The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (Review #11)

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Blurb

This famous story of man’s progress through life in search of salvation remains one of the most entertaining allegories of faith ever written. Set against realistic backdrops of town and country, the powerful drama of the pilgrim’s trials and temptations follows him in his harrowing journey to the Celestial City.

Along a road filled with monsters and spiritual terrors, Christian confronts such emblematic characters as Worldly Wiseman, Giant Despair, Talkative, Ignorance, and the demons of the Valley of the Shadow of Death. But he is also joined by Hopeful and Faithful.

An enormously influential 17th-century classic, universally known for its simplicity, vigor, and beauty of language, The Pilgrim’s Progress remains one of the most widely read books in the English language.

Review

I read this book a long time ago and I must admit I struggled with it then but I thought I would give it another chance and so I put it on my Classics Club list. In hindsight I probably should not have bothered as the book had still not improved for me.

The storyline for this book is good and I can see what Bunyan was trying to get across but I just can’t stand the main character Christian. The storyline is based on a dream and the dream is based around the character Christian. In all honesty as a Christian myself I really don’t think the character Christian shows us to our best advantage. The character Christian is in my opinion a pompous ass who thinks himself above everyone else. He is self righteous and really annoying. He also abandons his family and basically condemns them to their fate.

The story follows the many adventures of Christian and the many other characters he encounters. The other characters he encounters are all basically people who start out on the journey to faith but inevitably fail.

I really do not get along with this book and it is mainly because of the character Christian. I won’t be making the mistake of reading this book again and I only give this book 2 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

John Bunyan (1628-1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory. In the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August.