Laughing (February 4th, 6:12 PM):

Pfft. Y snd lk pssmst wth n nfrort cmplx.

G hng yrslf. Lsr.

Skwid (February 5th, 1:23 AM):

Welcome to rule #12.

Please come back when you have something useful to say.

Skem (April 19th, 7:5 PM):

Wow, I really love the book. Its one of my favorites. I think you did not look at the whole picture but mainly at the simple stories. Its more complex than you make it appear. The book is filled with mystery, regret, passion. It has all of the basic human emotions and makes you grasp the feel. I couldn't put the book down and was sad when it ended.

Skwid (April 19th, 9:8 PM):

Clearly this is one of those books that either works for a person or does not, and it simply did not for me. Some of my favorites are the same...some of my friends just don't click with George R.R. Martin, which is just incomprehensible to me, but as they say, TTDV.

Thanks for posting!

Rich (August 14th, 8:37 AM):

Skwid,

Heh.

I somehow happened upon your weblog, and am eagerly reading all your reviews.

So far, I sense accord.
This piqued my interested, though:

"The first, that my system of "read only what has been recommended to you" only works insofar as I have established some significant congruence between my tastes and he who does the recommending."

Do you recall who recommended *this* book to you?

Skwid (August 16th, 12:40 AM):

Hey, Rich. Welcome.

Certainly! It was Rachelle, who occasionally does reviews on here...turns out our tastes in books are actually quite divergent, although we share several musical interests.

Why? Was it one that you might have recommended?

Glad you're enjoying the site.

Rich (August 18th, 7:19 PM):

Hey.

Actually, no. I loathed this book, and its never ending woes visited upon the heroine and her brother. The idea of the construction of a cathedral serving as a great backdrop was totally wasted, yadda yadda.

I just thought that maybe you picked up the recommendation over in rasfwrj. I did, and still bear the recommendor a grudge.

Skwid (August 19th, 8:15 AM):

Ah...good to know I'm not alone on this one, thanks!

Pat (November 27th, 8:41 AM):

It's hard to take someone seriously when they love Robert Jordan, (who is a complete hack)and someone who didnt like this book. You are a joke to the literary world Skwid.

Skwid (November 28th, 12:11 AM):

I address the duplicate of Pat's comment in the Knife of Dreams thread.

fancy-dancer (March 29th, 12:7 PM):

Yo Skwid

Great News!!!
The sequel to Pillars is due out next year!!

Can hardly wait

JKING1881 (April 13th, 4:59 PM):

skwid, did you even read the book? it sounds like you read the flap on the inside of the cover and decided to pretend like you actually invested some time into this book, which you probably didn't. Your review of the book doesn't do it justice, but like you said, we all have different opinions. Just some of them, like yours, are wrong. I thouroughly enjoyed Pillars as did my friend, who read it at the same time I did. I think reading this book was NOT a waste of time, although reading your review of it certainly was. You should stick to writing about what you know, which in your case is probably Lego blocks and barbie dolls.

Skwid (April 13th, 7:27 PM):

Riiight. Well, I'm glad you and your friend enjoyed the book. I'm sorry you didn't care for the review, and I'm even more sorry you have nothing better to do than to insult those whose opinions differ from yours. Maybe next time you feel like making an ad hominem attack you could go read a book that was actually good instead.

Just a suggestion. Thanks for dropping by.

JKING1881 (April 13th, 10:9 PM):

skwid you wouldn't know a good book if it hit you in the face, which is something i'd pay to see. Maybe the 900+ pages was a little too daunting for you. i'd suggest you stick to books with less words and more pictures. Maybe you'll get more than half way through them. I just don't think you can give an accurate review of a book you never finished.

Skwid (April 14th, 9:13 AM):

I would say the idea of a single book over 900 pages being daunting to me should be obviously absurd, but criticizing someone for not clicking on the "Next Entry" link whilst they are criticizing me for not finishing something before I review it seems nearly as absurd.

JKing, I hope someday you can understand that someone's opinions can differ from your own without that being a personal assault on you. Perhaps when you've grown up.

tej (July 17th, 6:48 PM):

While this wasn't the worst book I've ever read, I also have some problems with it. The characters were very superficial. As you said, Philip was the most interesting. I also liked Ellen. Everyone else was either wholly good or wholly bad. And, I definitely didn't need the detailed description of the rape scenes. Even the scenes of consensual sex were a bit violent.

If you like historical fiction in England during the Middle Ages, I strongly recommend Sharon Kay Penman. The history is very well researched, and the characters have more depth.

Skwid (July 19th, 12:50 PM):

Thanks muchly for the recommendation, tej. I'll try and pick some of her stuff up sometime.