To Be a Pilgrim (New York Review Books Classics)

Rating:
Summary: An overlooked masterpiece in a famous trilogy
Review: To Be A Pilgrim is the second book in Joyce Cary's first trilogy, and should ideally be read in its proper place with the others (Herself Surprised and The Horse's Mouth). Cary once said that people liked The Horse's Mouth because it was funny. To Be A Pilgrim has less of that uproarious humor, which may be why it is less popular than its two companions. But this middle volume is the most ambitious of the three. It is the story of Tom Wilcher, lawyer and member of the love triangle between housekeeper Sara Monday and modern artist Gully Jimson. Now an old man who is being treated as an incompetent by his young relatives (who are locked in a triangle of their own), Tom tells us his life story, starting from childhood. Filled with the Cary's brilliant characters, this book asks hard questions, especially about sex.

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