few years ago, Follett changed course and started writing historical novels. The Century Trilogy consists of three huge tomes covering the 20th century. The first novel Fall of Giants (2010) covers the period from 1911 to 1924. The second novel Winter of the World (2012) covers 1933 to 1949. The third Edge of Eternity (2014) covers 1961 to 1989.
Essentially the three novels tell the story of five intertwined families in Russia, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. The novels trace their life stories as they live through various events like the suffragette movement, the First World War, the Russian revolution, the hyperinflation in the Weimar republic, the rise of Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the civil rights movement in America and the Cold War culminating in the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Purists may attack Follett on many fronts. For instance, his protagonists seem to bump into each other in too many coincidences too frequently. They often seem to be doing nothing more than talking politics and having sex. And Follett seems to contrive the plot such that each world event is observed by and even influenced by his protagonists.
Having said that, I must say I learnt a lot from this book. It feels indeed as if one lived through the history of the Western world in these pages. I can imagine a History professor in the future listing Follett’s trilogy as recommended reading for his bored students.
In Winter of the World, one of the character, an anti-Nazi German, views the desolation of Germany after the Second World War and thinks, “Most of all, when she died, she wanted her children to be able to say … that her life had meant something, and that the world was a better place for it.” This is surely a sentiment that can be applied to Follett’s work itself.
Towards the end of the third book, Edge of Eternity, I was enthralled by the events surrounding the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism. The sheer humanity of the unfolding events moved me to tears.
I hope Follett continues writing such novels and continues enlightening the younger generations through his art.
Essentially the three novels tell the story of five intertwined families in Russia, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. The novels trace their life stories as they live through various events like the suffragette movement, the First World War, the Russian revolution, the hyperinflation in the Weimar republic, the rise of Hitler, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the civil rights movement in America and the Cold War culminating in the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Purists may attack Follett on many fronts. For instance, his protagonists seem to bump into each other in too many coincidences too frequently. They often seem to be doing nothing more than talking politics and having sex. And Follett seems to contrive the plot such that each world event is observed by and even influenced by his protagonists.
Having said that, I must say I learnt a lot from this book. It feels indeed as if one lived through the history of the Western world in these pages. I can imagine a History professor in the future listing Follett’s trilogy as recommended reading for his bored students.
In Winter of the World, one of the character, an anti-Nazi German, views the desolation of Germany after the Second World War and thinks, “Most of all, when she died, she wanted her children to be able to say … that her life had meant something, and that the world was a better place for it.” This is surely a sentiment that can be applied to Follett’s work itself.
Towards the end of the third book, Edge of Eternity, I was enthralled by the events surrounding the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism. The sheer humanity of the unfolding events moved me to tears.
I hope Follett continues writing such novels and continues enlightening the younger generations through his art.
No comments:
Post a Comment