Saturday Dad Reads Week of June 7

Welcome to this week’s edition! Here’s what we’ve got lined up:

• 📕 This week’s Book Summary and Review: The Armor of Light

• 🧑‍🦰 Author Bio: Ken Follett

• 💣️ Dad’s Knowledge Bomb: The Luddites

• 🎮️ This week’s Dad Rant: Father’s Day Book Giving Guide

 Summary

📕 Review 

When it comes to weaving a story with multiple complex characters that is rich in historical detail, Ken Follett is the man. His storytelling ability will absorb you to the point that you will think mere minutes have elapsed, but it is now 2AM and everyone has gone to bed while you’ve read 200 pages of a worthy historical epic.

In The Armor of Light, Follett takes us back to Kingsbridge for a 5th time. Here you will meet and be enamored with characters like Amos Barrowfield, Kit Clitheroe, Sal Box and David Shoveller. You’ll come to strongly dislike and maybe even sympathize with Joseph Hornbeam. You’ll be with them as they go about their daily lives as just a handful of stories of the thousands that could be told from the Kingsbridge populace. You’ll see how their lives all intertwine and influence each other for good or bad. But more importantly, you’ll become immersed in time period life. Rather than observe them partake directly in the great historical events of the time, you’ll see them have to respond as everyday people to the aftershocks of the invention of the spinning jenny and the steam engine all the way to the Battle of Waterloo. Few authors that I’ve read, outside of James Michener and Edward Rutherfurd have the ability to weave such a narrative that is as rich in character as it is in historical detail.

Yet, at the same time, while I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was comparatively less engrossing as those that came before it. Pillars of the Earth and World Without End are two books that I wish I could wipe from my memory and read with fresh eyes for the first time. They were so enthralling that I remember being extremely late to pick up an ex-girlfriend on multiple occasions because I was reading those at the time. The characters from those novels left a lasting impact and I still think about some of their stories and circumstances to this day. Again, while I enjoyed this installment, I didn’t have that same experience as I did with the other Kingsbridge novels.

Here’s what I think did it for me: it was predictable. In his historical epics, from my perspective, Follett tends to adhere to a certain formula with his characters. For starters, there are always a large number of major and minor characters whose lives intertwine in some form or fashion over the length of the narrative. There are always good, altruistic characters who live virtuously and do things “the right way.” Those “good” characters are always foiled in their mission by an antagonist who is clearly hateful towards the “good” characters and always seems to have the upper-hand whether it is in terms of status, wealth, knowledge or power. This “heel” will always meet some sort of terrible end by the close of the story. In previous novels, the twists that elevated the protagonist and brought about the demise of the antagonist, were largely hard to see and I oftentimes got blindsided by them. However, in The Armor of Light, for example, Amos Barrowfield was just a little too good and Joseph Hornbeam was not that “hateable.”

Also, I’m a sucker for a good love story where there’s an element of the “thrill of the chase.” Follett always includes one, if not more, of these in the Kingsbridge novels where the circumstances of the lovers will work to keep them apart, chasing each other for a certain amount of time but love ultimately finds a way. In this case, I wanted more for Amos and Elsie. Same for Jarge and Sal. Both stories deserved more and, maybe, a different end.

Overall, this was solid, but just not my favorite in the Kingsbridge series. It might be possible that, for me, its predecessors were just so good that none that follow could meet that high bar.

Rating: ☕️☕️☕️☕️

🧑‍🦰 Author Spotlight: Ken Follett

💣️ Dad’s Knowledge Bombs:

Although present in The Armor of Light, Luddism, whose followers were termed “Luddites,” remained mostly in the shadows over the course of the story. Such an element makes perfect fodder for a classic “dad knowledge bomb.”

When the Industrial Revolution came to England, there was a lot of doubt as to whether labor-saving machinery capable of mass producing goods like textiles, would have a lasting impact. Sure, the machines were great, but they were costly and in the minds of many, they could never truly replace a skilled craftsman.

However, as the Industrial Revolution took root in England and technology like the steam engine and spinning jenny became more affordable, factory owners began to replace skilled positions with machinery. Where 5 men or women used to be required to work by hand, now only 1-2 were needed to operate the machines.

In protest, the Luddite movement arose, first in Nottingham, England and later spreading throughout the country. The movement gained its name from an urban legend where an apprentice named Ned Ludd smashed his work and tools after receiving some negative feedback from his supervisor. Interestingly enough, Ned Ludd shares a hometown with another English legend, Robin Hood. Throughout the early 1800s, peaking around 1815, the Luddites would deliberately sabotage factory machinery in the name of keeping jobs and craftsmen employed. Mass trials of those accused of industrial sabotage ultimately curbed the movement and brought about its demise.

Nevertheless, the term Luddite has remained with us and is now generally used as an adjective to describe someone who opposes new technologies. Next time your kids criticize your anti-social media takes at dinner and call you a boomer, drop this little nugget on them.

🎮️ Dad Rant:

Father’s Day is a few short weeks away. The Literary Dad doesn’t want a tie or a new set of tongs for the grill. The Literary Dad wants something he can escape to his bathroom throne with for that blessed after-dinner, pre-bath/bedtime alone time. The Literary Dad wants reading material. For all of those with a Literary Dad (or Literary Man for that matter) in their lives, I’ve got you covered with some recommendations below.

If your dad just likes a damn good story that pulls no punches, I recommend All the Sinners Bleed by SA Crosby and/or Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor.

If your dad likes a blood-soaked slasher, you can’t go wrong with Autumn Gothic by Brian Bowyer.

If your dad is a military man and a sports fan, Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer is a hell of a read and I also recommend The American by Daniel Roberts as a solid military memoir.

If your dad is the outdoors type, I recommend The Last Ranger by Peter Heller.

If your old man needs a horror fix, slide him Bird Box by Josh Malerman or The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias.

If the old man is a true crime aficionado, you can’t go wrong with In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

If he likes his gangsters and mobsters: Gangland by Chuck Hogan and Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane are top notch.

And lastly, for the music fan, I recommend Jonathan Abrams’s, The Come Up.

I’ve personally read and thoroughly enjoyed all of these and give them all the Saturday Dad Reads Seal of Approval!