I finally got around to reading Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I must confess this book wasn't even on my radar until relatively recently, though it should have been. It's definitely a classic. I got my copy from Easton Press yet again as part of my subscription. It's gorgeous. And a relatively short tread to boot, weighing in at less than two hundred pages with large print.
This book is unapologetically archetypical. Even blatantly so....the main character, for example, is named Christian and realizes that he cannot earn his way to heaven through acts and feels the burden of sin, which he carries heavily on his back. He meets another character named Evangelist who directs him to the Celestial City where he can find salvation. Along the way he meets a variety of other characters such as the Giant Despair, Ignorance, and Obstinate.
On the way, he meets an assortment of allegorical obstacles and characters. He also witnesses some biblical landmarks, including what was left of Lot's wife and Jesus's cross. He leaves the way at times, but finds solutions as he goes and continues on the way despite his own personal shortcomings and the setbacks the world imposes upon him. The story is nice and encouraging for a faithful reader. I haven't read much that presented itself so mythologically....Hans Bemmann's works come to mind, but he was much more contemporary and also had different objectives than John Bunyan.
As I was reading about the book before starting it, I learned that it is noted as a favorite book of a character in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I've read that book at least twice but didn't notice that as I hadn't heard of the book at the time. It is also discussed in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, which tickled me because that is one of the books I'm starting really soon.
Pilgrim's Progress was a good read and I enjoyed it. It's unique and portrays a faith journey that many people travel throughout their lives. I'm glad to have read it and it has added another milestone on my own faith journey.
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