เรือบาปของนักแสวงบุญ

Tetralogy

by Pär Lagerkvist, นิรัติศัย หล่ออรุโณทัย (Translator)

เรือบาปของนักแสวงบุญ (Pilgrim at Sea) เป็น 1 ใน 4 นวนิยายที่ได้รับการยกย่องของ พาร์ ลอเกอร์คริสต์ ต่อจาก บารับบาส (Barabbsa) ซีบิล (The Sibyl) และ ความตายของฮาซุเอรัส (The Death of Ahasuerus)

เรื่องราวระหว่างโธเบียซ นักแสวงบุญผู้พลาดจากเรือที่จะนำผู้แสวงบุญไปยังดินแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์ต้องอาศัยเรือโจรสลัดเพื่อไปยังที่แห่งนั้นหรือว่าเขาประสงค์จะไปกับเรือโจร เพราะเมื่อเรือทั้งสองเดินทางไปทันกันโธเบียซไม่ปรารถนาจะเปลี่ยนเรือแต่กลับเดินทางไปกับโจรที่กล้าหาญพร้อมจะผจญกับคลื่นลมในท้องทะเลกว้าง โดยมีโจวานนี อดีตนักบวชเป็นผู้ถ่ายทอดเรื่องราวของหนทางไปสู่ดินแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์และศรัทธาอันว่างเปล่าของนักแสวงบุญทั้งหลาย

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literature, Scandinavian Literature, Sweden, Nobel Prize, Swedish Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Lagerkvist was born in 1891 in southern Sweden. In 1910 he went to Uppsala as a student and in 1913 he left for Paris, where he was exposed to the work of Pablo Picasso. He studied Middle Age Art, as well as Indian and Chinese literature, to prepare himself for becoming a poet. His first collection of poetry was published in 1916. In 1940 Lagerkvist was chosen as one of the "aderton" (the eighteen) of the Swedish Academy.

Lagerkvist wrote poetry, novels, plays, short stories and essays. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1951 "for the artistic vigour and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to the eternal questions confronting mankind."

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

ADRIFT ON THE STORMY SEAS OF LIFE!

Sound familiar?

Some days IT’s ME TO A ‘T’...

Back in the late seventies and early eighties, my parents were a couple in transition.

It was the time of late middle age, and they were empty nesters. Their kids had flown the coop!

Often in those days, we were periodically called to house-sit for them, during one of the vacation breaks that folks who have worked hard all their lives often take, before their more parsimonious retirement years set in.... We would just use their old homestead as a base for our own daily commute to our offices.

Well, I don’t know where my wife happened to be that day - probably out shopping - but I became bored in that big, old, empty house and started to ferret around for something to read.

I found this book - probably in my grandmother’s collection of slightly dated, but significant books - and my reading it immediately afterwards provided a welcome diversion on a grey, listless day.

But it had its challenges.

Normally I wear slightly rose-tinted glasses, as you all know, but reading this challenging little yarn by the 1951 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature was a bit like putting on sharply-focusing reading glasses to inspect this dreary world’s blemishes!

Yikes.

For Lagerkvist was a hard-edged existentialist who was never quite at home in the world, since he had checked all his optimism at the door...

Now, a person of faith makes his way in the world without exasperation - but for the person who chooses the Way of Unease, the fleeting pleasures of this world, as Auden so acutely puts it, are as if someone were tossing roses into a yawning, bottomless pit.

Or, as he says elsewhere:

But ever that man (the man of Disquiet) goes
Through place-keepers, through forest trees,
A stranger to stranger over undried seas.

And such is the way of this existential pilgrim.

Sure, the Way of Faith isn’t always easy, but at least on that kind of pilgrimage you don’t mind stopping to smell the flowers...

Having said that, though, you know what?

I think we could all say - no matter how positive-minded we are - that this Nobel Laureate’s basic premise still makes a lot of sense.

Because we’re not home free yet - by any stretch of the imagination!

For neither the hopeful nor the hopeless reader reaches their journey’s end in this life. None of us will ever find a truly secure and safe harbour here.

And if that’s true, as it most certainly is, we are ALL pilgrims.

Lagerkvist will at the very least bring a clear picture to our minds of the pilgrims like us who are FOREVER at sea on an uncertain Odyssey:

Where is the end of them, the fishermen sailing
Into the wind’s tail, where the fog cowers?
We cannot think of a time that is oceanless!

Our own - and Lagerkvist’s - voyage is universal.

And seemingly endless - whether at sea... or at rest in an eternal port.

