Book Description
Each year thousands of men and women from more than sixty countries journey by foot and bicycle across northern Spain, following the medieval pilgrimage road known as the Camino de Santiago. Their destination is Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of the apostle James are said to be buried. These modern-day pilgrims and the role of the pilgrimage in their lives are the subject of Nancy Louise Frey's fascinating book.
Unlike the religiously-oriented pilgrims who visit Marian shrines such as Lourdes, the modern Road of St. James attracts an ecumenical mix of largely well-educated, urban middle-class participants. Eschewing comfortable methods of travel, they choose physically demanding journeys, some as long as four months, in order to experience nature, enjoy cultural and historical patrimony, renew faith, or cope with personal trauma.
Frey's anthropological study focuses on the remarkable reanimation of the Road that has gained momentum since the 1980s. Her intensive fieldwork (including making the pilgrimage several times herself) provides a colorful portrayal of the pilgrimage while revealing a spectrum of hopes, discontents, and desires among its participants, many of whom feel estranged from society. The Camino's physical and mental journey offers them closer community, greater personal knowledge, and links to the past and to nature.
But what happens when pilgrims return home? Exploring this crucial question Frey finds that pilgrims often reflect deeply on their lives and some make significant changes: an artistic voice is discovered, a marriage is ended, meaningful work is found. Other pilgrims repeat the pilgrimage or join a pilgrims' association to keep their connection to the Camino alive. And some only remain pilgrims while on the road. In all, Pilgrim Stories is an exceptional prism through which to understand the desires and dissatisfactions of contemporary Western life at the end of the millennium.
"Feet are touched, discussed, massaged, [and] become signs of a journey well traveled: 'I did it all on foot!' . . . Pilgrims give feet a power and importance not recognized in daily life, as a causeway and direct channel to the road, the past, meaningful relations, nature, and the self."
Customer Reviews:
Anthropology of the Camino........2007-03-15
Be aware that this is not a practical guide to the Camino. At least, it is not a practical guide in the sense that it does not provide lists of refuges or information about places to sleep. Frey has written a book about the culture of pilgrims and the Camino and a potential reader should see it more as an anthropology text than a how-to book.
The sections of the book begin with the kind of person who begins a pilgrimage and ends with the journey home once people have completed the route. As someone who walked the Camino from Utrecht, I was entertained by her descriptions of Camino life. I found myself often nodding in recognition or agreement. I was less interested in her conclusions, I am sorry to admit. But then I was not reading the book from a scholarly perspective.
I would recommend the book for someone who would like to get a feel for the culture and experience of walking the Camino. Unfortunately, Frey is not the strongest writer and it often reads like an extended senior thesis. Three stars for the book and one star extra for the extensive bibliography.
Well researched and a fascinating read.......2000-05-21
Anyone who's walked or thought about walking Spain's greatest long distance walk, the Camino de Santiago will love this book. A young woman who walked this medieval pilgrimage route recommended this book. I began to understand her enthusiasm for this modern-day adventure--a road trip on foot through Spain's majestic lands, visiting the past and the present and meeting all sorts of fascinating people. Anthropologist Nancy Frey has managed to bring the experience to vivid life conjuring the sights, sounds, emotions, exhilarations and disappointments of modern pilgrims as they trek across Spain in search of themselves, God, happiness or whatever else may be meaningful to them. Frey follows hundreds of pilgrims during and after their walk and tackles the questions of what happens once people go home and they trace their lives back to their points of origin around the world--Brazil, Germany, UK, US and, of course, Spain. I highly recommend this book!
Very worthwhile for a prospective Pilgrim........1999-02-18
I found this book to be very helpful to me as I am in the planning stages of walking El Camino in 2000. Although I believe that too much stress is put on the spiritual and religious aspect of the walk a lot of practical information is provided as well. I was especially pleased to learn about the infrastructure which has been recently developed to assist Pilgrims. Ms. Frey has researched the subject to a great extent and puts a very positive light on this interesting subject. She has also presented numerous of the varied motives for tackling this venture.
