Pilgermann
by Russell Hoban
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Description
He climbed a ladder to reach another man's wife and gave 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, mutilated and unmanned, he cries out to Israel, to the Lord his God, to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He is answered instead by Jesus Christ- 'I'm the one you talk to from now on.' Every day is the Day pf Reckoning and the judgment Christ brings is the start of straight action. show more Pilgermann hears a voice from within and becomes a pilgrim. Through time and war and Death itself, he makes his way along the road to Jerusalem, struggling to find God in the horror that surrounds him. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is the only Hoban book I've read. Very few novels about the first Crusade deal with the pogroms indulged in by some Crusaders before, or in lieu of their trips to the Middle East. The title character is traumatized by his share in such a crime. So he tries to internalize his actions. But he suffers a lot. A book that I think is revisionist rather than honestly historical.
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Published Reviews
ThingScore 75
In the end, Pilgermann does live, both as a character in a vivid moment of the historical past and as a living, questing spirit. Hoban successfully creates a pilgrim who once traveled and who has not stopped. His novel is not an easy read only a fascinating and rewarding one.
added by Widsith
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Author Information
111+ Works 30,723 Members
Russell Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. He attended art school in Philadelphia and during World War II, he served in the Army and earned a Bronze Star. He taught art in New York and Connecticut, and also worked as an advertising copywriter and a freelance illustrator before beginning his career as a writer. He began show more publishing children's books in the late 1950s, including What Does It Do and How Does It Work?, Bedtime for Frances and the six other books featuring Frances, The Story of Hester Mouse Who Became a Writer, What Happened When Jack and Daisy Tried to Fool the Tooth Fairies, and The Mouse and His Child, which was adapted as an animated film in 1977. In 1973, he published his first adult novel, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz. His other books for adults include Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, and Ridley Walker. He received the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Australian Science Fiction Achievement Award for Ridley Walker. He died on December 13 at the age of 86. In 2015 he made the Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist for his title Jim's Lion wth illlustrator Alexis Deacon. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Pilgermann
- Original publication date
- 1983
- First words
- Pilgermann here. I call myself Pilgermann, it's a convenience.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3558 .O336 .P5 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 372
- Popularity
- 84,802
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.71)
- Languages
- English, French, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 8
