The Pilgrim's Regress by C.S. Lewis

3.56 AVERAGE

soyboyjames's profile picture

soyboyjames's review

2.0
This was the first book Lewis wrote after becoming a Christian. It allegorically describes the various perceptions, intellectualism, philosophies and ultimate disappointments he encountered on his way to finally becoming a Christian.

It's a clever concept, but Lewis' writing vastly improved in his later works.

emdikken's review against another edition

4.5
hopeful informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

markusgmg's review against another edition

2.75
informative reflective slow-paced
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meganzc's profile picture

meganzc's review

3.0
Maybe one day I'll figure out why I enjoy Christian lit so much despite stubborn agnosticism.

roro_95's review

Hard to follow..
I'll have to give it another read once I know my history better.
penguininabluebox's profile picture

penguininabluebox's review against another edition

2.0
I'm pretty sure the only reason I finished this was that it's by CS Lewis. It just seemed long-winded and repetitive to me and I really wasn't into it.
fictionaltiff's profile picture

fictionaltiff's review

5.0
The Pilgrim's Regress is C.S. Lewis' added thoughts on John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I really enjoyed this read, and as with all of the books I've read by C.S. Lewis, there are moments in this book where I was "mind-blown" and had to take a break and let my thoughts process what I just read. I love a good book that makes me rethink my life perspective.

My main take-away from this book was something that changed my perspective on the "journey to heaven". In very short summary , Lewis demonstrated that our journey before God from our first impression looks similar to how we view our lives, but then when we take a second look and see the spiritual side that God views us from, it all looks very different. Everything that we come into contact with in life that takes us away from God (people, places, life events), making us sinful, doesn't exist in the way God views us and in how we will see our own life journey upon reaching the afterlife. God sees what is most important. And that's it. What he sees is you traveling towards him and the goodness and wisdom you encounter through it all. The difficulty of the journey and the life lessons learned from it isn't taken away. But the bad is gone. It remains on earth where you left it.

stephanieridiculous's profile picture

stephanieridiculous's review against another edition

1.0
The unfortunate use of racist tropes to represent sinfulness/the devil were too much for me to move past. In general, reading A Pilgrim's Progress is probably sufficient and you can skip this one- there's a reason this one is kind of lost to time.

awyxm's review

5.0
An excellent allegorical account of coming to faith. The annotations are necessary - unlike most of his other works, which are very accessible, this book fully displays C.S. Lewis' scholarly side. The allusions come thick and fast, and the annotations are required to keep up with them.

stevenk's review

4.0
The allegorical novel of the dream of the journey of a man named John to find his way to the island of desire from the land of Puritania. Modeled on the style of the journey chronicled in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress John encounters many characters and situations representing modern philosophies and artistic movements that the author faced on his own journey. John travels with another character, Virtue, through various lands and they encounter various characters and locations representing false philosophies and facsimiles of the island of desire. I found the author's concern over the rise of Nazi fascism and other socialist governments in the culture of the years leading up to WWII reflected in this journey well placed. John spends the journey wrestling with the rules he was taught and the pull of the island of desire. I'd rate this book 3.5 stars if goodreads allowed half stars.