[Dharmabum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a profound impact on me the very first time I had read it as a teenager. In it, the author explores one of the classical dilemmas of the human mind - of good and bad. He does this through characters etched out strongly as can be, in this short and simple story of a man who decides to undertake a pilgrimage.
Such was the impact of this book, that I remember having the below lines pasted in my room many years ago -
'Not to worry much, not to be so distraught and despairing because one has attained no certainty and is sure of nothing - nothing at all... To be content with uncertainty, content and happy with it; to choose it. To choose unknowing and uncertainty... To choose oneself as one is. To dare to be what one is, without self-reproach.'
Later, I tried looking for the book online but couldn't find it. And I guess I must have forgotten about it altogether. It came back to me after all this years, thanks to my sister finding a copy. I read it again with the same fascination I had the very first time, all those years ago. And the lines here and there brought the smiles yet again, and held me in awe.
Here are a few more lines that struck a chord -
'From the outset our love-relationship was based upon error, deception and conscious or unconscious falsehood, to an even greater extent than love in general. Everyday passion is more honest and candid, in that each tells the other the truth and helps him to tear down his illusions, even though it be often in a cruel and ruthless manner. The relationship between two people becomes more and more genuine and more sincere when there is less of love in t. This is bitter but, alas, true.'

[Patrizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meno lineare forse degli altri romanzi di Lagerkvist, racchiude i temi a lui cari del dubbio e della fede, la sua visione agnostica e laica del mondo, per quanto incline alla spiritualità.
Tobia, diretto verso la Terra Santa, sale a bordo di un’imbarcazione pilotata da un capitano e da un equipaggio piuttosto equivoci. Stringe uno strano rapporto di amicizia con Giovanni, ex prete che del mare conosce il carattere e le leggi.

“Il mare è la sola cosa che sento sacra. E ogni giorno lo ringrazio di esistere. Per quanto infurii e faccia burrasca io lo ringrazio. Perché dà pace. Non tranquillità, ma pace”.

Basta affidarsi a esso, abbandonarsi totalmente a questo antico custode e conoscitore di uomini e di segreti. Non vi è altra destinazione che il mare, indifferente a tutto, tanto a Dio quanto al diavolo. Non giudica e non condanna.
Distesi sul ponte a guardare il cielo, Tobias e Giovanni parlano e l’ex prete racconta la propria storia.
Fede e abbandono. La condanna degli uomini, il peso delle menzogne, la calma del mare.
Tobias

“pensava a ciò che vi è di più alto, di più sacro nella vits, cercando di capirne l’essenza”.

Forse la vita è solo un viaggio verso una meta che non possiamo raggiungere.
Il racconto è un unico movimento sul mare, ne segue le onde dimenticando il tempo.

“Siamo soltanto pellegrini sul mare”.

[Pawarut Jongsirirag · Rating 4 out of 5]

อ่านคนแคระจบ เลยนึกได้ว่า เอ้อออ เคยอ่านเล่มนี้มาก่อนนี่หว่า พอย้อนมาดูเลยเห็นว่ายังไม่ได้เขียนถึงเล่มนี้ เลยขอมาเขียนถึงสั้นๆซักเล็กน้อยครับ เพราะจำอะไรไม่ได้แล้ว (เศร้า)

เนื้อเรื่องเล่าถึง โธเบียซ นักแสวงบุญที่พลาดจากเรือที่จะนำผู้แสวงบุญไปยังดินแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์ ทีนี้ไม่รู้ด้วยเหตุกลใด เรือรำสุดท้ายที่ผ่านทางนั้น ดันเป็นเรือโจรสลัด พี่โธเบียสเลยเลือกอะไรไม่ได้ นอกจากติดเรือลำนี้ เพื่อไปยังจุดหมายปลายทางของการแสวงบุญ

เล่มนี้มีความเด็ดดวงตรงบทสนทนาระหว่างโธเบียสกับลูกเรือต่างๆ และความคิดในหัวของเขาที่ตั้งคำถาม หาคำตอบ และนำไปสู่คำถามถัดไปที่พาเราไปหาความหมายของคำว่า ศรัทธา ศาสนา และการเป็นคนดี ที่ไม่ใช่ คนดีย์

สิ่งหนึ่งที่จำได้ติดหัว รู้สึกว่าเล่มนี้เป็นนิยายปรัชญาที่อ่านได้สนุก ทั้งที่คิดว่ามาแน่ เนื้อหาหนักหน่วงชวนให้ขบคิดตลอดเวลา แต่ที่น่าแปลกใจ คือ มันหนักจริงแหละ แต่เป็นความหนักในระดับพอดีที่เราสามารถอ่านมันด้วยความบันเทิงไปพร้อมกันได้ เมื่อเทียบกับเล่มคนแคระที่หนักหนาสาหัสกว่ามาก เล่มนี้จะดูเอนเตอร์เทนมากกว่าและไม่ได้โยนอะไรหนักๆใส่เรามากนัก เหมาะสำหรับการอ่านเป็นเล่มแรก เพื่อทำความเข้าใจงานของ พาร์ ลาเกอร์คริส มากกว่าคนแคระเยอะครับ แม้ว่าคนแคระจะเป็นงานยอดปีรามิดของแกก็ตาม

