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Pilgermann Russell Hoban 9780747556404 Books

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Pilgermann Russell Hoban 9780747556404 Books

This tale of a Jew's pilgrammage to Jerusalem is so gory and graphic, I couldn't finish it the first time I read it as a teenager, but now as an adult I appreciate the intensity and spirituality raised throughout this book as we see the cruelty of mankind, fate, and Death. A truly remarkable and unforgettable story for the strong willed and strong stomached!


Tags : Pilgermann [Russell Hoban] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. He climbs a ladder to reach another man's wife and gives himself up to her beauty, but then Pilgermann descends into a mob of peasants inspired by the Pope to shed the blood of Jews. Alone on the cobblestones,Russell Hoban,Pilgermann,Bloomsbury Pub Ltd,0747556407,Fiction

Pilgermann Russell Hoban 9780747556404 Books Reviews

Perhaps it was all the attention awarded to Hoban's previous book, 'Riddley Walker', that caused this book to be largely ignored by readers, or perhaps it was the implicitly religious theme. The fact is that with 'Pilgermann' Hoban wrote an incandescently brilliant historical novel. His writing about the Crusades is extraordinary, but it is also a novel bejewelled with Hoban's trademark magical surrealism and humour. If you have read and loved any Russell Hoban books you must read this. And if you haven't, get it and be prepared for the surprise of your life. It will change you forever.
Pilgermann is a complex and somewhat (purposefully) confused portrayal of death and theology. The story involves the final year (maybe two) in the life of a Jewish doctor--he names himself Pilgermann--during the early years of the First Crusade. Pilgermann's story involves sin, punishment (not for the sin of adultery, but for "the" Jewish sin of Christ's crucifixion), pilgrimage, near-death experiences, a significant theological/artistic undertaking, and final life-and-death encounters. Hoban delves deep into all three Abrahamic religions to provide the foundation for this book. His prose is dense and hard to read, but regularly shows brilliance and provides astonishing insights. The book is truly amazing in its depth of knowledge--I regularly stopped to read other material for sources--and in its base humanity. It resonates with anger for the injustices of life, and is blunt in the extreme in its portrayal of death. And yet, I found the story compelling and positive in its whole.

Pilgermann is a small character in spirit and accomplishment, a lonely man that seems to have no real past or future. Is he representative of humanity in general, or simply the more cynical and defeated among us? When he is not just passing unanimated through life, he is captured by the present. He is often overwhelmed by the huge universe about him. His only real interest in life seems to be a single encounter with a woman at the beginning of the book. As his story unfolds, it seems that Pilgermann comes to no significant clarity in his life, but is regularly filled with amazing insights and depth of knowledge. This is a book that asks very serious questions, and forces the reader to provide answers.

Pilgermann has very little in common with Hoban's Riddley Walker, a book that I have treasured since my youth. The English here is clear, but the story much more complex. Hoban has once again provided a very serious and signficant gem, but on a completely different plane of existence.
Normally a novel needs a plot, a theme, a setting, characters, action, something. Hoban managed to write 230 pages of 'dialog' between Pilgermann and any number of imaginary characters, some human some not. And a great deal of that is interior monologues about the life and death of Jesus and imaginary events which might have happened, or not, to the ghost characters concerning said Jesus Christ. Cleary no editor had the guts to tell Hoban "dude wtf?"
In my opinion, Russell Hoban should have had the Nobel Prize for Literature on the basis of this book and "Riddley Walker" alone. The brilliance of Hoban's imagination and writing aside, it is the profound humanity in his books which stays with one, long after reading and re-reading.

Like "Riddley Walker," this is a novel about one man's experience in a world where violence, war and death are on all sides, and life is so fragile that every moment has to be lived to the full.

Like "Riddley Walker," this describes a journey and an adventure, suspenseful and fascinating at every point.

Set against the Crusades, Pilgermann's life is all the more fragile for being a Jew -- a Jew already mutilated and exiled by Christians. His only comfort is another Jew, Jesus, in whose name the vast turmoil of violence is unleashed, including Pilgermann's own injuries. He talks alternately to Jesus and to Death, whose messages he tries to understand.

Filled with ironies and magic, this is a book so rich as to defy description. It is not necessarily an easy read -- both for the violence it contains and the complexity of Hoban's writing.

But it is deeply, truly rewarding, and I highly recommend it.
Even though Russell Hoban is one of the most challenging writers to read, he will not leave you disappointed! I always feel that I have learned a great deal about the mysteries of life, culture, history, and the human condition.
As deep as it gets. I understand it's not a book for everyone. For a short book it took me a while to read, not because it was confusing, but because the writing blew me away and I loved reflecting on it. It will get a second and most likely a third read
This tale of a Jew's pilgrammage to Jerusalem is so gory and graphic, I couldn't finish it the first time I read it as a teenager, but now as an adult I appreciate the intensity and spirituality raised throughout this book as we see the cruelty of mankind, fate, and Death. A truly remarkable and unforgettable story for the strong willed and strong stomached!