Quick Take
- Narration: Alan Vermilye narrates with the warmth of someone who has spent considerable time with this material, making the modernized prose feel natural rather than sanitized.
- Themes: Allegorical faith journey, spiritual perseverance, community in pilgrimage
- Mood: Measured and devotional, with passages of genuine dramatic tension as Christiana navigates the perils of the narrow way
- Verdict: Vermilye’s modernized rendering of Part Two is the most accessible version of Bunyan’s Christiana narrative available in audio, and the supplemental PDF study guide makes it well suited to group use.
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is one of those texts that has been referenced so often in the literature I spent years studying that I felt a peculiar sense of obligation toward it, the way you feel toward a classic you have quoted secondhand for too long. The edition I encountered here is Alan Vermilye’s modern English rendering of Part Two, published through Brown Chair Books, which chronicles Christiana’s journey to the Celestial City rather than her husband Christian’s. I listened to it on a quiet midweek afternoon, and I came away with a renewed respect for what Bunyan was doing allegorically and for what Vermilye has done editorially.
Part Two is considerably less well known than Part One, which is a shame. Where Christian’s journey is the individual’s wrestling with doubt and danger, Christiana’s is something more communal and in some ways more interesting: a widow gathering her children, accepting help, building a small traveling community, and making a passage that her late husband’s example both illuminates and complicates.
Our Take on The Pilgrim’s Progress
Vermilye has done careful work here. His stated aim was to preserve the full content of Bunyan’s original text while converting the archaic language into readable modern English, and he appears to have largely succeeded. The chapter structure he imposes on what was originally divided into stages gives the audio a more navigable flow, and his decision to retain the allegorical names, Greatheart, Faithful, Giant Despair, and the rest, preserves the symbolic architecture while letting the surrounding prose breathe more naturally.
One reviewer made the entirely reasonable point that they wished they had started with Part One before listening to Part Two. Vermilye himself acknowledges this in the book. If you are new to Bunyan, the Christian narrative comes first and Christiana’s journey gains considerably from that context. With it, you understand what Christiana is following; without it, the pilgrimage is still meaningful but the personal stakes are less vivid.
Why Listen to The Pilgrim’s Progress
Vermilye’s narration is measured and sincere. He does not attempt to dramatize the allegorical set-pieces in a way that would overwhelm the text’s inherent gravity, but neither does he read it like a bedtime recitation. The pacing allows time for the moral lessons to register without feeling hectoring, which is a genuine achievement given that Bunyan’s allegory is essentially didactic by design. The theological freight of the original is preserved rather than softened.
The study guide that accompanies this edition, available separately, is genuinely designed for group discussion use. Several reviewers describe using the book with congregations or small faith communities, and the chapter and subsection structure that Vermilye built into the text was clearly constructed with that use case in mind. As an audiobook it works independently; as part of a structured study it offers considerably more.
What to Watch For in The Pilgrim’s Progress
This edition covers only Part Two, Christiana’s journey. The book’s own FAQ section clarifies this directly, and it is worth noting again: if you are searching for Christian’s individual pilgrimage, you are looking for Part One, which is a separate edition. Some listeners arriving here expecting the complete original text will find they need both volumes.
The modernization, while skillfully done, does change the texture of Bunyan’s prose. Readers familiar with the original’s seventeenth-century rhythms may find Vermilye’s contemporary rendering smoother but less strange, which is both its virtue and its limitation. You gain accessibility; you lose some of the period’s particular gravity.
Who Should Listen to The Pilgrim’s Progress
Christians seeking an accessible entry point to one of the foundational texts of English Protestant literature, particularly those coming to Bunyan through references in C. S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, or other figures who regarded the work as essential. Also valuable for students of English literary history who want to encounter the allegorical novel tradition in its most enduring example. Those wanting the full unmodernized Bunyan should seek a scholarly edition; those wanting to engage with the ideas and narrative in contemporary English will find Vermilye’s rendering generous and careful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this audiobook include both Part One and Part Two of The Pilgrim’s Progress?
No. This edition contains only Part Two, which follows Christiana and her sons. Part One, Christian’s journey, is available separately from Brown Chair Books.
How faithful is Vermilye’s modern English version to Bunyan’s original text?
Vermilye explicitly states that no key element is missing. He modernized sentence construction and some interpretations of character reactions for contemporary readability while retaining the full content and allegorical structure.
Is the study guide included in the audiobook or purchased separately?
The companion study guide is a separate purchase. The audiobook stands alone as a complete narrative, but the study guide’s questions are matched specifically to Vermilye’s chapter structure.
Is this appropriate for listeners who approach the text as literature rather than devotion?
Yes, though the allegorical framework is explicitly theological. Literary readers will find much of interest in Bunyan’s narrative architecture and the recovery of Christiana as a protagonist, but the devotional intent is not concealed.
