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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If It Doesn't Reach Best Seller Lists Blame The Book Jacket,
This review is from: Pilgrim (Hardcover)
"The Pilgrim" is my introduction to the work of Mr. Timothy Findley. One of the joys of reading is when the reader finds a new author, at least new for the reader, and a whole new body of work can be read and looked forward to.My Reason for the Review's Title is this, I picked up, read, and then put this book back many times before finally purchasing it. What gave me pause was the idea that without a strong working knowledge of Carl Jung this book could not be enjoyed or understood. Happily I was wrong. If your knowledge of Carl Jung is nearly nil, you will still love this book. If you are extremely knowledgeable about him, this will add to or subtract from the book as you judge how he is portrayed. In either instance, the book can be enjoyed by anyone who appreciates a great story begat by a wordsmith, a master craftsman. The book is not a "light" read, but neither is it a daunting one. It requires a bit of thought, which only adds to the experience. The following is not in the book, but I kept this in mind when reading and found it helpful. Whether it brought me where the Author intended I couldn't say, but for me it worked. "Time" is literally meaningless as it is a construct of Man. It is a reference point that was created for our convenience. What our watches and calendars tell us is only what we have programmed them to say, and we have changed the guidelines several times throughout Human History. I offer the thought only as I found it helpful, I could be way off base. In any event, a splendid story, a gifted Author, a book you will enjoy, just skip the book jacket.
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Elegant Creation,
By William Kowalski (New York City) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pilgrim (Hardcover)
This is my first Findley novel, but it interested me enough to go back and read his earlier works. Findley is, quite simply, a masterful writer. The premise of this novel is unusual in modern fiction, and Pilgrim's immortality is not always presented quite convincingly enough for my taste. It was hard at first to figure out whether he kept getting reincarnated into different bodies or whether he was the same person each time. This is fine--but it was also hard to figure out whether Findley WANTED that to be hard to figure out, if you follow me, and that detracted from my overall enjoyment of the story. It did not make sense to me that a man with a different body every lifetime would be so eager to die. This is the only major drawback, however. Ordinarily I do not enjoy fiction with real-life personalities as characters, but Findley's portrayal of C.G. Jung is very well done and historically accurate--I now feel I know something about Jung as a fallible human. Also, Findley's historical settings are vivid and real. This book commanded my attention from beginning to end--a rare occurrence, since I consider myself to be an extremely demanding reader.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pilgrim's Progress,
This review is from: Pilgrim (Hardcover)
I have just completed Mr Findley's Pilgrim and was glad to see that others who read the book were as fascinated as I was by it. It was the first book of his I have read and I intend to read others. I did not know much about Jung except of course about his theory of the collective unconscious. In many respects as portrayed by the author, his life was more depressing the Pilgrim's. I did not find his character very attractive and was put off by his adultery, his treatment of his wife, Emma, and his over-possessive attitude towards his patients. There were really only a few likeable and admirable characters in the novel: Mr Forester, Pilgrim's valet, Emma, Lady Quartermain, and the "moon lady." The author's writing style is complex, sophisticated, graphic, and interesting. So much attention given to Jung, however, detracted from the book's overall quality. To me, he was a sad but obnoxious character. In conclusion, though, it was a book I was glad I read and my hats off the the author for his research, his topic, and his intelligent style of writing.
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