Starz’s adaptation of The Pillars of the Earth is already half over. Just about everything fell apart in this episode for the characters that we have been following. Jack crossed paths with the king and ended up “dead,” though he proved to be only “mostly dead.” The hour also left Prior Philip in a dire situation. Add to that the successful scheming of Walarin and the Hamleighs, and things are looking grim.
To be honest, this week’s episode left me a little ambivalent. On one hand, I felt like it captured the feel of the book more than any of the other episodes to date. The hour started with the characters flying high. Richard came back from the war a hero, Aliena had become a successful wool merchant, and the cathedral was well underway. By the end of the episode, however, all of that was thrown into question, along with the fates of Jack and Prior Philip. This was truly the crux of the novel: bad things happening to good people.
On the other hand, I felt like this episode strayed from the main characters quite a bit. I don’t remember the feud between Maud and Stephen being anything more than the backdrop of the story. This episode certainly brought it to the forefront. Indeed, there were quite a few deviations from the novel in this episode. I’m curious to see how things play out now, because they are definitely straying from Ken Follet’s story.
So, yes, I am ambivalent. I like that Starz is taking some liberties with the story, making it more original and providing some surprises for those of us familiar with the novel. At the same time, though, I am disappointed that a lot of the character development is being eschewed in favor of bloody fight scenes. I remember watching previews of the miniseries with some friends and commenting that “I don’t remember Pillars of the Earth being that exciting.” Perhaps it was necessary to translate it to film. In any case, I am definitely still on board.
How about you?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Aug 08, 2010 @ 15:27 EST5EDT
I’m this far, I’m watching to the end. But I’m not sure how I feel about it overall. I’m just so sick of bad guys. The older I get the less I relish the idea of making any entertainment out of shit characters. But, I guess that’s the nature of the entertainment of the human psyche.
I watched the episode but have to admit the only thing that stands out for me is the incestuous. It brought on a wave of nausea and burned itself into my head.
Red was knocked out, and I’m sure that will spark some new heroic strength in him. I hate what happened to Prior Phillip and the Bishop continues to make me want to smash a piece of limestone over his head.
Just rambling thoughts, because it wasn’t much of an episode. I guess I too, am ambivalent.
I’m still just mostly confused by the incest. I’m 90% sure it wasn’t in the book (I think I would have clearly remembered something that creepy). So did someone really make that pitch? “Hey, I want to adapt Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth, but with INCEST!” “I always thought it didn’t have enough incest! Great idea!”
It’s just a really weird thing to add to the story.
But Richard manned up! You must have been happy about that.
Yes! I totally forgot. Now that you reminded me, I remember being very happy to see that four years served Richard very well,and I was even thinking about you and that I needed to comment on it. Well, the best laid plans….
I forgot to mention that the whole King vs Maud thing just feels out of place. There is plenty of story in just the building of the church and all of the political upheaval there that I don’t really get the need to toss in the quest for the throne.
So far, I’m enjoying it. Bob, maybe you can do a post about the deviations from the novel. Since I never finished reading the novel, I would be interested in knowing what changes were made to the story.
It’s a really good idea, but I read the book 2-3 years ago and I’m a little fuzzy on the details. Mayvbe I can find a nice detailed synopsis of the novel somewhere to refresh my memory.
It seems as if they are adding things to create cliffhangers or dramatic moments at the end of each epiosde.
“I don’t remember the feud between Maud and Stephen being anything more than the backdrop of the story. This episode certainly brought it to the forefront.”
That is exactly what I’d been thinking all along. And I agree it becomes more historical and less character-driven with the adaptation. And, like you, I have mixed feelings. I’m all for changes that make sense and are in the spirit of a book (think the end of Watchmen). But I’m not sold here.
It’s been longer than you since I’ve read this book, but there seems to be a lot of deviations: the whole Richard/William involved in Stephen/Maude. The ‘death’ of Jack and Prior Philip stuff in the battle scenes. Why can’t they just go with what worked in the book?
I agree with you guys, Pillars is one of my favorite books and I’ve read it three times. There is DEFINITELY no incest in the book… I have no idea why they put it in the miniseries! It’s pretty disturbing!
Gatverdamme die incest is echt viess , moeder zoon allesss t_t