The Pilgrim's Progress
Bunyan wrote the most widely read allegory in English — a story so vivid that phrases like "Vanity Fair," "Slough of Despond," and "Celestial City" entered everyday language.
“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend; the difficulty will not me offend.”
Why It Matters
Bunyan wrote the most widely read allegory in English — a story so vivid that phrases like "Vanity Fair," "Slough of Despond," and "Celestial City" entered everyday language. It was the book most English-speaking households owned after the Bible for over two centuries. Its influence on the English novel — from Defoe to Thackeray to C.S. Lewis — is foundational.
The 
Take
Personal reviewSome would say too on the nose, but it’s so on the nose it goes past that epithet. Slough of despond and vanity fair and that stuff was nice, even if the story as a whole was more religious than literary
Notable Quotes
“He that is down needs fear no fall; he that is low, no pride.”
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”