Pilgermann

Rating:
Summary: Nearly as good as Riddley Walker
Review: Hoban's adult work (which consists are far too few books) is among some of the most brilliant literature I have read, and Riddley Walker and Pilgermann are my favorites. Perhaps less comprehensible then RW, Pilgermann is a narrative of the perpetual quest for that which is unattainable (and this is far too simplistic an explanation for an author who clearly burns through Jung for pleasure reading). The story beings centuries after the main character has died (but continues to exist in one form or another) and recounts his attempts at making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I am leaving out far too much because the story is filled with a dark and unexplainable nature that sometimes comes out as terribly violent, cruel, or simply boggling. The narrator of course is sidetracked in his quest, sold into slavery (he is made a eunich too incidentally), but at last comes to a certain acceptance of the moment, despite his own wish to continue along on his journey. The story becomes caught up in the construction of 'hidden lion', a massive tile design which becomes a sacred object to the community. From here, Hoban analyses one of his most haunting themes--that of the sacred entering into the common place, it's dilution, and finally it's inevitable desicration. It would be a spoiler to say that much more of the plot itself, but in style the books reads very much as some apocryphal Christian work. There is much citing from the Quran and the book includes a 'reference' page of biblical and other religious references. Ultimately though, Pilergmann is the strangest religiously grounded work I have ever read, making Gnostic works which freaked out Philip K. Dick so much seem comparitively normal. At it's best, Pilgermann captures the hopes and fears of the all-too-small human animal who has only mistakenly assumed that he has the world under his control.

Rating:
Summary: Nearly as good as Riddley Walker
Review: Hoban's adult work (which consists are far too few books) is among some of the most brilliant literature I have read, and Riddley Walker and Pilgermann are my favorites. Perhaps less comprehensible then RW, Pilgermann is a narrative of the perpetual quest for that which is unattainable (and this is far too simplistic an explanation for an author who clearly burns through Jung for pleasure reading). The story beings centuries after the main character has died (but continues to exist in one form or another) and recounts his attempts at making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I am leaving out far too much because the story is filled with a dark and unexplainable nature that sometimes comes out as terribly violent, cruel, or simply boggling. The narrator of course is sidetracked in his quest, sold into slavery (he is made a eunich too incidentally), but at last comes to a certain acceptance of the moment, despite his own wish to continue along on his journey. The story becomes caught up in the construction of 'hidden lion', a massive tile design which becomes a sacred object to the community. From here, Hoban analyses one of his most haunting themes--that of the sacred entering into the common place, it's dilution, and finally it's inevitable desicration. It would be a spoiler to say that much more of the plot itself, but in style the books reads very much as some apocryphal Christian work. There is much citing from the Quran and the book includes a 'reference' page of biblical and other religious references. Ultimately though, Pilergmann is the strangest religiously grounded work I have ever read, making Gnostic works which freaked out Philip K. Dick so much seem comparitively normal. At it's best, Pilgermann captures the hopes and fears of the all-too-small human animal who has only mistakenly assumed that he has the world under his control.