ผมแนะนำสำหรับคนที่อยากลองอะไรใหม่ๆ แม้มันจะไม่ได้เป็นนิยายที่รับใช้เราเพื่อมอบความบันเทิง แต่มันก็ให้อะไรเพิ่มเติมในความคิดที่น่าจะติดค้างในหัวเราไปอีกนานพอดูครับ

[John Hatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the tragic story of man's cruelty to man. Why does it so often (nearly always) seem to me that mankind is basically evil?
Tragic stories are very often beautiful — beautiful stories are very often tragic. This book is both.

[Andrea Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tobias ha dato tutto ciò che possedeva per raggiungere la Terra Santa. Tuttavia non si è imbarcato sulla bella nave dei pellegrini, ma su un vascello popolato da oscuri personaggi.
Tobias sul vascello incontra Giovanni, un prete spretato. Giovanni gli racconta del sacro mare, una concezione panteistica del mondo in cui non vi sono mete, giustizia, Dio e diavolo, ma solo l'ignoto e l'incertezza dove l'uomo si può abbandonare.
Giovanni racconta la sua storia a Tobias. L'amore feroce con una donna, dove attraverso il misterioso contenuto di un ciondolo, traspare l'incognita di una presenza di un altro.
Dopo il racconto di Giovanni, Tobias comprende che il mare panteistico non è tutto. "Deve esistere qualcosa al di là, deve esistere una terra oltre le grandi distese deserte e le immense profondità, indifferenti ad ogni cosa, una terra che non possiamo raggiungere, ma verso la quale siamo in viaggio, nonostante tutto".

[dely · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5

Ho comprato questo libro perché consigliato da un amico di GR; mi sono fidata ciecamente anche attratta dal titolo. Ho quindi iniziato a leggerlo senza cercare trama, informazioni, recensioni e senza aspettative. Non sapevo quindi che fa parte di una trilogia e che per avvicinarsi al pensiero dell'autore sarebbe stato meglio leggere i tre libri in ordine. In Pellegrino sul mare c'è soltanto una piccola parte del viaggio di Tobias verso la Terra Santa. Ciononostante sono riuscita a farmi un'idea di ciò che Lagerkvist voleva dire, ma non mi ha toccato più di tanto, forse perché avrei dovuto leggere l'intera trilogia (cosa che molto probabilmente non farò). Brevemente la trama: Tobias vuole andare in Terra Santa e non riuscendo a salire sulla nave dei pellegrini si imbarca a sua insaputa su una nave di pirati. Tra questi pirati c'è anche un prete spretato che inizia a raccontargli la sua vita.

I temi affrontati sono soprattutto due: l'amore cieco e il comportamento di Dio. È veramente possibile amare qualcuno che non si è mai visto? Qualcuno che esiste solo nella nostra immaginazione? Amarlo con una passione travolgente? Dio si interessa degli esseri umani o li ha creati perché non aveva meglio da fare? Li ama come si dice o li ha abbandonati a se stessi? Lagerkvist non dà risposte ma induce a riflettere. Un'altra riflessione è sui praticanti ipocriti che pur di seguire ciò in cui credono sono disposti a rovinare la vita delle persone che dicono di amare e anche quella degli altri.

Tutto sommato è un libro che offre interessanti spunti di riflessione. Il punto è che sono riflessioni che non mi interessano. Non credo che Lagerkvist sia ateo. Penso piuttosto che abbia vissuto una religiosità opprimente dalla quale si è voluto allontanare cercando un Dio meno soffocante.

[Rickard Falk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Väldigt intressant. En bok som förtjänar mycket tanke och säkerligen flera omläsningar.
Tror att jag hade uppskattat denna mer när jag var i tonåren och allmänt vilsen.
Dock tror jag att man som sagt finner mycket att uppskatta vid flera omläsningar.

