Taylor Caldwell

A Pillar of Iron

Monica

I feel terrible about it, but I disliked this novel quite a lot. I feel bad because it was recommended to me as a very good and moving novel, and for me it was a brick difficult to digest! The fact that it took me two months to finish it says a lot...

First of all, Caldwell introduces the novel bragging about how much research she has done, only to introduce several historical inaccuracies. I was expecting to read a historical novel more or less accurate, so I was very disappointed.

Then, there is not a single likable character. Everyone is terribly evil, the worst of all being the proletariat. It seems that Caldwell really has something against the people of the working class! Not even Cicero was likable, thinking that his high moral is the only thing that can save the world from destruction an evil. I found him to be quite pathetic and arrogant. This and many other things – like the defense of the Republic as the only possible way of governance – made me think that this novel was very subjective.

Moreover, Cicero is Christian in this novel. Christian! He died on the year 43 before Christ! But he wears a cross, speaks to God, is deeply interested in the Jewish prophesies, and is awaiting the arrival of the Messiah and dreaming with his Holy Mother.

About the style, I found it to be unnecessarily long. 830 pages filled with exhausting descriptions – very similar to each other, by the way – and the same type of discourse and rhetoric.

In summary, this book is inaccurate in its history, poorly written, unnecessarily long, and it makes its hero not only unappealing but hateful.

A Pillar of Iron

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