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novabird's review against another edition
4.0
Although this falls under the genre of fantasy for me which I normally eschew, Findley’s coolly observant voice lent itself well to balancing his dramatic flights of imagination and forays into the psychological forest of the minds of his characters and he superbly blended these into his compelling book, “Pilgrim.” It was not difficult to digest Carl Jung as a character because Findley’s research of Jung was quite well done; however, the whole part of Leonardo Da Vinci and Elisabetta del Giocondo (the Mona Lisa) seemed to me contrived as pseudo-revisionist . Other than this obvious flaw, the idea of the Pilgrim as somehow representative of Jung’s collective unconscious was a very interesting concept. I would have liked to have seen a little less of a who’s who of Pilgrim’s acquaintances and a bit more development of the Manolo and Teresa story and more importantly better development of Sybil who after all had a strange birthmark too, that of a snake.
However, structurally there is not enough content balance between Pilgrim and Jung, and of the two, Jung becomes the better portrayed. After all Pilgrim as an ageless, sexless, deathless, and timeless character gives us no other understanding of him other than his desire to die, to escape humanity, without showing any other passion and Findley does not show us enough of his ‘historical,’ suffering to warrant his need for an end. As a reader, I was impressed by the scope of Findley’s panoramic vision but gravely disappointed by the lack of sympathy I had with Pilgrim, as he was too distanced to be reachable. Findley I believe unknowingly made Pilgrim become an archetype of the collective unconscious itself. 4
However, structurally there is not enough content balance between Pilgrim and Jung, and of the two, Jung becomes the better portrayed. After all Pilgrim as an ageless, sexless, deathless, and timeless character gives us no other understanding of him other than his desire to die, to escape humanity, without showing any other passion and Findley does not show us enough of his ‘historical,’ suffering to warrant his need for an end. As a reader, I was impressed by the scope of Findley’s panoramic vision but gravely disappointed by the lack of sympathy I had with Pilgrim, as he was too distanced to be reachable. Findley I believe unknowingly made Pilgrim become an archetype of the collective unconscious itself. 4
sammyantha's review against another edition
I was particularly interested. I never voluntarily picked up the book
sandygx260's review
4.0
What a maddening book. Pilgrim is a roller coaster ride containing short chapters, some only one page, a sprinkling of historical characters (urgh), Carl Jung, immortality, insanity, humanity and ultimately death. Above all the desire for death, the profound sleep, the needed end.
What an infuriatingly lovely and splendid book.
I needed a meter as I read. At certain points I swore I'd give this book a two. Then a one, especially when Jung conducts endless internal arguments with what he terms his Inquisitor. When the character Pilgrim really comes to "life", the pages soared to a five. Each chapter, hell, each page changed my opinion.
The prose and lovingly drawn characters deserve a five. The forays into nonsense deserve a two.
The emotions evoked deserve a five.
Which explains the four. In truth a 4.5.
Warning! Despite the short chapters, don't treat this book as a pick up when you have time to read book. It needs concentration and love.
Now to explore more of Findley's works. Not Wanted on the Voyage sounds fascinating.
What an infuriatingly lovely and splendid book.
I needed a meter as I read. At certain points I swore I'd give this book a two. Then a one, especially when Jung conducts endless internal arguments with what he terms his Inquisitor. When the character Pilgrim really comes to "life", the pages soared to a five. Each chapter, hell, each page changed my opinion.
The prose and lovingly drawn characters deserve a five. The forays into nonsense deserve a two.
The emotions evoked deserve a five.
Which explains the four. In truth a 4.5.
Warning! Despite the short chapters, don't treat this book as a pick up when you have time to read book. It needs concentration and love.
Now to explore more of Findley's works. Not Wanted on the Voyage sounds fascinating.
aleksandrawithks's review against another edition
3.0
It was an okay book.
That doesn’t sound very encouraging, believe me, I know, especially if we are talking about an almost 500-page tome, but that’s the only thing that comes to my mind: a very “descriptive” okay.
The story of how I got this book – or rather of how this book came to my life, for I firmly believe that it’s the book that chooses the reader, just like the wand in Harry Potter – is much more poetic. It was a foggy snowy day in my favorite place in the world – Puy-Saint-Vincent (a French commune in the southern French Alps).
As usual, when everyone was skiing, I went for a walk. Alone. Perfect me-time when my mind could wander, and my eyes caught a glimpse of beauty everywhere.
Everything was white: the sky, the streets, even the steps that led to the library. The whole world was in the guise of the Snow Queen. And here it was – a magic bookcase also known as a public bookcase. The only book that was in English – don’t forget, the story took place in France – was Pilgrim by Timothy Findley.
I opened the book. Its first page was promising a lot: “The grass was thick with dew, and seeing it – even in the meager spill of light from the house — Pilgrim muttered green as if the word had only just occurred to him.”
At least, I was sure that the book would be beautifully written with vivid descriptions and poetic metaphors. And what else did I need when I myself was surrounded by eternal snowy beauty everywhere?
But – I would find it out 500 pages later – I needed something more than just beautiful descriptions that were scattered over the narration.
