Lewis At His Most Cutting. Great SBJ Companion.

Any additional comments?

Lewis's first Christian allegory, and he comes out with six-guns blazing. It's a no-holds-barred attack on the foolishness he has just left behind to become a Christian. Lewis readers know that he is normally very measured and even gentle in his arguments against opposing world views. But this is a young, just-converted, seeker still in his pre-conversion sharp tongued habits of expression. To me, it is refreshing, but I'm also glad he became less acerbic as he went.If you read Surprised By Joy first, you will practically have a key to the allegory. Pilgrim's Regress is largely a poetic expression of the reactions against certain world views that he recounted decades later in SBJ. If you've also read Screwtape Letters, all the better. I'd never recommend The Pilgrim's Regress to anyone who isn't already a few books into CSL. But for the initiated, it's a helluva ride. Perhaps it fails as an allegory by Lewis's own high standards, but I was "picking up what he was putting down" at almost every turn. Again, largely because I was already familiar with the ideas from his other books. There's a lot - a LOT - of treasure in this work. If the book fails, it's because the reader has to work too hard to dig out the treasure. But still ... the treasure is there and it's unique. So get to digging!

18 people found this helpful

Profound and Life Changing

I listen to this three time in a row.
It has so much depth and so many layers that reveal so much profound truths about being human, the spiritual part of being human and the nature of God. It is amazing how CS Lewis accurately captures the nature of different social beliefs and then reveals their fallacies in comparison to the spiritual truth of God’s Kingdom. It is a treasure map that takes the reader on a search of gold nuggets of truths and insights. They are hidden everywhere throughout the book and many of them can only be found by re-reading (or listening) to it again and again.

43 people found this helpful

Great book!!

The narrator is incredibly good! C.S. Lewis begins very well his fiction but the book ends with rather misterious questions unanswered. The reading is incredibly rewarding and his work here is unparalleled. Totally distinct from John Bunyan's classic, but equally relevant. I believe that, in a sense, one completes the other. Buy it and listen!

5 people found this helpful

Great Book...Hang in there

This book alows the listener to refect on his or her own path to salvation. The longer you listen to the book the more you enjoy it so stay tuned. The reader did a wonderful job with narration and the different character roles.

21 people found this helpful

Great short story

What did you like best about this story?

It is a much more modern way of looking at our walk with God than the pilgrims progress and you don't need to know old English to understand the conversation

4 people found this helpful

Why havent I read this sooner

What did you love best about The Pilgrim's Regress?

I went through the book two and half times in one week.... If you like CS Lewis... try it out

8 people found this helpful

Not an Easy Book

It is an interesting story, but not always easy to understand. Sometimes I felt I needed a translator.

3 people found this helpful

Great book!

This is my favorite book by C.S. Lewis. I thought Simon Vance does a great job of narrating as well!

7 people found this helpful

Moving

I love to read Lewis and own both the Audible and Kindle versions of The Pilgrim’s Regress. For some reason, I notice different things when I read than when I listen to books. In general, I tend to enjoy and understand books better when I listen to them. This book is no exception. The narrator does a great job of intoning meaning even if the listener is not familiar with the many philosophical schools of thought which are represented in this book. Much of the story is told by dialogue so a good rendering is absolutely necessary if the listener is to understand the author’s meaning. This narrator is a pleasure to listen to.

Though I am not completely familiar with the philosophies discussed in the book, I was still able to understand the ideas discussed and see likenesses between popular ideas in our own time. What comes through clearly is the struggle each person has to understand himself and the world around and how unsatisfying and destructive the pursuits and pleasures of this world can be without an eternal perspective and Landlord.

The book does tell a not sentimental story, but it presents instead a cerebral critique of ideas while still managing to stir some deep emotions as listener identifies with the vapidity of his own attempts to fulfill that longing. Of particular poignancy to me was the song History sings as John falls asleep. The poem prayer shows our indifference to God but His continued pursuit of us.

I gave it four stars all around because the details of the philosophies are rather obscure to many people. A few times, the narrator intones the wrong personality during the dialogue. This happened rarely but still made it a bit confusing to know who was talking. It is still a very enjoyable and thought provoking listen.

This book does present situations that are more for older teens and adults and not just because of the heady philosophies, but nothing is explicit. Modern fiction authors often lack tact and the art of subtlety; in fact, many seem to lack art altogether in favor of crudeness and explicitness leaving little for the imagination. Though Lewis deals with vice and violence, his approach to it is more thought provoking BECAUSE of its symbolic nature. One does not have to be explicit to convey meaning.

Thank you, Audible, for snapping up many Recorded Books which I borrowed from the library years ago. It was a great listen.

2 people found this helpful

A wonderful complex journey to find joy

Lewis's allegorical self journey, reminiscent of Pilgrim's Progress, is a fantastically imaginative quest to find unending joy. This pursuit stayed with Lewis from childhood and into the last years of his life.
I would recommend not speeding this up unless you find yourself able to comprehend the complex prose and philosophical debates within this tale.
There are moments within this book that will stay with you long after you finish the story.

2 people found this helpful