Book Choice Submission

   The novel I have decided to read is Pilgrim by Timothy Findley. It was published in 1999 and contains 534 pages.

   I choose to read this book mainly because I thought it would be interesting to read a novel which deals with a very unique situation. I have never before head of a book about an immortal man being brought to a psychiatrist and analyzed, and I thought it would be interesting to see the author's views on immortality and human psychology. It interests me how, despite his immortality, Pilgrim is determined to kill himself. This conflict has drawn me in because I wish to discover his reasoning and see what his psychiatrist comes to believe after dealing with the man.

   So far I have read up to chapter 12, and I am quite enjoying the book. The obvious competition between the psychiatrists has made me wonder who will end up treating Pilgrim. Also, Sybil Quartermaine's strange relationship with Pilgrim has made me wonder how much she really knows, and how much she is hiding. These relationships, along with Pilgrim's silent treatment toward everyone, have interested me greatly and drawn me into the book. I hope that the novel keeps forcing me to think, continues developing these relationships, and delves even deeper into Pilgrim's psychology.

   In the prologue Pilgrim starts the novel by hanging himself from a tree in his garden, apparently killing himself. This scene takes place in London on Wednesday, the 17th of April, 1912. Notably, Pilgrim hangs himself from a Maple Tree, the symbol of Canada. This is interesting because Timothy Findley is a Canadian Author. In the following chapters we learn that Pilgrim survived his hanging and is being brought to the Burghölzli Psychiatric Clinic in Germany to be treated by Doctor Furtwängler. He is brought there by his "closest friend" Lady Quartermaine. When Doctor Furtwängler meets with Pilgrim we learn that he is not speaking to anyone, however he gives a message to Doctor Furtwängler by imprinting the word "NO" in ice onto a page of paper with his forehead. When Doctor Furtwängler interviews Lady Quartermaine it is discovered that she met Pilgrim when she was 12; Pilgrim was sleeping in her garden and did not know who or where he was. Lady Quartermaine thought that he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen and became his best friend from that day forth. Later on Doctor Furtwängler meets with Doctors Jung and Menken to jointly introduce and interview Pilgrim. During that meeting Pilgrim shuts himself in the bathroom and attempts to kill himself again by slitting his wrists with a spoon. However, he is again unsuccessful, and Doctor Jung hears him speak his first words, "Please, kill me".

   So far some of the possible themes that are forming are Trust, Fact vs. Fiction, and Science vs. The unknown. In terms of trust, so far it seems that none of the characters really trust each other, and I am thinking that this may prove to be detrimental to Pilgrim's treatment. The fact vs. fiction theme could easily become Science vs. Pilgrim. This theme development is demonstrated by Lady Quartermaine's warning to Doctor Furtwängler, 

   "When he speaks, he will tell you of things--of circumstances--that may seem to verge on the impossible. In fact, there will be incidents..." she looked away "... which are impossible. Nonetheless"..."I urge you to believe him, if only briefly, for his sake." (Findley, 45)

     A line in the novel which stands out to me is, "Everything is true. Everything--and nothing."(Findley, 28) This line jumps out at me because of how uncertain our lives are, it forces you to wonder exactly what is true. There is so much doubt cast upon everything, some people say that whatever you believe is true is true, that it's all a matter of perspective; others say that nothing is true, that we are all "creations of our own imagination". As individuals we need to come to an understanding of what we believe in.