Book Description
The road across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela in the northwest was one of the three major Christian pilgrimage routes during the Middle Ages, leading pilgrims to the resting place of the Apostle St. James. Today, the system of trails and roads that made up the old pilgrimage route is the most popular long-distance trail in Europe, winding from the heights of the Pyrenees to the gently rolling fields and woods of Galicia. Hundreds of thousands of modern-day pilgrims, art lovers, historians, and adventurers retrace the road today, traveling through a stunningly varied landscape which contains some of the most extraordinary art and architecture in the western world. For any visitor, the Road to Santiago is a treasure trove of historical sites, rustic Spanish villages, churches and cathedrals, and religious art.To fully appreciate the riches of this unique route, look no further than The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago, a fascinating step-by-step guide to the cultural history of the Road for pilgrims, hikers, and armchair travelers alike. Organized geographically, the book covers aspects of the terrain, places of interest, history, artistic monuments, and each town and village's historical relationship to the pilgrimage.The authors have led five student treks along the Road, studying the art, architecture, and cultural sites of the pilgrimage road from southern France to Compostela. Their lectures, based on twenty-five years of pilgrimage scholarship and fieldwork, were the starting point for this handbook. AUTHORBIO:DAVID M. GITLITZ and LINDA KAY DAVIDSON, specialists in Hispanic studies at the University of Rhode Island, met on the Road on their first pilgrimage to Santiago in 1974. Davidson has written several scholarly works on the pilgrimage to Compostela with co-author Maryjane Dunn. Gitlitz is the author of various books on Hispanic and Sephardic culture, including the prize-winning Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of the Crypto-Jews. Their first book written together, also from St. Martin's Press, was A Drizzle of Honey: The Lives and Recipes of Spain's Secret Jews, for which they won the National Jewish Book Award and the award for Distinguished Scholarship form the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Cultural guide.......2007-01-14
My wife and walked part a portion of the Camino Frances (Leon to Santiago de Compostela) in May of 2004. In walking the Camino, I think one must consider several sources. One of these should be topographical and describe the lay of the land, one logistical and describe where you may find comfort, and one cultural. This book is the best that I know of in fulfilling that last category.
While some may find this a useful guide to carry, I agree with some of reviewers who suggest not taking this book on the road. [Hopefully the authors will never read this review... ] I did carry this book, but I ripped out the irrelevant portions of the journey before I began, and every night I ripped out the pages covering the day's journey so as to lighten the load. [ I should point out that I bought another copy when I got home, so as to make amends for the destruction of the book. ]
Even had I never walked I still think what I learned about Spain, the history and cultural of the regions covered by the Camino, and aspects of the architecture and other features covered in this book to be fascinating.
Camino Junkie.......2006-03-12
I walked the Camino in the Fall of 2004 and took this book along with a much thinner more practical guide book. I loved, loved, loved having this book! My thin, practical guidebook told me of the trail, and places to stay and eat. This guidebook brought the experience alive for me. Everynight before I went to sleep, I would read the passage about the day I had just walked, and then would read the passage about the next day's walk. I saw and experienced things I would have totally missed if I did not have this book. I would walk along and think of the millions of pilgrams that had walked this path for over 1000 years. In this books there are excerpts from journals of medieval pilgrams, which really made me feel the history of this pilgramage. I too worried about the weight of the book, but found that in the long run it was really worth the added pound in my backpack. I do recommend taking a more practical guidebook as well. I found the guidebook put out by the Confraternity of St. James to be great! If you are not one bit interested in the History and Folklore of the Camino, then skip this book. But if you are, this book is invaluable. I found that I was sharing it with other pilgrams all the time, who wanted more info on what we were experiencing.
Great guide.......2005-09-09
For anyone planning to walk The Way of St James pilgrimage across Norther Spain, this book provides fascinating local history. I read it after I walked, and wish I had done it the other way around.
Wonderful Book on the Cultural Background of the Camino.......2005-07-15
I did the Camino in 2003 using this book as a guide. In fact it was the only one I brought with me.
It's strengths are not in the trail directions it gives. There are much better guides for that. I suggest you consult one of the Camino web sites to find out the most current and recommended version of those. the operative word is current. The Camino does change from year to year, new alberges open, others disappear, the trail moves, street names change (Franco related ones are definitely on the outs), etc.
That said, this is a wonderful book for the historical background and descriptions of the countryside it provides. I read this book and I became fixated on doing the Camino. If you are going to do the Camino or are just interested in the Camino, read this book. If you know someone who is going to do the Camino, get them this book. It is the best book I've ever read in terms of Camino cultural information.
The best reference on the Camino de Santiago........2004-06-17
I bought this book in 2003 before embarking upon the Camino Frances. It turned out to be a marvelous multi-faceted reference. Due to weight considerations, I left it at home, instead of schlepping it 800 KM across Spain. Then, outside of Burgo de Ranero, I see THIS BOOK, waiting for me on a roadside bench. "That's my book!", I exclaim. Needless to say, it traveled with me the rest of the way to Santiago. Regardless of weight. If there's only one book you get about the culture, history and architecture of the Camino, this should be it. Buy this book!
