More 'liberal' figures like Kennedy are shown with their flaws, hesitations and their pragmatic political decisions which often are contrary to what you might argue is the morally right thing to do. His hesitation at taking action over segregation is well portrayed. Equally Nixon's positive actions recognition of China etc are pointed out, as is his deception and corruption. Reagan is not such a central 'character' in the story but the hawkish arms buildup, and Bush's failure to act strategically as communism crumbled aiding the Soviet hawks by threatening to build up weapons are all factual.
I think we need to hear some examples of falsity, or relevant facts that disprove his perspective. Did anyone find Mr. Follett's portrayal of JFK as adulterer as offensive? Jen I agree with Sarah, I think it's quite well known that he really did have a number of affairs.
I believe Maria's story is loosely based on the true st …more I agree with Sarah, I think it's quite well known that he really did have a number of affairs. See all 47 questions about Edge of Eternity…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. The characters in this book unlike characters in his previous books that I really enjoyed are caricatures. Follett lets his liberal politics come though with no subtlety - all the blacks are good all whites are evil and bad-intentioned.
I'm sorry to have wasted my time reading this left-wing drivel. Very disappointing given the talented storyteller Follett can be. View all comments. Sadly not nearly as well written as the previous books in this trilogy.
The first third was as we're used to, descriptive and captivating. The rest seemed like he was in a hurry to finish, and is rushed and padded with a lot of clumsy sex. Very sad, I was so excited for the at installment and was left wanting better. View all 27 comments. Ken Follett believes in the power of a good story. And he harbors no doubt about attention spans in an era when people avert their eyes to smartphone screens approximately every 1.
Follett also takes on two p Ken Follett believes in the power of a good story. And one small scene with Nicolae Ceausescu as protagonist. I was a kid but I remember how communism was: the wake up at 4 in the morning for the queues if you wanted to buy something, the fear of expressing yourself freely etc.
Follett tells his stories by placing readers into bedrooms, boardrooms, even at the Berlin Wall as it comes down. Wrapping up a huge sweeping trilogy can be difficult, but Follett does a great job tying up loose ends, giving justice and time to characters without making it feel too long or fake. Overall, this is a fantastic series and a fantastic novel, and is enjoyable from a purely entertaining read and also as a way to think about the historical events of our recent past through the eyes of different people and perspectives.
View all 11 comments. I hated this book! What a load of liberal revisionist history. I can summarize it for you this way: Liberals are brilliant, dashing, successful, all-knowing, always wise and prescient. Conservatives are stumbling, bumbling blockheads, who must visit prostitutes to get any action because who would want a conservative lover? Want more? Jimmy Carter almost ended the cold war with his brilliant moves regarding Poland. Reagan gave a silly speech telling Gorbachev to "tear down this wall", whic Bleh Reagan gave a silly speech telling Gorbachev to "tear down this wall", which apparently had nothing whatsoever to do with the wall a few years thereafter being torn down In fact, it turned out that Gorbachev himself pretty much unilaterally killed the Soviet Union Who knew?
If you lean liberal and need to have your fantasy world upheld by books where liberals can do no wrong and conservatives can do nothing but, this is definitely the book for you. It will confirm all your most devout beliefs about your world view. I found it awful View all 19 comments.
Oct 18, Vicki rated it it was amazing. I love ken follet and waited with anticipation for this ending of the century trilogy. The first covered ww1 the second ww11 and I loved them and learned so much. Don't read further if you don't want some plot details spoiled. Are you a self important baby boomer who leans left in your political views? Well buddy, are you going to have the biggest rager of a boner reading this book.
Don't get me wrong, I devoured this book, and it starts off very strong. Most of the characters in the book start off likable. I realized pretty early on that at this point in the story, nearly all the characters are related by either blood or marriage, despite being on 3 different continents. Remember how likable most of the characters in both of the first two books were?
The strong women? The men up against these terrible World Wars but still fighting the good fight for their familes? Yeah, you sort of get that at the start of the book, but it doesn't last. As some other reviewers have noted, the book does start off strong, but then sort of just starts jumping from one historic event to the next, all while glossing over or downplaying some important ones. Nixon, Reagan and the one right leaning character in the book are evil cartoon characters.