[Aom Ruka · Rating 5 out of 5]

ประหลาดล้ำลึกมาก สั้นๆ แต่ประทับใจ แง่คิดไม่ได้ มีแต่ความตื่นเต้น 55555

ความรู้สึกคือ เนื้อเรื่องไม่ซ้ำใคร พลิกล๊อคดี จบแบบค้างคา ให้จินตนาการต่อเอาเอง

เล่าเรื่องย่อๆ ให้น่าติดตามคือ
นักบวช ลงเรือโจร เดินทางแสวงบุญในเรือโจร? คิดว่าจะได้ไปจริงๆหรอ? ตอนแรกๆเรื่องของโจรอะ ไม่น่าสนใจ ดันมาน่าสนใจ เรื่องของนักบวชประหลาดคนนี้ต่างหาก
ในยามที่ทุกคนสิ้นหวัง นักบวชดันเล่าประวัติตัวเองขึ้นมา ซึ่งแบบว่า.... พลิกแล้วพลิกเอง พลิกแบบ... นักบวชคนนี้คิดไปเองรึป่าวนะ (เอาจริงเนื้อเรื่องให้เราคิดหนักมากว่าเป็นยังไง จนแบบชอบตรงนี้แหละ)

อ่านมาทั้งหมด จริงๆแล้ว ทั้งเรื่องอาจจะให้เราฝึกคิดทัศนคติอะไรก็ได้ แต่เราคิดไม่เป็นไง เลยไม่ได้แง่คิดอะไรเลย 5555
ได้แต่คิดว่า ทุกคนมีเรื่องเล่า นักบวชเองก็มีประวัติไม่ธรรมดาได้ และก็เป็นคนธรรมดาเนี่ยแหละ จบค่ะ

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho scoperto che Lagerkvist ha scritto una trilogia e questo volume è (a quanto ho capito) il secondo. Recupererò presto il primo, che vede come protagonista il Tobias presente in questo libro, ma comunque parla di una storia a parte, ambientata su una nave corsara in rotta verso la Terra Santa. Tobias sta compiendo questo viaggio e ha speso tutti i suoi averi per arrivare, ma è una persona insolitamente introversa e chiusa, più disposta all'ascolto che alla parola. Forse i particolari di questo suo carattere li avrò dalla lettura del primo libro.
Su questa nave Tobias incontra Giovanni, e nonostante si fossero da subito evitati, alla fine Giovanni gli salverà la vita e darà inizio al suo racconto, al suo passato di prete e di come questa vocazione si sia trasformata lentamente in peccato, in amore verso una donna sposata. Mi è piaciuto molto la storia, anzi la confessione di Giovanni, e come sia nata la sua passione per la donna che a sua volta amava un altro uomo, diverso dal marito, e di come questa relazione si sia basata su inganni e falsità. La trovo interessante perché diversa, e perché profondamente incentrata sulla spiritualità. E in generale adoro le storie raccontate in mare, dovuto forse al fascino che provo per Conrad.
L'ho trovato molto coinvolgente e ne consiglio la lettura insieme agli altri volumi che compongono la trilogia.
Il mare racchiude più sapere di qualsiasi altra cosa sulla terra, se sei capace di farlo parlare. Conosce tutti i vecchi segreti, perchè lui stesso è così antico, più antico di tutto. Anche i tuoi segreti conosce, non illuderti. E se tu ti abbandoni a lui completamente e lasci che si prenda cura di te, se non t'intrometti con le tue insignificanti obiezioni, se non t'intestardisci su ciò che è troppo effimero e insignificante perchè il mare se ne curi o persino ascolti che cosa mai vai borbottando mentre parla, mentre sta per rovesciarsi sopra la barca, allora può dare pace alla tua anima, sempre che tu ne abbia una.

[Mbuye · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Pilgrim at Sea’ takes up the story of Tobias, who was last seen on a fishing vessel, sailing into a stormy sea at the end of ‘The Death of Ahasuerus.' While the earlier parts of the pentalogy were focussed on punishment, repentance and redemption, now the emphasis seems rather to be on surrender and love.

In the vessel Tobias, himself a soldier-bandit-rapist, takes passage after surrendering his last coin, he finds a great peace in the sea itself. He has nothing, no ties to hold him back. In his yielding to a power greater than himself, Tobias is finally at rest. Not so some of the crew, whose brutality towards some shipwrecked merchants is rivalled only by the story the skipper, a defrocked priest, tells Tobias.

It would seem that man’s cruelty is matched by his enormous capacity for love and passion, a physical passion that cannot be described in spiritual terms, although it is indeed akin to the spiritual. As the two outcasts look towards the Holy Land, they understand each without more words.

One reason why Pär Lagerkvist is so effective is the sparseness of the language and the richness of the allegory. The calm of the sea at night reflects the peace achieved by at least one traveller, while it offers a tremendous contrast to the greed and violence of men who have a long way to go yet on the way to salvation.

