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2.36k reviews for:

I Am Pilgrim

Terry Hayes

4.03 AVERAGE

womaninwinter's review

1.0

Recently, I bought dinner at McDonalds for the first time in about 10 years. It was gross but I finished it anyway out of a pigheaded determination not to waste it, and then of course I felt sick afterwards. My experience with this book was almost identical. I knew damn well I wasn't going to like it, but I read it anyway because I had started it and ended up feeling queasy and frustrated. There are so many things wrong with I Am Pilgrim – graphic, gratuitous violence, clumsy, clunky plotting that relied heavily on insane coincidences, flat-as-a-pancake characterisation, nasty authorial prejudices leaking through all over the place and a complete damp squib of an ending – that I'd be here all day if I tried to go into any detail on them, and I've already wasted enough time on this enormous slab of paper. There was one bit that entertained me though: after I'd ploughed through all 891 pages of Pilgrim, I found a letter from Terry Hayes to the reader, congratulating himself on what a great main character he'd created. Incredible! You've got to laugh at brass neck like that.

mtmacleod's review

3.75
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

mwilborn13's review

4.25
adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

it has its problems BUT very entertaining and the web was very good. 
problems - the amount of times his cover is blown by others & himself is ridiculous for someone in his line of work. for a story that the MC is narrating there are certain things the MC could not have known
.

Ludzie! Oszalałem!

Muszę Wam coś wyznać ze wstydem. Dawno się tak dobrze nie bawiłem jak przy czytaniu tego thrillera! Sam nie mogę w to uwierzyć. Bo przecież długo mógłbym wymieniać słabości tej książki, z których największa to ta wyzierająca z co drugiej strony amerykańska w swojej amerykańskości amerykańskość. No i te przypadkowe olśnienia głównego bohatera, nachodzące go często w ostatniej chwili. I ten jego kryształowy charakter, niby przypadkiem wychodzący na wierzch, niby wbrew przeżywanym zwątpieniom. I jeszcze ten klimat jak z hollywoodzkiego filmu ze wszystkimi jego uproszczeniami. I te dialogi przeplatane nieodłącznym kozackim humorem. Właśnie, a czy wspominałem już o tej nachalnej amerykańskości?

Jakie to ma jednak znaczenie wobec faktu, że czytanie "Pielgrzyma" dawało mi wielką frajdę. Chłonąłem tę amerykańskość. Z radością przyjmowałem olśnienia bohatera. Jego kryształowy charakter, potęgowany przez przeżywane zwątpienia sprawił, że kibicowałem mu niemal od początku. Klimat jak z hollywoodzkiego filmu malował przed moimi oczami efektowne sceny. Śmiałem się z dialogów przeplatanych kozackim humorem. Słowem, jakieś nieznane mi brudne sztuczki Terry'ego Hayesa sprawiły, że wszystkie wady jego powieści cichaczem przeobraziły się w zalety.

Przeczytajcie. Zobaczycie.
adventurous tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous challenging tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

maditoon's review

4.25
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The book offers a decent intelligence, counter-terrorism thriller, though certainly don't look for accuracy.

Whilst it is by far from the worst offender, the plot is very much driven by a character who is portrayed as the cliche super-spy with no equal and a troubled past, until he finally meets his match and gets called back into the covert world. It's a good plot line, but much of the character's qualities seem a bit of a trope. It's a bit Jack Reacher-y in the sense of you are repeatedly told how good and dangerous this spy is. I found it a bit on the nose and "edgy" (not in an entirely good way).

That being said, it remained a very entertaining read. There are several different strands/plots that come together over time, and it was well-written and easy to understand despite the complexity of following different characters and plots.