Book Description
When Jack Hitt set out to walk the 500 miles from France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, he submitted to the rigorous traditions of Europe's oldest form of packaged tour, a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions in the history of Christendom.
Off the Road is an unforgettable exploration of the sites that people believe God once touched: the strange fortress said to contain the real secret Adam learned when he bit into the apple; the sites associated with the murderous monks known as the Knights Templar; and the places housing relics ranging from a vial of the Virgin Mary's milk to a sheet of Saint Bartholomew's skin.
Along the way, Jack Hitt finds himself persevering by day and bunking down by night with an unlikely and colorful cast of fellow pilgrims -- a Flemish film crew, a drunken gypsy, a draconian Belgian air force officer, a man who speaks no languages, a one-legged pilgrim, and a Welsh family with a mule.
In the day-to-day grind of walking under a hot Spanish sun, Jack Hitt and his cohorts not only find occasional good meals and dry shelter but they also stumble upon some fresh ideas about old-time zealotry and modern belief. Off the Road is an engaging and witty travel memoir of an offbeat journey through history that turns into a provocative rethinking of the past.
Download Description
"When Jack Hitt set out to walk the 500 miles from France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, he submitted to the rigorous traditions of Europe's oldest form of packaged tour, a pilgrimage that has been walked by millions in the history of Christendom. Off the Road is an unforgettable exploration of the sites that people believe God once touched: the strange fortress said to contain the real secret Adam learned when he bit into the apple; the sites associated with the murderous monks known as the Knights Templar; and the places housing relics ranging from a vial of the Virgin Mary's milk to a sheet of Saint Bartholomew's skin. Along the way, Jack Hitt finds himself persevering by day and bunking down by night with an unlikely and colorful cast of fellow pilgrims -- a Flemish film crew, a drunken gypsy, a draconian Belgian air force officer, a man who speaks no languages, a one-legged pilgrim, and a Welsh family with a mule. In the day-to-day grind of walking under a hot Spanish sun, Jack Hitt and his cohorts not only find occasional good meals and dry shelter but they also stumble upon some fresh ideas about old-time zealotry and modern belief. Off the Road is an engaging and witty travel memoir of an offbeat journey through history that turns into a provocative rethinking of the past. "
Customer Reviews:
with critical humour.......2007-04-09
For my recent compilation of pilgrimage quotations ("Ultreia! Onward! Progress of the Pilgrim") I read all 40 or so contemporary English journal accounts available about the various routes. Hitt's is clearly within the first grouping of 8 or so best such books (i.e. largely those written by established authors and/or academics). This was the third or fourth pilgrimage account I read and after plowing through another couple of dozen of such I remained impressed by both the sense of humour and critical eye that Hitt brought to describing his trip. One finds much here about the various characters that one is likely to encounter along the route and Hitt is accurate in his portrait of the moving circus that the camino has unfortunately become.
Great read!.......2005-08-02
Well written. Never boring. Gave me a different perspective on the way I think about history.
Keeping it Real.......2004-08-25
Jack Hitt writes with honesty and a sense of play that give his perspective a certain type of gravitas. Who is to say that a pilgrim cannot have fun? After having read Shirley MacLaine's account (complete with astral travels and hallucinations)[also available on Amazon.com], Jack Hitt is down to earth, lucid, inspiring, and a breath of fresh air. I really appreciate the self reflexivity he brings into play about being "a true pilgrim." Yes, no matter what -- we are all "tourists" really -- unless we are world travelers without a set itinerary -- pilgrimage does not fall under that rubric. Irreverent, hardly. I think we are past the days when we could excommunicate folks like Hitt for being candid, if not funny. Jack Hitt's book moves at a pace that allows readers to savor the route. I especially enjoyed Chapter 7 which is an extended exploration of the rise and fall of the Knights Templar and subsequently the various explanations of the architecture of the fortress in Ponferrada. Hitt makes me want to start my trek at least before Ponferrada if not Leon. While most books give you the travel monologue and the rest swing the other way -- with deep spiritual musings, Hitt gives it to you like a buddy but also moves along with reflections on the historical that I know will make my planned trip along the Camino richer and fuller. Undoubtedly, Hitt is a wonderful writer and Off the Road is full of interesting personal as well as historical reflections -- and when the two fuse -- it is nothing short of [cough] magical. Hitt's reflections on Romanesque architecture brings it to life and for someone like me who has seen a lot of Gothic, Baroque and Rococo -- I know this sounds crazy but I yearn to smell the animal droppings and then segue into one of these "inviting" Romanesque building as Hitt so deftly describes. A must have (if not must read) for all those considering to do the Camino.