For example, a better-structured plot that would lead me somewhere. The problem with this book – for me! – is that all its parts don’t create a whole picture and remain separate. Jumping back and forth in time seems more confusing than helpful.
And then there is another huge “no” for me in the book: the narrator tells us things instead of showing them.
“It would change her view of life, though, of course, she didn’t realize it until later.”
“Jung climbed down and wept. He would never be the same.”
How would it change her life? What would exactly happen? Why would he never be the same? What would change for him?
As a reader, I want to come to these conclusions myself by observing the difference. It is not enough for me to read these two statements: I want to see “what” and “how” in the text itself.
And there is one more thing that is great for non-native readers but won’t probably work for native ones: the text of the book is packed with clichés. In general, that is not what you may expect from a good-quality text.
So that is why it was an okay book. A book you devour on your flight. An okay book to read when you have nothing else to do.
That doesn’t sound very encouraging, believe me, I know, especially if we are talking about an almost 500-page tome, but that’s the only thing that comes to my mind: a very “descriptive” okay.
The story of how I got this book – or rather of how this book came to my life, for I firmly believe that it’s the book that chooses the reader, just like the wand in Harry Potter – is much more poetic. It was a foggy snowy day in my favorite place in the world – Puy-Saint-Vincent (a French commune in the southern French Alps).
As usual, when everyone was skiing, I went for a walk. Alone. Perfect me-time when my mind could wander, and my eyes caught a glimpse of beauty everywhere.
Everything was white: the sky, the streets, even the steps that led to the library. The whole world was in the guise of the Snow Queen. And here it was – a magic bookcase also known as a public bookcase. The only book that was in English – don’t forget, the story took place in France – was Pilgrim by Timothy Findley.
I opened the book. Its first page was promising a lot: “The grass was thick with dew, and seeing it – even in the meager spill of light from the house — Pilgrim muttered green as if the word had only just occurred to him.”
At least, I was sure that the book would be beautifully written with vivid descriptions and poetic metaphors. And what else did I need when I myself was surrounded by eternal snowy beauty everywhere?
But – I would find it out 500 pages later – I needed something more than just beautiful descriptions that were scattered over the narration.
For example, a better-structured plot that would lead me somewhere. The problem with this book – for me! – is that all its parts don’t create a whole picture and remain separate. Jumping back and forth in time seems more confusing than helpful.
And then there is another huge “no” for me in the book: the narrator tells us things instead of showing them.
“It would change her view of life, though, of course, she didn’t realize it until later.”
“Jung climbed down and wept. He would never be the same.”
How would it change her life? What would exactly happen? Why would he never be the same? What would change for him?
As a reader, I want to come to these conclusions myself by observing the difference. It is not enough for me to read these two statements: I want to see “what” and “how” in the text itself.
And there is one more thing that is great for non-native readers but won’t probably work for native ones: the text of the book is packed with clichés. In general, that is not what you may expect from a good-quality text.
So that is why it was an okay book. A book you devour on your flight. An okay book to read when you have nothing else to do.
ellenmc07's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I guess to say I'm conflicted by the book would be the largest understatement I've had in my adult life. The promise of this was so intriguing, I had to keep going. To know what would happen next. However, it was so long! And so much happened, that while nice to know, didn't feed my interest whatsoever. I wanted more of Pilgrim in his past lives, not everyone else's dissatisfaction about theirs. I am glad to have persevered through this but, definitely do not go into this book thinking you'll know exactly what's going on. I still don't know.
darkcrystal1839's review against another edition
4.0
Long but always interesting, this book tells the story of a man who cannot die. Not for lack of trying. We start out with the character in an asylum in the mountains, basically on suicide watch after his latest “botched” suicide attempt. “Botched” in that everyone swore he was physically dead for a good hour or so, but lo and behold, he awoke. The man, known only as Pilgrim, really wants to die, having had enough of this immortal life. The books takes us back in time often for stories from the long life of this man, and it’s wonderfully interesting to see how the writer insinuated Pilgrim into actual historical events (for example – the portrait of the Mona Lisa is actually of him, and he was the one who stole it from the Louvre in 1911.) All the while, he is being studied by psychologists of the time, mainly Carl Jung, who all think he’s nuts. With good reason. The book leaves you unsure who to believe, which makes it even more interesting in my opinion. There’s also some good subplots about Jung and his failing marriage. A great read.
silvarius's review against another edition
3.0
Started off good, but didn't end well. Seemed to drag on a little much, also.
emnz's review against another edition
5.0
Read this on holidays, and whilst not a typical 'holiday' read, I was hooked from the get go.
Interesting, grippy, and full characters.
It remains a soft spot in my heart (possibly also due to the holiday).
Interesting, grippy, and full characters.
It remains a soft spot in my heart (possibly also due to the holiday).
chelseaclif7's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this one.. although it shifted a little too much for me to LOVE it. It weaves in and out of some major historical happenings while weaving in some Carl Jung.
The ending left a little to be desired.. but it was in keeping with the rest of the book so it didn't bother me too much.
The ending left a little to be desired.. but it was in keeping with the rest of the book so it didn't bother me too much.