Monday, January 02, 2006
The Pilgrims Regress -- CS Lewis
As one may assume from the title, the Pilgrim's Regress is a piece of Christian allegory concerning a man on a journey. And if you haven't assumed that you should consider picking up a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Neither of them is going to make my must-read list however nor will allegory become my favourite genre anytime soon.
'Regress' was an enjoyable read though. I found the sequences at the beginning and end to be the most clear and enjoyable parts of the book.
Lewis' allegory works with the theories and religious experiences of the early twentieth century. Although many caricatures remain poignant, the time-lag leaving uneducated modern readers somewhat out of the loop. This is definitely a weakness, leaving people high and dry for a large portion of the book. There is some help as chapter headings explaining the point of each chapter guide the reader through the ideas and the author's intention.
Philosophically, I was interested by the idea of the journey. Changing perspectives through experience was a predominant idea -- and one I hope to experience further this year!
It was fun to read and puzzle over, but probably not worth going out of your way for. there seems to be a proliferation of copies at book fairs though, so that shouldn't be a problem.