Miguel Llora
Good book!.......2004-08-04
Jack Hitt's writing style is endlessly introspective, and so it is with no small surprise that when he set off on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, the resulting book would be full of allegory for his own personal travels.
Hitt admits this upfront, however, and the result is a book that is entertaining, but perhaps never quite as deep as he tries for.
Fans of travel accounts will laugh along as Hitt describes his initial travel problems, his incredibly zany and diverse fellow pilgrims, and a host of, well, hosts along the way that make the trip exciting and memorable.
Hitt is at his best when describing his life on the road to Santiago. It is when he tries to decipher the meaning the road holds for himself or others, he falters. Although his introspection is gently self-deprecating, it does not impress the reader any more because of this.
Hitt's book should be a, well "hit" if a person can stomach a little self-indulgence. But, hey, after all, maybe that's one of the things a pilgrimage can be?
Why is this book out of print!!.......2001-08-12
Having just completed the Road to Santiago myself, reading Jack's book again was refreshing and helped me recollect a lot of what I saw. He does a great job describing the life and mind of a pilgrim and the history of the road. I would reccommend this book for people interested in walking the ancient road and for those who have completed it. It captures Spanish culture and history and combines it with the humor and challenges that the Camino brings.
Book Description
Traveling two and a half months and one thousand miles along the ancient route through southern France and northern Spain, Conrad Rudolph made the passage to the holy site of Santiago de Compostela, one of the most important modern-day pilgrimage destinations for Westerners. In this chronicle of his travels to this captivating place, Rudolph melds the ancient and the contemporary, the spiritual and the physical, in a book that is at once travel guide, literary work, historical study, and memoir.
Customer Reviews:
A rationalist walks the Camino........2007-07-03
As I write this review, I'm wearing the boots I plan to use on my own Camino pilgrimage next week. In addition to breaking them in, I've been preparing my body, mind, and heart for the long walk to Santiago. Reading "Pilgrimage to the End of the World" was an enjoyable and necessary part of that process.
Conrad Rudolph's book on the Camino de Santiago has four parts: 1) some historical background, 2) an account of his trek, 3) a series of black-and-white personal photographs with explanations that range from a paragraph to a page or so long, and 4) a practical guide (what to wear, how to pack, etc.). Despite its brevity (only 131 pages), Mr. Rudolph's memoir is packed with useful and interesting information. The surprising revelation that the author is a rationalist only serves to make his tale more compelling, especially considering the profound effect a pilgrimage usually done for spiritual reasons had upon him.
Indeed, the Camino began as an important medieval religious pilgrimage to Santiago, alleged burial place of St. James. But it has grown to accommodate folks on quests of many kinds. What's ironic about Mr. Rudolph's journey is that despite his rationalist mindset, he walked the farthest distance of any pilgrim, faith-based or otherwise, I've read about so far. He began in Le Puy, France, went through Santiago, and concluded in Finisterre - the "End of the World" on the Spanish west coast. That's about double the walking distance from the usual starting point of St. Jean Pied de Port, a French town on the Spanish border. And I thought we religious folk were supposed to be the crazy ones...
Despite his excellent account and helpful information, I part ways with the author in one key area: his firm recommendation of an external-frame pack. He's correct about the increased ventilation it offers, since the external frame holds the pack away from one's back. But according to another pilgrim's memoir, you'll sweat no matter what kind of pack you carry. Also, there are far more sizes and types of internal-frame packs to choose from. At REI I found only one model of external frame pack for sale among the plethora of internal packs - a forlorn Kelty similar to the one the author used. Bottom line, I'd say that an internal-frame pack is a better choice (I'm taking a 4,300 cubic-inch Gregory Baltoro).
At any rate, "Pilgrimage to the End of the World" is a must-read for anyone contemplating, or actually preparing for, the Camino pilgrimage. Other helpful and inspirational books I used to get ready include: "Buen Camino," by Jim & Eleanor Clem, "Camino Chronicle" by Susan Alcorn, and "Fumbling," by Kerry Egan (also, check the Confraternity of St. James' website for lots of good info and up-to-date Camino guidebooks). If you choose to go, let me be the first you wish you a Buen Camino!
