by Vera H-C Chan For a 12th-century plot, " The Pillars of the Earth " is kicking up some serious 21st-century buzz. Bookworms will recognize the title as one by Ken Follett 's, a zillion-selling novelist of thrillers like " Eye of the Needle " and " Lie Down with Lions ." His 1989 bestseller, which weighed in at nearly 1,000 pages, radically departed from the usual spy turf: The tome centers around a 12th-century cathedral construction project in England. Naturally,