"Winter of the World" is a sequel, "Fall of the Giants" being the first book in the century trilogy describe about world war 1. This book describes about the World War 2 with respect to five families who are Welsh, American, English, Russian and German who are inter-connected with each other at different parts of the world. The time period of this book is 1933-1949 .
1. The book is way too long 940 pages (That is Ken Follett's style)
2, We get to see the world leaders in a different perspective, mostly in history books all would be facts and policies and time period but in this book they are human with flesh and emotions.
3. Fascism- Ken Follett captures all the true essence from how young German kids were brain washed , the torture camps, Jew hatred , their annihilation and depression, in simple Ken makes us live through their lives. This would serve as an "Okay" kind of book to know about the Holocaust. (People who need a real good knowledge about Jew Holocaust must go with books like The Book Thief, The Diary of a Young Girl, The Boy in the stripped Pajamas, etc)
4. The relationships - Ken captures the essence of love. Be it a teenage guy's love on an upcoming actress, getting back to an old flame after a loved one's death, throwing away marriage for one's self respect and satisfaction, a hurried love, Love of a mistress , love of a mother towards father , family, friendships, betrayal, fighting till death for the welfare of your family, so much more .
5. Plots - Again there are way too much of them. We have a twelve year old taking care of a child's delivery, we have a board member making the president agree on a certain thing, we have Pearl Harbor, we have torture camp, we have ball dance , we have business tactics, what not ?
6. Sex - All kinds. From rape to Queer . Follett uses sex to make the reader glued to the plot. The same tactics used in the "Fall of the Giants"
Let downs -
1. Again , the length.
2. Hiroshima and Nagasaki is explained in just two lines.
3. Too much complications and we get bored with characters.
4. At times we couldn't go with the plot.
5. Emptiness . Yeah this is one hell of a book to read, we have a lot of things going on but you wont be mesmerized or driven so badly into the plot. The lack of connection is a major problem at times. Even if you skip 5 pages at times you wont miss nothing much is the total letdown of this book.
Favorite Quotes :
1. “Why do you have to be the same as the others? ...Most of them are stupid.”
2. “And here's my advice to you. If you get the chance of the mad kind of love, grab it with both hands, and to hell with the consequences.”
3. 'A man thought he could fly, so he jumped off the top of a ten-storey building, and as he fell past the fifth floor, flapping his arms uselessly in the air, he was heard to say: So far, so good!”
4.“Everything is ultimately the Prime Minister's fault', said Lloyd. 'That's what it means to be the leader”
5.“No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that rock I’m clinging Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing?"
So , is it worth it? yes it is! But its good. When it could have been way better or even extraordinary.
8/10
With Love,
Arvi
1. The book is way too long 940 pages (That is Ken Follett's style)
2, We get to see the world leaders in a different perspective, mostly in history books all would be facts and policies and time period but in this book they are human with flesh and emotions.
3. Fascism- Ken Follett captures all the true essence from how young German kids were brain washed , the torture camps, Jew hatred , their annihilation and depression, in simple Ken makes us live through their lives. This would serve as an "Okay" kind of book to know about the Holocaust. (People who need a real good knowledge about Jew Holocaust must go with books like The Book Thief, The Diary of a Young Girl, The Boy in the stripped Pajamas, etc)
4. The relationships - Ken captures the essence of love. Be it a teenage guy's love on an upcoming actress, getting back to an old flame after a loved one's death, throwing away marriage for one's self respect and satisfaction, a hurried love, Love of a mistress , love of a mother towards father , family, friendships, betrayal, fighting till death for the welfare of your family, so much more .
5. Plots - Again there are way too much of them. We have a twelve year old taking care of a child's delivery, we have a board member making the president agree on a certain thing, we have Pearl Harbor, we have torture camp, we have ball dance , we have business tactics, what not ?
6. Sex - All kinds. From rape to Queer . Follett uses sex to make the reader glued to the plot. The same tactics used in the "Fall of the Giants"
Let downs -
1. Again , the length.
2. Hiroshima and Nagasaki is explained in just two lines.
3. Too much complications and we get bored with characters.
4. At times we couldn't go with the plot.
5. Emptiness . Yeah this is one hell of a book to read, we have a lot of things going on but you wont be mesmerized or driven so badly into the plot. The lack of connection is a major problem at times. Even if you skip 5 pages at times you wont miss nothing much is the total letdown of this book.
Favorite Quotes :
1. “Why do you have to be the same as the others? ...Most of them are stupid.”
2. “And here's my advice to you. If you get the chance of the mad kind of love, grab it with both hands, and to hell with the consequences.”
3. 'A man thought he could fly, so he jumped off the top of a ten-storey building, and as he fell past the fifth floor, flapping his arms uselessly in the air, he was heard to say: So far, so good!”
4.“Everything is ultimately the Prime Minister's fault', said Lloyd. 'That's what it means to be the leader”
5.“No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that rock I’m clinging Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth How can I keep from singing?"
So , is it worth it? yes it is! But its good. When it could have been way better or even extraordinary.
8/10
With Love,
Arvi
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