[Milky P. Cawai · Rating 5 out of 5]

เรือบาปของนักแสวงบุญ/พาร์ ลอเกอร์คริสต์

เป็นหนังสือรางวัลโนเบลที่รู้เลยว่าทำไมได้รางวัลโนเบล แค่จะเล่ายังยาก อ่านจบเหลือแต่ภาพเหลือแต่ตะกอนที่บอกเล่าไม่ได้ตีกันอยู่ในหัว ใดๆคือคำนำสำนักพิมพ์ทำไว้ดีมากเล่มนี้อัดแน่นไปด้วย
"ปรัชญา ศรัทธาและการเสื่อมถอยบนเส้นทางแสวงหาสัจจะอันแท้จริงของมนุษย์(น.1)"
เนื้อเรื่องถูกแบ่งออกเป็นสองพาท พาทแรกเป็นทริปแสวงบุญโดยเรือสองลำออกเดินทางคู่กันหนึ่งลำในนั้นเป็นเรือโจรสลัดที่เมื่อผ่านเหตุการณ์คลื่นลมก็ทำให้ได้เห็นโฉมหน้าของเหล่าผู้แสวงบุญในแง่มุมต่างๆ พาทสองเป็นเรื่องเล่าชีวิตของโจวานนีอดีตพระที่ถูกเหล่าผู้มีศรัทธาตัดสินเขาด้วยโฉมหน้าของปีศาจจนไม่สามารถยืนหยัดใช้ชีวิตในสังคมได้อีก
อ่านไม่ยากแต่มากเอฟเฟค ดินแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์ที่เหล่าผู้มีศรัทธาแสวงหาสำหรับบางคนก็คือท้องทะเลอันบ้าคลั่ง

[Sara Sheikhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inte lika pessimistisk som andra verk, snarare skrivet i en frågande och sökande ton som vänder sig till läsaren i stor exakthet. Sover vi i trygghet på det stora havet eller borde vi frukta strömmarna och havets djup? Är vi på väg någonstans eller driver vi bara runt? Är våra drömmar bara ideal eller kan de få vara en del av vår absurda verklighet?

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How should one grasp anything of life--understand and penetrate men and their lives--until one has learnt from the sea? How should one see through their empty strivings and odd ambitions until one has looked out over the sea, which is boundless and sufficient in itself? Until one has learnt to think like the sea and not like these restless creatures who fancy that they're going somewhere, and that this going is the most important thing of all--that the goal is the meaning and purpose of their life? Until one has learnt to be carried along by the sea, to surrender to it utterly, and cease fretting about right and wrong, sin and guilt, truth and falsehood, good and evil--about salvation and grace and eternal damnation--about devil and god and their childish disputes? Until one has become as indifferent and free as the sea and will let oneself be carried, aimless, out into the unknown--surrender utterly to the unknown--to uncertainty as the only certainty, the only really dependable thing when all's said and done? Until one has learnt all that?"

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A parable in two parts: the first about the world of a ship of pirates into which a pilgrim to the Holy Land stumbles because he missed his boat. The second part is the first-person tale of how the priest was defrocked, of his passion for a wealthy married woman.

I found the second part much more interesting. As hokey as it seems, it is one of the truest passions I've read about. It is what passion is about: extreme need, timing, desire. Bare and trim, without all the lyrical trappings that have no place in passion. It is intriguing that so religious a writer can also be a superior writer about passion: how close they are, and how rarely this is recognized except in a rather immature way.

[William S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slowly and surely, I have been enchanted by Lagerkvist's novels. His stories are short and have a great impact, leaving all interpretation and didacticism to the reader, this novel being no exception. This novel continues as the fourth in a series of somewhat interconnected stories and continues it strongly. If you have read the others starting with Barabbas and likes his treatment on the matter of faith, good/evil, and purpose, this book is for you.

[Chiara Carnio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mi piace parlare di questo grande autore misconosciuto ormai. Pur essendo stato insignito del Nobel per il suo bellissimo Barabba è finito nell’oblio, nonostante sia considerato, di sicuro in patria, un classico della letteratura. Un po’ perché i suoi romanzi sono difficili da reperire (Iperborea, non è che ci fai un pensierino, sulle ripubblicazioni?), un po’ perché sono passati molti anni dalla sua scomparsa. Cinquanta, per la precisione, quest’anno; appunto per questo abbiamo deciso di inserirlo nella sfida di lettura. Perché è un peccato che sia noto (forse poco) solo per un titolo.

Il Pellegrino sul mare fa parte di una trilogia, ma, ovviamente, da noi non è pervenuta per intero, quindi si fatica, solo con questo romanzo, a capire il personaggio di Tobias, protagonista, invece, del primo capitolo della seria, La morte di Ashavero (1960). Grazie alla postfazione di Fulvio Ferrari - e a qualche ricerca in rete - si conosce la storia di Tobias, un uomo chiuso, profondo e tormentato.

