Customer Reviews

The Pilgrim's Progress (Signet Classics)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not a Pilgrim's Progress expert, but this doesn't seem to be the best edition of this book. There are footnotes (including Bunyan's own notes) but they are often "late"; for example, footnotes to explain the archaic meaning of the word are often included on the second or third appearance of the word. Also, the editor has included indicators as to who is speaking in each paragraph (much like a stage script) but it is not consistent.

Shop around and see if you can find a better edition of Pilgrim's Progress.

I Corinthians 13 says the following: If I have all faith as to
remove mountains, but have not love, then I am nothing...

Bunyan's allegory about Christian's journey is
predominantly a journey about faith....He doesn't really
talk about one's day to day struggles, and the need to
bear each other's burdens....It is primarily a solo kind of
journey here, but this should not be too surprising
considering that the book is an allegory about one's
own INNER struggle to avoid temptation, as typified by
"the world". In Christ our flesh has been crucified, so we
are not to dwell on earthly things.

I think the book succeeds admirably in admonishing the
Christian to avoid temptation and stay on the path that is
narrow and straight.

With that said, this is a remarkably readable version, that
is at the same time true to the original 17th century text.
Only spelling and punctuation have been changed to aid
the modern reader. Grammar and paragraphing have not
been altered. Where a word's meaning has changed over
time, its archaic meaning is included as a footnote. Also,
where Bunyan quotes from the Bible, directly or indirectly,
the passages quoted from are cited. The editors have
done a remarkable job, although truthfully I haven't looked
at all the other versions out there....For me, this version
does the job.

Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan is an excellent story of the Christian faith journey including numerous biblical comparisons of the life journey of an individual who makes the choice to follow Christ to Heaven, and gives many descriptive examples of the joys and sorrows on the path toward the Kingdom of God. Excellent Read, 5 stars!

A classic that I have read more than once over the years. Should be in everyone's library.

grweat work and great service right on time.This book is a wonderful classic that makes us see clearly the life traveling of the believer in Christ.

This novel is a profound work of immense religious significance. It is, perhaps, second only to the Bible in popularity among Christians. It is also one of the greatest literary allegories.

At least, this is what most literary critics would have you believe. Make no mistake, I greatly enjoyed The Pilgrim's Progress. It succeeds on many levels as an adventure novel. Its attempt to be a piece of allegorical storytelling is where it fails. None of the symbolism is especially deep and the characters all are named after (and stand for) virtues or vices. Making every character nothing more than a talking symbol was a faulty move on author Bunyan's part (although after reading his introduction/apology, I believe this was his intention.) As a result the reader never invests any emotion into the characters and is prone to boredom as the story is told (although saying the pacing is quick would be a severe understatement.) The lack of extensive characterization and exposition makes the novel read more like the Sunday newspaper than a living story. There are also very few suprises in this novel. Christian's (the main character) destination is revealed to us when the story begins, and because Christianity centers on good conquering evil, the reader can have no doubt that the hero will end up where he needs to be.

The Pilgrim's Progress is not without its strong points. As stated above the pacing is very quick; the actual plot gets moving full-speed within the first three pages of the story and never lets up. For readers with short attention spans (such as myself) this is a great relief. The story's simplicity also works to its advantage. We are told that Christian must reach the Celestial City in order to escape damnation and be saved. The entire book is simply a chronicle of his adventures along the way. As stated, he meets virtues and vices and encounters all forms of moral peril (such as laziness) and environmental dangers (such as a fiery mountain that consumes those who trust in one of Christian's enemies). He even does battle with monsters. Another one of the book's strengths is its appeal to "mere" Christianity, that is, it has a message with which every Christian sect would agree. There are a few jabs at the Roman Catholic Church, but these are minor and extremely few. Bunyan himself was a Puritan, a child of Protestantism, so small remarks such as these should not be of any real suprise. They do not detract from the story in the least.

Of course, none of this attempts to be true, and the reader is told by the author himself that the story is presented in "the similitude of a dream". Is the story dream-like? Sure, it is fantastic enough. Is it a clever allegory? It is allegorical, but not terribly clever. If you're in for a good adventure than this book is for you. If you like your symbolism to have more thought than you may want to consult Lewis' Narnia series.