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Faith, Hope, Mercy, Envy, Ignorance, Guilt: These are not abstract concepts, but the names of vividly imagined, sharply drawn human characters encountered by Christian, the hero of The Pilgrim’s Progress. In John Bunyan’s seventeenth-century allegory of the soul’s search for salvation, each step along the way becomes a dramatic rendering of an inner state of the human psyche. As Christian journeys from “the wilderness of this world” to the glory of the Celestial City, he confronts a seemingly endless array of temptations, threats, and dangers, including the nearly irresistible allure of material splendor at Vanity Fair; the crushing psychological burden of depression and despair in the Slough of Despond; and the fear and uncertainty that eats away at faith in Doubting Castle.
This edition includes both the first and second parts of The Pilgrim’s Progress, which collectively reflect the feverish intensity of Bunyan’s religious beliefs. What remains significant is Bunyan’s ability to transform this intensity into an allegory that speaks to people of all faiths and all eras.
David Hawkes is Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University. His books include Idols of the Marketplace (2001) and Ideology (second edition 2003), and he has contributed articles to The Nation, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Journal of the History of Ideas.
To understand fully The Pilgrim’s Progress, we must remember that it was written in prison. Imprisonment is its major theme, and escape from prison is its primary purpose. Although Bunyan was without a doubt incarcerated in the literal, physical sense while he composed his work, he did not believe that he was truly in jail. He was convinced that, as Richard Lovelace had written in “To Althea, from Prison” (1642), “Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage,” and Bunyan echoed the sentiment in his own “Prison Meditations” (1665; quoted from The Works of John Bunyan, edited by George Offor, vol. 1, p. 64; see “For Further Reading”):
I am, indeed, in prison now
In body, but my mind
Is free to study Christ, and how
Unto me he is kind.
For though men keep my outward man
Within their locks and bars,
Yet by the faith of Christ I can
Mount higher than the stars.
As far as Bunyan was concerned, the real prisoners were outside the walls, in the world. The Pilgrim’s Progress aims to establish two deeply counterintuitive propositions: that its author is not in jail, and that its readers are. But while Bunyan argues that the world is the prison of the soul, he also offers us a way to escape from the world. The book’s subtitle, From This World to That Which Is to Come, indicates our ultimate destination, but the world “to come” is to be reached by a way not measurable in space or time. The pilgrim’s progress is not a literal journey along a physical road, but an exercise in semiotics: a reinterpretation of the world. As Stanley Fish puts it, Bunyan’s work teaches us that “the truth about the world is not to be found within its own confines or configurations, but from the vantage point of a perspective that transforms it” (Self-consuming Artifacts, p. 237).
In the course of his journey the hero, named Christian, learns to understand the world as an allegory. He comes to perceive his experience as a series of signs that point toward nonmaterial, spiritual referents, and this constitutes his liberation. But before he can escape from prison, he must become aware that he is in one. The progress toward an allegorical interpretation of reality is simultaneously a process of alienation from the mundane world of experience. The Pilgrim’s Progress shows us a man who becomes a stranger to the world, to the extent of rejecting empirical sense perception, as well as the laws, morality, and behavioral standards of society. The first lesson Christian learns after his conversion is that “Mr. Worldly Wiseman is an alien.”
Allegory has often been described as a suitable mode to represent the alienated, objectified character of worldly experience. This line of reasoning originates with Walter Benjamin’s seminal analysis of the genre in The Origin of German Tragic Drama (1928). Benjamin argues that allegory’s purpose is to teach us that the experiential world—the “carnal” or “fleshly” dimension, in Bunyan’s terms—is fallen into a disharmonious relation with its Creator: “Allegory itself was sown by Christianity. For it was absolutely decisive for this mode of thought that not only transitoriness, but also guilt should seem evidently to have its home in the province of idols and of the flesh” (p. 224). Plato had argued that, because the material world is transitory, it is also illusory, and to take empirical appearances for reality thus constitutes a philosophical error. But Christianity introduced an ethical dimension to this argument. From the Christian perspective, taking appearances for reality is not only erroneous, but also sinful, and in The Pilgrim’s Progress, understanding this fact is the first step on the way to redemption. This is a paradoxical operation, however, for the process of understanding that creation is alienated from the Creator simultaneously involves the recognition of another, spiritual, realm to which the carnal world points the way.
