Young Writers Society

Book: The Pilgrim's Progress

Author: John Bunyan

Genre: Christian

Rating: 10/10

It took me a long time to figure out if this was really a 10/10 book or not. You see, those books are the books that have an absolutely earth-shattering effect on me. So did this really do it?

When I first thought about it, the answer was a resounding no. I remembered the language, yes, and I remember how difficult it was and how it never seemed to end (in this case, that was a good thing) and though it was a very enjoyable book, I thought it might be better to put an 8 or a 9 instead. Then I started thinking about it.

Many people think that 1984 or The Giver is the influence for my stories. That simply isn't true. This book has had the greatest influence. It was the first book that taught me about symbolism, about metaphors, about passionate lyrical prose. All the characters (if you can call them that) are symbolism for common things. There is "Worldly Knowledge" a very smart guy that, when you examine him closer, knows nothing. And then there is Hope and Faith, who guide our hero, Christian, along.

Did I mention that this was extremely symbolic?

The more I write, the more I find myself trying to imitate his style and easy use of symbolism. There's only a handful of books that does this for me, and his is one of them. A great book that has stood up on its own for several centuries.

But a word of warning! It's beautiful prose, but unless you like Old English, you will hate this.

And for those who don't like Christians talking about their faith, don't even TRY to attempt this book... Read the bible first.