Ken Follett
Carlos Ramet
(Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
1999 Bowling State U. Press
ISBN: 0879727985

The Transformation of a Writer. The biography of a master storyteller.

Senior Associate Reviewer Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

This one book is enough -- & no further introduction is needed for Ken Follett. Save for Jeffrey Archer, John Le Carre & Frederick Forsyth there are few other writers from England who have got a huuuuge fan following the world over -- & I am one among the ardent Follett readers from this part of the World -- India.

Eye of the Needle was one of the first adult books I read, as a 14 year old boy. I was hooked by the fast pace, tense narrative, the plot setting, the ‘everything’, & I had made it a point to read each & every work published to date -- & I am a proud owner of 23 Ken Follett works.

So what makes Follett so popular? Why does his works sell in millions? Carlos Ramet, in this topnotch biography, examines & analyses in detail each & every work of Ken Follett, & shows us why he is a master storyteller.

Ken Follett is no way an overnight success: he toiled a lot, & the effort, the amount of research & a gnawing need for perfection in each & every work he writes, is the secret behind his success.

True to the title, this biography traces the transformation of this writer -- from the early, now out-of-print pulp novels, The Big Needle, The Big Hit, which evoke memories of Mickey Spillane, & to a lesser extent Ian Fleming, etc., to the hard-hitting & suspense filled spy novels - Eye of the Needle & Key to Rebecca; from historical fiction works like The Pillars of the Earth to A Dangerous Fortune to sci-fi works like The Third Twin & The Hammer of Eden.

Follett has achieved success in whatever realm of fiction he has set his hands to. & the secret, the formula behind the success & sheer readability of each work is that the author does not have a steady formula at all. Each book stands in its own, & unlike John Grisham or Jeffrey Archer -- one cannot predict what Follett will write next, or what the book in total is going to be.

Carlos Ramet has done an outstanding job. His passion for the works of Follett is well evinced in this biography. I am also informed that the learned Professor has collected rare manuscripts & books of Follett & has started a Ken Follett Study Center at The Melvin J. Zahnow Library at Saginaw Valley State University -- which is now frequented a lot by students, researchers & fans of Ken Follett.

Biographies of popular bestselling authors are rare, & most do not rise above that of a “companion reader”. There are only a half-a-dozen exceptions, like Michael Crick's Jeffrey Archer: Stranger than Fiction & Sheila Hailey's Arthur Hailey: I Married a Bestseller.

This is a superb “critical companion” & a must read for any one interested in the works of Ken Follett.

Do catch Narayan's Interview with this fascinating author.
(07/17/05)

Narayan
2005©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org