Bibliography
Bunyan, John. 2003. The Pilgrim's Progress. Edited by Susan L. Rattiner. Garden City, NY: Dover Publications.
Review by Michael Beach
Originally published in 1678, this edition is an ‘unabridged replication’ as it appeared in Volume 15 of The Harvard Classics Series in 1909. It is in two parts. The first being the pilgrimage of the protagonist “Christian”, the second depicts the later pilgrimage of his wife “Christiana” and their sons. In truth, I had no idea what to expect when I started this book. I think I had vaguely assumed it to be some sort of early American history, somehow linking the title with the mention of pilgrims in the patriotic song “America the Beautiful” where it says “O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress, A thoroughfare for freedom beat, Across the wilderness!” I couldn’t have been further off.
The book was written by John Bunyan in the form of an allegory. The narrator claims to have had two dreams. Each dream is a separate part of the total work and each its own story. In both cases, Bunyan’s dream relates the story of several fictitious pilgrims with a goal of arriving at “the celestial city”. Along the way there are detractors, deceivers, and demons who do their best to thwart the progress of the pilgrims. Every person is given a name that relates to their version of religion, including various Christian sects, or some character trait, either good or bad. Towns likewise have character trait names that describe their population. The main pilgrims eventually arrive at the celestial city with differing difficult events. Some pilgrims fall away; still other characters have no interest in the celestial city.
It's obvious Bunyan writes from his Puritan sect’s point of view. Pretty much every other Christian religion represented are depicted in a negative light, described in ways that make it clear that they are heretical and his brand of Puritanism is true. The opposition’s dogmas are presented in very general terms, more like they are characterizations. Bunyan’s ideas get more specific but seem to me as just one more sectarian interpretation of biblical passages. In particular, his message is that we each are pretty much on our own with occasional help from others. Christian abandons his family who are not interested in leaving their comfortable life for the journey. He finds joy when he finally arrives. How does that work with the idea that God forms us into families? In truth, “neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord”. Eventually, Christiana repents and decides to take her sons and follow in her husband’s footsteps. In her case she connects with a guide who goes with them and fights their battles for them.
The story is not all that interesting to me. It feels somewhat like a fantasy epic, but rolls along slowly, with more preaching than interaction. I guess that was the intent of the author. None of the scenes last very long, and the whole story’s feel seems very preachy. There was enough variation from my own Christian beliefs that I found myself rolling my eyes from time to time. Perhaps others whose creeds align more with Puritanism would be less judgmental.
Bunyan, John. 2003. The Pilgrim's Progress. Edited by Susan L. Rattiner. Garden City, NY: Dover Publications.
Review by Michael Beach
Originally published in 1678, this edition is an ‘unabridged replication’ as it appeared in Volume 15 of The Harvard Classics Series in 1909. It is in two parts. The first being the pilgrimage of the protagonist “Christian”, the second depicts the later pilgrimage of his wife “Christiana” and their sons. In truth, I had no idea what to expect when I started this book. I think I had vaguely assumed it to be some sort of early American history, somehow linking the title with the mention of pilgrims in the patriotic song “America the Beautiful” where it says “O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress, A thoroughfare for freedom beat, Across the wilderness!” I couldn’t have been further off.
The book was written by John Bunyan in the form of an allegory. The narrator claims to have had two dreams. Each dream is a separate part of the total work and each its own story. In both cases, Bunyan’s dream relates the story of several fictitious pilgrims with a goal of arriving at “the celestial city”. Along the way there are detractors, deceivers, and demons who do their best to thwart the progress of the pilgrims. Every person is given a name that relates to their version of religion, including various Christian sects, or some character trait, either good or bad. Towns likewise have character trait names that describe their population. The main pilgrims eventually arrive at the celestial city with differing difficult events. Some pilgrims fall away; still other characters have no interest in the celestial city.
It's obvious Bunyan writes from his Puritan sect’s point of view. Pretty much every other Christian religion represented are depicted in a negative light, described in ways that make it clear that they are heretical and his brand of Puritanism is true. The opposition’s dogmas are presented in very general terms, more like they are characterizations. Bunyan’s ideas get more specific but seem to me as just one more sectarian interpretation of biblical passages. In particular, his message is that we each are pretty much on our own with occasional help from others. Christian abandons his family who are not interested in leaving their comfortable life for the journey. He finds joy when he finally arrives. How does that work with the idea that God forms us into families? In truth, “neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord”. Eventually, Christiana repents and decides to take her sons and follow in her husband’s footsteps. In her case she connects with a guide who goes with them and fights their battles for them.
The story is not all that interesting to me. It feels somewhat like a fantasy epic, but rolls along slowly, with more preaching than interaction. I guess that was the intent of the author. None of the scenes last very long, and the whole story’s feel seems very preachy. There was enough variation from my own Christian beliefs that I found myself rolling my eyes from time to time. Perhaps others whose creeds align more with Puritanism would be less judgmental.
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