Jimmy Carter is almost completely left out I wonder why? Some redeeming qualities are shown for Nixon, just before getting into the things he's known for. None such for the Gipper, but I think part of that is that the story starts to go off the rails a bit in the 80's. Vietnam was pretty glossed over earlier, and I shit you not, there is not a single mention of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, despite there being two POV characters based out of the USSR and the theme of the USSR losing money and status being a central theme of the later chapters.
How is that sort of oversight possible? As for Nam, most of the characters in the story are affluent, so they didn't have to fight.
One character gets drafted, and it's a bit of a stretch, and he spends all of about 2 pages in Nam. Another character goes over there and pulls a Jane Fonda. The portions about Nam can somewhat be forgiven from a "boots on the ground" POV stance, as Follett is never at his strongest when discussing combat.
However, the absolute omission of the Soviet Afghan war is a really glaring mistake. In the earlier books, Follett's strength was his human characters, and the terrible situations they're thrown in. These are families we've read about for 3 generations or more. It seems, that much like in real life, something was lost between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers.
This is both a good thing, in that Follett acknowledges that the family did indeed grow weaker in that time period, and a bad thing as most of the characters are terrible people. Remember Maud? How she loved her man so strongly, that she gave up her family and homeland to be with him? She loved him through two world wars, and stayed strong for her new and growing family.
His best friend also his cousin , decides that this girl is fucking marriage material. Cheat on me and not feel bad about it? That's cool. Enable my cousin's heroin addiction? That's also cool, because I love you.
Sounds like the kind of gal you'd want your son to marry right? Oh, that wonderful young lady is also a POV character, ha ha. That's a theme among the male characters in this book. All of them, without fail, are fucking chumps. Almost all of them are either cheated on, cheat themselves, or end up making some choices that require a bit of a leap on the readers part.
He's such a fucking dreamboat that the bitch doesn't get married until she's 60, withered up, and a literal cat lady. The Kennedy clan in general are portrayed as the polar opposites to the cartoonish Nixon and Reagan. Very little mention is made of Ted, the fat drunk Kennedy, I guess Follett couldn't quite whitewash him into a completely flattering light. Her poor disabled, mostly impotent husband say it's all good.
She just as quickly ends the affair. It's almost as if Follett put that in there to ruin the one completely likable character in the story. So, you're probably thinking that I really disliked this book from that review, but that's untrue.
It was an entertaining read, and a page turner. It starts off very strongly and I had hoped it would be as enjoyable at the first two, but the enjoyment I got from the middle and end portions of the book came more from Follett's obvious bias and the reverse-Jamie Lannister character arcs of the POV characters. If you have read the first two books, definitely read this one to see how it ends, but I must warn you I mean, I groaned as soon as I saw the date posted at the top of the page. I'll put another spoiler tag below and then discuss it, because it's the funniest, most ironic bit for me.
Early in the story it's and rightfully so the segregationists, then Nixon, and lastly Reagan. Now, for Reagan, he asserts that he's even worse than Tricky Dick, and that he got away with murdering innocents during the Iran-Contra affair.
So what does Follett end on? You guessed it, the Barack Obama acceptance speech. For the scene, Follett has all of the black characters, who have fought so hard for civil rights throughout the first part of the book, all in one room watching the whole thing.
Never mind that only Jacky and her son George are the only characters you care about in the room. They have reached the top of the mountain! I guess Follett wanted to stop it there and not have the parts where Obama wins the Nobel peace prize, and then murders innocents with drones. Hey, he'll get away with it though, the Gipper would be proud!
Edit: I would also like to add another glaring omission from a book that tried to hit all the big moments of the 60's's. The moon landing! Not even a fucking mention! With the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew but now will never seem the same again.
Bookmark This Page. Login: Password Register Remember Password. I will definitely recommend this book to historical, historical fiction lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Read Online Download. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses.
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