Tobias, per una promessa fatta nel primo dei tre brevi romanzi, cerca di raggiungere la Terra Santa, in un veliero sgangherato, abitata da un manipolo di marinai pirateschi e senza scrupoli. E da Giovanni, sacerdote spretato consumato dal ricordo di una passione impossibile.
Come per Barabba, anche questo romanzo ha per centro l’enigma del divino, il rapporto con un Dio (non importa quale) sovrannaturale in contrapposizione alle fedi istituzionali. Ma il punto di vista di Lagerkvist rimane, ancora e di nuovo, laico, pieno di dubbi e incertezze, tormentato e inquieto, come i due personaggi che si incontrano qui.
È un romanzo sospeso tra il punto di partenza (il porto) e quello di arrivo (la Terra Santa), incorniciato nell’immensità del mare. Un mare che, come un Dio, può dare pace, ma non tranquillità. Un mare che può insegnare la saggezza agli uomini, se imparano a pensare come il mare che basta se stesso e non ha una direzione, a differenza di coloro che credono - o si illudono - di dover avere sempre una direzione, la meta che tutti cercano e che dia significato al loro viaggio. Senza più preoccuparsi di nulla, di ciò che è giusto e ciò che non lo è, di peccato e di colpa, di buono e di cattivo, di Dio e del diavolo, della realtà e dell’immaginazione. Del credere o non credere. Della Terra Santa come metafora salvifica della nostra stessa esistenza.

“Disteso sul ponte, pensava a ciò che vi è di più alto, di più sacro nella vita, cercando di capirne l’essenza. Diceva a se stesso che forse non esiste che un sogno, che forse non sopporta la realtà, il risveglio. Ma che tuttavia esiste. Che l’amore perfetto esiste e la Terra Santa esiste, ma noi non la possiamo raggiungere. Che forse siamo soltanto in viaggio alla sua volta. Siamo soltanto pellegrini sul mare.”

[Ozakiaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

จริง ๆ แล้วตอนที่อ่านก็พยายามคิดมาตลอดว่าพาร์ ลอเกอร์คริสต์จะสื่ออะไรกันแน่ พออ่านมาถึงซีนตอนท้ายถึงได้พอจะเดาออกว่าที่อ่านมาทั้งหมดคืออะไรกันแน่

"...เขาตรึกตรองเกี่ยวกับจุดสูงสุดและศรัทธาสูงสุดในชีวิต และนิยามที่แท้จริงของมันว่าเป็นอย่างไร บางทีมันอาจจะมีอยู่เฉพาะในความฝันที่ไม่สามารถคงความจริงและความตระหนักตื่นเอาไว้ได้ แต่กระนั้นมันก็ยังมีอยู่ ความรักที่แท้จริงนั้นมีอยู่ ดินแดนศักดิ์สิทธิ์นั้นมีอยู่ เพียงแต่เราไม่สามารถจะไปถึงเท่านั้น นั่นเพราะบางทีเราอาจจะกำลังอยู่ในระหว่างทางที่จะไปถึง เราเป็นเพียงนักแสวงบุญกลางท้องทะเล

แต่ทะเลไม่ใช่ทุกสิ่งทุกอย่าง จะต้องมีบางสิ่งบางอย่างที่อยู่ห่างไกลออกไป จะต้องมีแผ่นดินที่อยู่ไกลไปจากผืนน้ำเวิ้งว้างกว้างใหญ่ จะมีความลึกล้ำอันมหาศาลที่ไม่แยแสต่อบรรดาสรรพสิ่ง อย่างไรก็ตามมันเป็นแผ่นดินที่เราไม่สามารถจะไปถึง เราเพียงอยู่ระหว่างการเดินทางไปยังที่นั่น..."

กับ

"...เหตุผลที่โจวานนีเก็บจี้ห้อยคอนั้นเอาไว้ หวงแหนและไม่ต้องการจะพรากจากมัน แต่กลับสวมห้อยไว้กับอกอย่างมั่นคงถาวรแม้ว่ามันจะว่างเปล่า หรือต่อให้มันไม่ว่างเปล่ามันก็มีรูปเหมือนของชายคนอื่นอยู่ข้างใน กระนั้นเขายังห้อยมันเช่นนั้นเสมอ เหมือนอย่างที่หล่อนเคยสวมมันไว้ระหว่างนูนเนื้อบนหน้าอกของหล่อน ใกล้กับหัวใจ มันช่างมีค่าเสียนี่กระไร มันจะต้องเป็นสิ่งซึ่งขาดเสียมิได้จริง ๆ แม้ว่ามันจะว่างเปล่า..."

จากโควทข้างบนทั้งสองอัน ทำให้เริ่มคิดตามว่า ถ้าเราไม่มีวันเดินทางไปถึงดินแดนนั้นได้ นั่นหมายความว่าทุกสิ่งทุกอย่างเป็นเพียงความว่างเปล่าในชีวิตของเรา? เป็นเหมือนเป้าหมายที่ไม่มีวันเป็นจริง ไม่มีอยู่จริงสำหรับชีวิตของเรา?