Anonymous
Posted March 2, 2011
This was a read of 54 pages that has nothing to do with PILGRIMS PROGRESS.. I read the real book years ago and it was FANTASTIC ... DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR read the real PP..
18 out of 22 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 14, 2011
I had the same issue as the other person, bought it, and was a completely different book. not happy. do they refund?
15 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The book is excellent, but the folks at B&N should be embarrassed to offer this badly scanned nook book edition. Notes and marginal comments appear in-line in the same font as the text and interrupt the flow of reading. Words are sometimes split randomly or shift in their middle between plain and italic. Words that should be bolded aren't. Poetry is set as prose at random. Apostrophes are mis-scanned as question marks. Apparently no one bothered to proofread the scan results. The editorial notes also detract from the text on which they are supposed to comment. since they are often trivial and sometimes plain wrong. This is truly a sorry transfer from text to ebook and unworthy of Bunyan's masterpiece.
12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 8, 2011
It seems a lot of the footnotes, etc., get jumbled in with the text. It's frustrating to navigate.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.There is a reason this book has not been out of print since it was first published in the late 1670s. It remains relevant. One of the most insightful and honest descriptions of the Christian Life, far better than modern writers can even come close. It is the quintessential Christian allegory, ahead even of Chronicles of Narnia.
Brilliant insights, life-changing.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.H82W8
Posted April 27, 2011
Was suppose to be Pilgrim's Progress, but when downloaded, was actually The Pilgrimage of Etheria by M L McClure. I was very disappointed.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 24, 2011
the cover may say pilgrim's progress, but the inside is something else. A huge disappointment.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.jimdad
Posted January 4, 2011
I bought and downloaded this book. When I opened it on my nookcolor the content was a different book: The Pilgrimage of Etheria by M. L. McClure
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Tropical_Island
Posted January 4, 2011
I love "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan and wanted to purchase a digital version to read on my Nook. When I purchased the $0.99 version of the book, I ended up with "The Pilgrimage of Etheria" By M.L. McClure. To make sure the same thing doesn't happen to you, please preview the book and make sure you are getting what you are paying for!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a great read of an allegory about a man's travelling the path of life being akin to a man's attempt at travelling the path to religious redemption. The writing style is, of course, heroic-epic; and, the author does an admirable job at staying true to the character and the plot. I recommend it to anyone whom appreciates epic.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 24, 2009
This book contains a very detailed table of contents, and a different formatting of the inline references (which makes it easier to read than most other versions of this book that I've seen). Great book!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 25, 2005
Pilgrim's Progress is a wonderful allegory of our Christian walk. It is so wonderfully written, despite the fact that John Bunyan only had an eigth grade education. I love how Scripture is continually intertwined with the characters' dialouge. I also enjoyed the story of Christiana who later falls in her husband's footsteps.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 16, 2005
This book get 5 stars right off the back. the only set back is reading the old english. basically this book is about Christian going on an adventure to the celestial city, and runs into fearsome dangers.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 11, 2012
Uuummm...why did everyone follow us? Thats really crappy. You wouldnt want ys following you to your private books.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.JR90
Posted January 3, 2011
This is a false cover and is the the original Pilgrim progress by John Bunyan.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 1, 2011
a very good book and it's like narnia except without the animals and stuff like that but this is a good story to read to your children.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 29, 2010
Though an exhilirating tale of adventure and grandiose excitement if epic proportions it is still so much more than that. NEVER a substitute for the Word of God, but a wonderful contemporary study guide piece that every christian should read and will enjoy when presented with the opportunity!
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Pilgrim's Progress is a great book because everyone can identify with it, whether you are a Christian or not. You can find a friend in Christian when you most need one. Though its a little slow and gets boring in some parts, this book is still a classic and should be read at least once, by everyone.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 11, 2009
A classic among classics. The imagery and allegory are stunning. A must read.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I have already read this book numerous times and it just never gets old. I have recommended it to all my friends and family. I really profited from this book spiritually.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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