Customer Reviews

Pilgrim

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"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.

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.

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.

How must modern psychiatry, circa 1912, react when confronted with a subject whose most ardent desire in life is to die? For many patients the answer would be straightforward--identify the roots of the suicidal misery, pick them out of the subconscious, force the patient to confront and discard them, and lead him back into the hopeful world of the living.

But the peculiarly named Pilgrim presents renowned alienist Carl Jung with some unusual twists which defy a simple diagnosis. For one thing, Pilgrim has attempted suicide multiple times, seemingly succeeding, only to be involuntarily and inexplicably brought back to life. He has no history. Yet he claims to have lived through centuries. He speaks of Da Vinci, Oscar Wilde and Henry James as though they were his most intimate friends and enemies.

The doctors all agree: a clear case of delusional paranoid schizophrenia. But as Dr. Jung's professional arrogance is gradually worn away by Pilgrim's extraordinary insights into truth and beauty, the very nature of insanity comes into question.

Tim Findley's novel is a rich tapestry of historical fact and literary grace. Through the story of the time traveller Pilgrim, the reader spends intimate moments with some of history's greatest minds, and learns about the failure of genius to guide the human spirit. But through Pilgrim the reader retains a faith in the power of beauty to move mountains and achieve the impossible.

For any reader who ever questioned accepted orthodoxies about art, history, literature, and the way they have shaped our world, this book is a must.

From the very first page, author Timothy Findley insinuates his haunting prose through the multi-layered folds of your mind, bringing about a trance-like ecstacy...which continues till the very last word.

The story of Pilgrim, an enigmatic soul in the form of a man, is found hanging from a tree, an apparent suicide. Rumors of his death, however, are greatly exaggerated, for this is not the first attempt he has made on his own life and recovered to tell about it. The hanging that begins this story, though, comes to the attention of Carl Gustav Jung, the noted psychotherapist, who is just coming into his own at the time of Pilgrim's untimely un-demise. To relate the rest of this epic retelling of such historical events as the creation of the Mona Lisa, or the life of Oscar Wilde, one would be denied the ultimate pleasure of experiencing it for ones self! Findley takes events that have been endlessly documented and gives them a fresh voice, a daunting task, to be sure. Not since reading Caleb Carr's "The Alienist" has this reviewer enjoyed such a vivid and imaginative story from beginning to end. And not the fun-for-the-moment satisfaction of many of todays novels...but a true, deep-seated satisfaction that lingers in the soul. Pilgrim's search for "eternal peace" and the simultaneous epiphanies experienced by Herr Doktor Jung, weave together some of the most fascinating thoughts and images in print today. It was an enthralling read, and one that I would highly recommend to any literary enthusiast or weekend historian.

Ever since reading Stones by Timothy Findley, I have fell in love with his impressive way of playing with words. Being a writer of prose, he has instilled within me great inspiration. Pilgrim his by far one of his most interesting and beautiful works yet. Like other works of his before such as "Last of the Crazy People" and "Head Hunter" (which are both excellent reads), Mr. Findley writes with passion and intrigue that keeps you up late into the night. If one deserves recognition amongst great literary acts, then I tip my hat to Timothy Findley.

In a well imagined historical reality, Findley places characters and events in a masterfully built context. Intrigue kept me turning page after page looking for a rational explanation at Pilgrim's immortality. An immortality infuse with humanity's inherited memories, an immortality that is unbearable for there is never rest. In this sense, Pilgrim reminds me of Sisyphus. Worse, Pilgrim is condemn not to be believe by anyone, not even Jung. In the process, this challenge, will make Jung reevaluate his ideas and emotions. Maybe making him become more of a believer, of a mystic. Life at the Burgholzli clinic is described nicely, the treatments, the different approaches, the discrepancies and jealousies between the doctors. The depiction of Jung's personality, and private life, shows his unshakeable hubris, and brings a human touch to the scholar. Pilgrim portrays a voyage through time, and with his vivid accounts of a long gone past, he conveys a mixed feeling of melancholy, joy, and hate. It conveys a "creative recreation of the past" (p. 467). In the end Pilgrim finds his way, or so it seems...redemption at last? Paulo A. Oemig p.a.oemig@m.cc.utah.edu

I've read all the other reviews and it seems almost everyone has a different slant on this book. I'm not sure I, myself, understood what it actually was supposed to be about. I wish Mr Findley would clue us in to his purpose or what he wanted to accomplish with this novel. In any case, it is beautifully written, contains wonderful storytelling and has characters that you care about. In this day of instant gratification, this book requires concentration and imagination. Once read, I think the reader feels enriched. Not such a bad thing.

Timothy Findley, offers the story of a man who in essense is nameless... he has been referred to as Pilgrim in the text, but no last name either. The captivating title alone can lure people into reading it. But it gets better... The tenacity of life prevents the Pilgrim from committing suicide, or stop experiencing lives through various incarnations. The residual scars of endless experiences, as a result, weigh heavy on this extra-ordinary man. Unlike normal mortals, his sleeps' take him on a voyages through the seas of darkness and agitate the memories of the past... only to be awakened into a new plot. This statuesque, dominating and intriguing personality stands at the centerpiece around which the author presents the psychological musings of C.G. Jung, Freud, and other psychologists/psychiatrists of the early part of the century.

What makes this novel enticing is the fact that the author challenges the social issues of sanity and normalcy. However, its abrupt ending and popular-fantasy trips only render a rating of 4 stars, especially since Findley has written better novels.

In the opening pages, Pilgrim successfully commits suicide by hanging himself. Or did he? Hours later, he is again alive, miserable, and depressed. It seems the one thing he wants most in the world - to die - is beyond his means. Was his resurrection a miracle or a punishment? By book's end, you are no closer to knowing the answer.

A friend delivers Pilgrim to the sanitarium where Carl Jung takes over his case almost immediately. He hands off Pilgrim's collection of journals to his wife to study and here we are introduced to the most interesting character of the book. Elizabeth, pregnant with Carl's second son, reads the journals, which are not journals at all but loosely strung stories set throughout history. The journals chronicle a series of lives for four millennia. Who is Pilgrim? Is he a fallen angel or a Roman god punished for eons for some transgression?

The answer darts in and out of the pages depending on who is looking for the answer. If you like tidy endings with all the loose threads neatly tied up, this book will frustrate. However, if you want a book to stay with you long after you've read the last page, this will be just your cup of tea.