Reviews
In short, I COULD NOT OUT THIS BOOK DOWN! Follett is a master story teller. This is the second book in a trilogy, each as lengthy as the next. This is another weighty time, with nearly 1000 pages, but even if it was 2000, I would have devoured it. The level of research is truly astonishing. It wouldn't surprise me if Follett has a reference card for every single line on the book. The plot follows the world as it recovers from World War One, and slips into World War Two. The genius is that the story is told through the eyes of the sons and daughters of the main characters in the first book, Fall Of Giants, whom I still remember vividly, such was my attachment to them in that first instalment. Winter of the World certainly doesn't disappoint. It is an incredible read. Follett won't charm you with delightfully constructed sentences, he'll batter you with story, luring you in to each main character within a few sentences. I absolutely loved this book. Read it. Read Fall of Giants. Hell, read all his books!
I am so disappointed with this book. The storytelling is similar to the first book and tells the story of the events leading upto World War II, the war itself and its consequences through the experiences of five families from across the world. But what happened to the feminist, activist female characters? And why did Follett insist on introducing the female characters with uncomfortably detailed descriptions of their breasts? It's common knowledge that this is a pitfall for a lot of male authors while writing female characters, but after the first book gave me Maud and Ethel I expected better. All the female characters seemed superficial and stereotypical to me. And the exceptions were killed off. Without these sexist aspects I'm sure this book would have become an all-time favourite, just like the first one.
it was good, although the only storyline that completely drew me in was the one involving Carla.
Perhaps even better than Fall of Giants, this book brilliantly and tragically humanizes the events of the world in the 1930's-40's. Looking forward to the final installment of the trilogy.
Ah, people. This book describes things that are happening right now. Scares the pants off me.
Two years after reading Fall of Giants, I finally picked this book up and took it with me on vacation. If you've ever seen these books, you'll know that they're each right around 1,000 pages and are no joke. But let me tell you, it's doesn't feel as long as it looks and I truly didn't want it to end. This is an epic tale set from the late 1920's / early 1930's through the late 1940's. We follow five interconnected families (primarily the children of characters from Fall of Giants) all across the world. We see the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party and the aftermath of the war. It truly is an epic tale. The beginning started a little slow, but there needs to be some setup to start us off. The book is constantly changing perspectives, so you never find yourself bored with what's happening. After spending so much time with the characters, I don't even think I have a favorite. It's that stellar. There are a lot of trigger warnings that happen in this book; from rape to loss of a loved one and a lot more in between. With that, tread cautiously but give a Ken Follett book a try!
Disclaimer: I only got a hundred pages through the book before I had to put it down. That's something I don't do often, but life's too short for bad books. I used to be a huge fan of Follett. I read everything he wrote (his early stuff was mostly spy novels written with a literary flair), and when I came across Pillars of the Earth in my early 20s, I fell in love with Follett's characters. The prose was always simple, but the story was sweeping, and the characters were incredible. I'm not sure what happened, whether my tastes as a reader have evolved or Follett succumbed to the pressure of dumbing down the book to appeal to a wider audience. Probably a bit of both. It can't be too much of the latter, though, because I enjoyed the first of this trilogy. Winter, though, is just too much. Everything is spelled out, nothing is left to the reader, and the dialogue is wholly unbelievable. It's as if Follett is trying to explain World War II to a fifth-grader.
