Pilgrim at Sea

Pilgrim at Sea, the title of the penultimate volume in Par Lagerkvist's series of biblically inspired novels, is both literal and metaphorical. The uncertain pilgrim of the last volume, Tobias, lands on a pirate ship where he meets Giovanni. The story Giovanni tells of his religious training, love affair, and expulsion from the church make up the bulk of the book.

As usual, Lagerkvist is capable of freighting the simplest sentences with larger meanings. For example, when Giovanni explains the lengths to which he and the lover go to deceive others and conceal their affair, he says, "It is strange how much one must lie once one has begun. ... One must lie over trifles, and things that have nothing to do with the real big lie. The original great falsehood may be fateful and fundamental, but the lies it entails can be absurdly trivial." It is simple to take this at face value, but what if the reader journeys a little deeper and thinks about another "great falsehood" that Lagerkvist may be alluding to? Say the divinity of Christ? The great lie, if such it is, is then also followed by "absurdly trivial" lies within the church -- the whole structure of rules and indulgences and ceremonies and penalties said to have been inspired by God but maybe no better than the tawdry tales told to cover an illicit affair.

Or take these lines, when Giovanni's devout mother learns of his disgrace: "She depicted for me all the agonies of hell. ... She reveled in the thought of that torture. ... I was always something special, always the chosen one -- the chosen one of her and god; the one to be presented, given away -- to someone else. To Almighty God, for his use. To Him she had renounced her only child. Now she gave me away to the devil." The nature of the fanatic is coldly, plainly, and horrifyingly presented.

Lagerkvist is a frightening writer because he takes apart everything the reader has taken for granted and exposes it to a harsh light. The illumination is softened at the edges, however, by the author's tremendous humanity.