In the 1950s a survey found that readers thought that it was the most boring book they have ever read It is considered to be a precursor to the novel It was written by a poor lower class tinker It is a timeless classic Perhaps critiquing it would be like critiquing the Mona Lisa The early literary critics had nothing but adulation for it Finding some negative evaluation would be an interesting find It is interesting that in 1913 a James Baldwin rewrote it without any allusions to religion in what he entitled John Bunyan s Dream Story