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Next to the Bible, The Pilgrim's Progress has probably been more widely read than any other book in the English language, and rightfully so. It is considered by many critics to be the greatest allegory in any language. And to think that it was written by a jailed tinker who received very little formal education! This classic allegory tells of a Christian's epic journey toward heaven and the many temptations and distractions he encounters along the way. With a burden on his back, Christian reads a book that tells him that the city in which he and his family dwell will be set ablaze. Christian flees from the City of Destruction and journeys through the Slough of Despond, the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and the Delectable Mountains before finally reaching the Celestial City.… (more)
In John Bunyan's classic allegory, Christian abandons his family and the City of Destruction and sets off to find salvation. His path is straight but not easy, and he is beset by trials, including the terrible violence of the destructive Apollyon and the Giant Despair, as he pursues his pilgrimage through the Slough of Despond, the Delectable Mountains and Vanity Fair towards the Celestial City. In the second part of the narrative his wife, Christiana, is escorted by Great-Heart through the same difficult terrain. Written with the urgency of persecuted faith and a fiery imagination, "The Pilgrim's Progress" is a spiritual as well as a literary classic.
Journey with Christian on the most incredible adventure ever imagined. Destination: The Celestial City, but getting there is a little more difficult than our hero bargained for!
Will Christian succeed in defeating the winged beast, Apollyon? Will he pass safely through the Valley of the Shadow of Death?
Ok...I suppose part of the reason this is difficult was that it was written in two parts in 1678 and 1684. The language and the imagery is very dense. I struggled. Boy this was tough...a classic tale of a man’s journey...his pilgrimage if you will, through life.
It is really well thought through with characters described by their characteristics...the main character is known as Christian...along the journey to the Celestial City he meets Mr Worldy Wiseman, Faithful and Hopeful. He has to traverse such places as Vanity Fair, Delectable Mountains and nearly lose his way to Doubting Castle.
Subtle it is not but in the literal times of the puritans it had as clear a message then as it does today.
Much will try and persuade you to divert from the path to the Celestial City...who is helping you on your journey ? Where do you keep your eyes ? ( )
To 'trav'lers of the past, their mem'ry to secure, That cloud of witnesses, alive in Heaven pure. For travelers today, to aid them in their trip; To help them follow on, in Christ's directorship. And future trav'lers, too, to help them run the race; To heighten their resolve, their foes to all out-pace. To my wife, who paid a price--putting up with me, While I dwelt with Christian, and all this company, To my children, each unique; help them hear a call From the Lord of Glory, to give to Him their all. And to the task ahead, in Bunyan's type of rhyme, We send you, Pilgrim, out--again another time.
--LEH (in Modern English version)
And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them
(Hebrews 11:13-16). (in Modern English version)
First words
As I walk'd through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place, where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep; And as I slept I dreamed a Dream.
When at the first I took my Pen in hand, Thus for to write; I did not understand That I at all should make a little Book In such a mode; Nay, I had undertook To make another, which when almost done; Before I was aware, I this begun.
The author's apology for his book.
The first edition of The Pilgrim's Progress, of which an exact reproduction is now placed before the public, was issued by "Nath. Ponder at the Peacock in the Poultrey near Cornhill, 1678."
Preface (1875 facsimile ed.).
Since it's publication in 1678, The Pilgrim's Progress, has gone through thousands of editions and versions.
Preface (Pure Gold Classics ed.).
John Bunyan's The Pilgrims' Progress, first published in 1678, is acknowledged by many to be second only to the Bible as a Christian publication.
The Pilgrim's Progress is a book which in the three hundred years of its existence has crossed most of the barriers of race and culture that usually serve to limit the communicative power of a classic.
Introduction (Penguin ed. by Roger Sharrock).
Quotations
And all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
Next to the Bible, The Pilgrim's Progress has probably been more widely read than any other book in the English language, and rightfully so. It is considered by many critics to be the greatest allegory in any language. And to think that it was written by a jailed tinker who received very little formal education! This classic allegory tells of a Christian's epic journey toward heaven and the many temptations and distractions he encounters along the way. With a burden on his back, Christian reads a book that tells him that the city in which he and his family dwell will be set ablaze. Christian flees from the City of Destruction and journeys through the Slough of Despond, the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and the Delectable Mountains before finally reaching the Celestial City.
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Wikipedia in English (1)
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