Reviews for Pilgrims

The average rating for Pilgrims based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-10-02 00:00:00 Pat McCaffrey After being thoroughly disappointed by Keillor's last Lake Wobegon offering, I was hoping for something different with his latest installment. And while "Pilgrims" isn't nearly as cynical and jaded as "Liberty," it's still not same Keillor I liked so much in "Lake Wobegon Days" and "Leaving Home." "Pilgrims" tells the story of a dozen Lake Wobegonians journey to Italy for a tour so Marjorie Krebsbach can honor the grave of a fallen soldier from Lake Wobegon. She's also hoping to rekindle a bit of the passion in her marriage since her husband, Carl, started sleeping in another room without any explanation. The first half of the novel, detailing the dozen mid-Westerners getting to Italy is delightful and feels like vintage Keillor. But it's in the second half that the books comes apart a bit, almost as if Keillor had a good idea for a monologue or two or even a short novella but felt like he had to expand it out to a full novel. Also disconcerting is Keillor inserting himself as a fictional character into the novel and referring to himself as Mr. Keillor or Keillor during the entire story. As a literary conceit, it's a bit of a stretch. That said, the way in which Keillor gets to go on the trip and how he ends up sponsoring the entire endeavor are some of the more amusing parts of the early half of the story. It's interesting to see the familiar residents of Lake Wobegon try adjust to the different country that is Italy. Some of them don't come off all that well, but that is probably part of the point. And the running subplot about honoring the grave of the Wobegonian who dies in World War II quickly takes a few predictable turns. There are a couple of things that in this plotline that make it too easy to predict where and how things will end up by the story's end. That said, this time around Keillor seems a bit kinder toward his characters, which is a welcome relief. This isn't vintage Keillor, but it has enough good moments in the first half to make it worth the time.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-02 00:00:00 Carl Ford It was nice if you have listened to his radio shows. If you understand how he tells a story, and appreciate that, you'll like this book. I think he's told better stories.