สุดท้ายแล้ว นั่นแปลว่าศาสนาอาจว่างเปล่า ศาสดาอาจว่างเปล่า พระเจ้าอาจว่างเปล่า เหมือนกับจี้ห้อยคอที่ว่างเปล่าไร้ซึ่งรูปเหมือนของมนุษย์คนใดในนั้น แต่ทั้งหญิงสาวและโจวานนีกลับยังคงสวมใส่มันอย่างรักใคร่ กดมันไว้แนบอก ใกล้ชิดกับหัวใจ แม้จะว่างเปล่าแต่กลับหนักแน่น มีน้ำหนักมากพอให้ได้ยึดเหนี่ยวมันไว้ ท่ามกลางกระแสคลื่นและแรงลมของชีวิต

ศรัทธาและความเชื่องของมนุษย์ก็คงทำงานแบบนั้น แม้จะไม่มีวันไปถึง แม้จะอยู่ระหว่างทางของการเดินทางไปตลอดชีวิต แต่ส่วนตัวมองว่าไม่ใช่เรื่องผิดอะไร เพราะบางทีการใช้ชีวิตให้รอดไปในแต่ละวันก็ต้องพึ่งพาความว่างเปล่าอันหนักแน่นนั้นด้วยเหมือนกัน

[Jefferson Fortner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pilgrim at Sea is the fourth out of five books in this series that began with Barabbas and will end with The Holy Land. I took a bit of a break after the third book (Death of Ahasuerus), and that was good since it allowed me to return to the series with pleasure. Pär Lagerkvist has a spare, minimalist writing style, and it leaves some of the stories too sparse for sufficient subtext. This might be very thin books, but their sparse natures do not really pull the reader in very well. The main character of the first story died, and the main character of the second story died in the third, but now the other main character introduced in the third story, Tobias, is still on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and he is moving on to complete the story. Unlike those other two characters, Barabbas, who tried to believe in Christ and couldn’t, and Ahasuerus (the Wandering Jew) who rejected Christ, I am getting the sense the Tobias is moving with his weak foundations in a life without faith to an understanding of his role through God, which will probably be revealed in the last book. He is traveling with a new partner, a defrocked priest who lost his calling due to loving a woman. This is a man who had an untested faith and failed his test due to his emersion in carnal love (good for him!). He also is about to enter The Holy Land. It will be interesting to see how these two different journeys’ come to an end. It is interesting that the second (The Sybil) and third volumes (Death of Ahasuerus) had obvious nods to Greco-Roman mythology, but that this was not present in this fourth volume. Will it be there in the last volume?
I read this in English

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambientato totalmente sul mare su una nave corsara, questo romanzo parla della ricerca della spiritualità attraverso un pellegrinaggio in Terra Santa. Tobias, che era già stato protagonista di un altro volume di Lagerkvist (La morte di Ahasvero, 1960), intraprende il pellegrinaggio al posto di una donna morta, per renderle omaggio andando là dove desiderava andare lei. Per farlo è disposto a pagare tutto quello che ha al capitano, avendo perso il passaggio sulla nave di pellegrini (nave che poi incontreranno in un porto in cui riparano dalla tempesta); Giovanni è un ex-prete che non crede più in nulla; è diventato pellegrino, ma non sa neanche lui per dove. A Tobias, Giovanni racconterà quella storia che non ha mai raccontato a nessuno.
Non è certo il mio genere di libro e forse avrei preferito una storia più lunga (probabilmente avrei dovuto leggere di seguito i tre libri che compongono la trilogia), ma alla fine è comunque spunto di riflessione.
Diceva a se stesso che forse non esiste che come un sogno, che forse non sopporta la realtà, il risveglio.
Ma che tuttavia esiste.
Che l'amore perfetto esiste e la Terra Santa esiste, ma noi non la possiamo raggiungere.
Che forse siamo soltanto in viaggio alla sua volta.
Siamo soltanto pellegrini sul mare.
Ma il mare non è tutto, non è possibile che lo sia.
Deve anche esistere qualcosa al di là, deve anche esistere una terra oltre le grandi distese deserte e le immense profondità, indifferenti ad ogni cosa, una terra che non possiamo raggiungere, ma verso la quale siamo in viaggio, nonostante tutto.

