I read first two parts of udayar.Did not read the remaining parts.But I dont think POE and Udayar are related.Except the theme to build a church/temple they are no way related.The hero in udayar is a king.In POE it is Tom builder,his son and a monk(forgot his name).
i think udayar has very little inspiraton behind it.let alone p o e its just a samooka novel in a historical background. ken follet's pillars of the earth is one great book with enormous details about the period. right from architecture to politics. very rarely has follet eached its excellence after that. if balakumaran had read pillars of the earth deinitely he would have done a better job.
Havent read Pillars of earth will strive to...was put off by its size before my Prefinal exams
I have successfully completed the fourth part of Udayar...Has anyone read the fifth???
Nothing more to add after the second part venkat...because at the end of fourth part the temple still stands with foundation and as replica...
There were two things I learnt from the book..
The circumferntial saram with reinforced mud...Old members may remember Dr Jaybee saking about this and there were graphic descriptions by our freinds..
Second thing is The Gopuram itself is a lingam agasalingam....the Interior hollow of the gopuram is another lingam...Arubalingam and then the Deity itself...
That was nice...
But a lot of wasted pages like venkat sad it is a social novel in historic setting
Dear sri, ken follet is one hell of a writer. pity we dont have many such people in our vicinity. and pillars of the earth was a really descriptive novel of a society in medival england around the murder of archbishop of canterbury, with the construction of the cathedral in the background. talks about england france and the moors in spain. 1000 pages i think and i wouldnt mind reading it again. perhaps its the second longest book i have read after ps. those who can lay their hands on pillars of the earth please do read it.
Doctor, the fifth part of udayar hasn't yet been published. I believe he has already written it in serial form in a monthly pocket novel. Trying to get it.
It is way too long, needs a lot of editing. Esp, the fourth part is more of a social novel. I doubt whether there was such an unrest in that period.
The book is like a curate's egg - good in parts. There are some parts in the book that are too good. Remember the elephant chasing Rajendra?
Pillars of Earth is a good book, but pretty long. One needs to read it patiently. I liked that prior's characterization very much. It is definitely worth reading once.