 |
Another book that I really don’t know anything about, but that I picked up from the library because I recognized the author and the title. The title is apparently a play on “Pilgrim’s Progress,” the old classic about Christianity by Paul Bunyan, so I think it has to do with the same kind of thing. Also, the subtitle of Lewis’s book is “An Allegorical Apology for Christianity Reason and Romanticism,” which is a slightly more direct clue pointing to the same conclusion.
From BarnesAndNoble.com:
The first book written by C. S. Lewis after his conversion,The Pilgrim�s Regress is, in a sense, the record of Lewis�s own search for meaning and spiritual satisfaction�a search that eventually led him to Christianity.Here is the story of the pilgrim John and his odyssey to an enchanting island which has created in him an intense longing�a mysterious, sweet desire. John�s pursuit of this desire takes him through adventures with such people as Mr. Enlightenment, Media Halfways, Mr. Mammon, Mother Kirk, Mr. Sensible, and Mr. Humanist and through such cities as Thrill and Eschropolis as well as the Valley of Humiliation.
Though the dragons and giants here are different from those in Bunyan�s Pilgrim�s Progress, Lewis�s allegory performs the same function of enabling the author to say simply and through fantasy what would otherwise have demanded a full-length philosophy of religion.
I hope it doesn’t get all preachy and stuff.
I think one thing is clear upon finishing this book: Dense, allegorical works that are over half a century out of date don’t make for the best way to pass the time on the road or at the gym. I really didn’t follow half of what was going on here.