[Bob Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Begins right where the previous novel left off: Tobias is now on a ship on his way across the water to continue his trek to the holy land, trailing the original Pilgrim ship. They catch it at port, start a fight, kill sailors, steal their money/gold and set sail again--they're pirates! After they get away, the novel takes a dramatic detour, as one of the "pirates," Giovanni, tells Tobias his story. This starts at page 56 and doesn't end until the novel itself ends on page 116. The story is a great one, of Giovanni as a young priest, came to hear the confessions of a young woman is madly in lust with a man despite being married. Giovanni falls in love with the idea of her (since they never set eyes on each other), is intoxicated by her voice, the smell of her breath. She visits confessional one last time and he is so enamored by her, he can't even hear her. He follows her home, she realizes he's there and tells him he's the one she loves despite being married, and she leads him to a secret bedroom where they bone all night. In the morning, he's slightly disenchanted by her looks and she realizes he is NOT the man she's been confessing about. He is still enamored by her and wants to go again, she fights him off at first but is overcome by her own lust. And then they become a regular thing. His mom finds out, tells the church, they rat him out to her husband, she runs away, he's excommunicated and eventually sets sail for the Holy Land. Loved this half of the novel so much. Can't wait for the next book in the sequence.

[Elin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Han låg och tänkte på det högsta, det heligaste i livet, hur det kanske förhöll sig med det. att det kanske bara finns som en dröm, att det kanske inte tål verkligheten, uppvaknandet. Men att det finns ändå. Att den fullkomliga kärleken finns och Det heliga landet finns, vi kan bara inte nå det. Att vi kanske bara befinner oss på resa dit. Bara är pilgrimer på havet.”

Pär Lagerkvist, hörni. Jag har läst ”Pilgrim på havet.” Det är inte den bästa boken av honom och blir ingen favorit hos mig direkt. Det finns saker i boken som inte stämmer bra överens med den person jag är i dag osv.

Men ändå… det evigt sökande efter kärlek och helighet och äkthet… den eviga brustenheten… den eviga längtan… pilgrimsfärden som aldrig tar slut.

Det är ändå Pär Lagerkvist. Han berör en sträng inom mig som få andra gör.

[Dave Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final pages of this book broke me. “That perfect loves exists and the Holy land exists; it is just that we cannot reach it. That perhaps we are only on our way there-only pilgrims at sea. Yet the sea is not everything: it cannot be.”
Perhaps love, grace, power. It is found in the journey. The prices of learning. The fight of trial and error? Maybe this is why the divine has us upon this earth. Why death is not immediate. This experience of mortality and the question of morality, is perhaps the truest beauty and sincerest gift of God to man.
As I read this novella, I am haunted by Tobias and Giovanni. The unlikely duo who as pilgrims are traveling across time in pursuit of different things yet altogether parallel in their livelihoods. A masterful tale of the human experience. A truly brilliant work!

[Zola]

Not Lagerkvist's best but has some moments. I see why it isn't one of his more famous, I'm not sure it's even been translated to English. His writing about sex/love is very convoluted and I think he takes the notion of rape by deception way too lightly which took me out of the narrative. But the conclusion gave me goosebumps. Haha, not me reviewing this like it's a thriller. They were philosophical and spiritual goosebumps ok?

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nej denna varningen höjdare, gillar dock den sista sidan – finns det en definitiv station där allt blir bättre eller flyttas denna konstant fram och vi måste acceptera och infinna oss i denna obevekligt trasiga existens för det är inte förrän vi omfamnar och litar på den som vi kan lära oss att uppskatta den och det är först då vi nått vårt mål.

Men den sista sidan vägde inte upp för mitten.

[Cloglover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible. I cannot tell you how much I have loved reading these novellas by Lagerkvist.

Until one has become as indifferent and free as the sea and will let oneself be carried, aimless, out into the unknown-surrender utterly to the un-known-to uncertainty as the only certainty, the only really dependable thing when all's said and done.

[Anna Napponi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho preferito "Barabba" ma anche in questo breve romanzo si toccano diverse tematiche riguardanti gli uomini e le donne di ogni tempo: la vita come viaggio, la fame di infinito, le scelte di vita, due modi di vivere le fede cristiana (dogmatica o tesa verso l'eterno alla costante ricerca di ciò che si è e del proprio ruolo nel mondo).

[Seth Tomko · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is incredibly similar to The Sibyl also by Lagerkvist, if a bit stronger. The symbolism fits with the whole Scandinavian Christian Existentialist thing going on, but it is really generous to call this a novel.

[Bryan Heck · Rating 4 out of 5]

The comparison of the unknown with the vast sea—the indifference—plays out throughout the story in similar ways to The Sibyl. I love the story telling dynamic of the latter half of the book. Probably land somewhere around a 3.8/5.

[Roland Hassel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lagerkvist goes Joseph Conrad med båtresa och piratäventyr, och visst det kanske finns en sorts diskussion om religion och godhet och ondska, men allt är rätt tunt och känns mest som en bok Lagerkvist inte riktigt pallade skriva klart