UPDATE 9/7/07: On 7/14/07 I stepped off in St. Jean Pied-de-Port (France), and on 8/24/07 I walked into Santiago, Spain. Turned out that the boots I mentioned in the first paragraph were too heavy, so I bought a lighter Spanish pair in Logrono that served me well. My internal-frame pack was the Camino standard (although the model I had was too large and initially weighted down with unnecessary stuff) - out of the hundreds of pilgrims I saw, only a couple had external frame packs. At any rate, I recommend this book as necessary reading for anyone planning to walk the Way.
straight to the point.......2007-04-09
For my recent comiplation of pilgrimage quotations ("Ultreia! Onward! Progress of the Pilgrim") I read all 40 or so contemporary English journal accounts available about the various routes. Rudolph's is clearly within the first grouping of 8 or so best such books (i.e. largely those written by established authors and/or academics). He is able to convey in a fraction of the pages of other volumes many interesting and important aspects of undertaking such a pilgrimage. Though not the most quotable of sources (i.e. 7 such extracted for the review volume Ultreia! Onward!) Rudopplh nevertheless is particularly good at writing about the process of pilgrimage.
A rare book is both scholarly and practical.......2006-01-16
Conrad Rudolph, a professor of medieval art,has made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostela and knows enough about the history of the pilgrimage and the art and architecture to be seen along the way to write a book that tells not only how to prepare for the long hike and what to take but also what is to be seen and what it all means from a historical perspective.
Getting in the pilgrimage frame of mind.......2005-09-21
The book reads as if you were sitting in an art history lecture -- the author writes using simple, direct, yet descriptive language. While the narrative is framed around the St James trail, it is really a book about inner transformation, not a description of the external world and the landmarks one sees during the pilgrimage. In all, the book has helped me prepare my frame of mind for the bike pilgrimage I am about to embark. The best part -- it's a short and quick read!
Short and Sweet.......2005-02-26
I wonder if Conrad Rudolph is a man of few words. He has certainly managed to convey the essence of his 2-1/2 month pilgrimage in only 131 pages. Rudolph describes himself as a man with virtually no belief in "miracles or the otherworldly", yet experiences a deep, life altering sense of spirituality on his physically punishing trek. Simultaneously a travel guide, with practical information and sensible advice, a brief history of Santiago and the medieval religious psyche, and an insightful, first hand memoir evoking the texture and trials of the place and the journey. The photos in the second half of the book do much to bring Rudolph's eloquent words to life. I don't keep all of the books I read in my home library, but this one has found a permanent spot.
Product Description
Folded street and travel map in color. Scale 1:12,500. Distinguishes roads ranging from expressways to minor roads. Legend includes railways, train stations, subways with station, parks/plazas, attractions, cemeteries, churches, museums, points of interest, bus terminals/MetroBus, recreational trails, embassies, stadiums. Includes inset of Santiago de Chile and Region, Santiago Rapid Transit Guide. Legend in 2 languages, including English.
Amazon.com
A worthy travel book does not encourage a reader to follow in the author's footsteps in search of the "good spots" so much as it creates a sense of adventure and the desire to understand a place. In Roads to Santiago: Detours and Riddles in the Lands and History of Spain, Dutch author Cees Nooteboom seeks out the soul and spirit of Spain in a way that suggests a journey of self-discovery as much as an actual expedition. Although the stated goal is to reach Santiago de Compostela--a church in northwest Spain that was once the object of pilgrimages during the Middle Ages--Nooteboom doesn't follow a single or direct route to the village. The more serendipitous the journey, the better. Nooteboom followed many "detours," taking nearly every back road he found and making sure to avoid anything resembling a major thoroughfare or urban center. The result of his circuitous travels is this collection of moving essays on Spain's history, geography, architecture, and people.
Book Description
Roads to Santiago is an evocative travelogue through the sights, sounds, and smells of a little known Spain-its architecture, art, history, landscapes, villages, and people. And as much as it is the story of his travels, it is an elegant and detailed chronicle of Cees Nooteboom's thirty-five-year love affair with his adopted second country. He presents a world not visible to the casual tourist, by invoking the great spirits of Spain's past-El Cid, Cervantes, Alfonso the Chaste and Alfonso the Wise, the ill-fated Hapsburgs, and Velázquez. Be it a discussion of his trip to the magnificent Prado Museum or his visit to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Guadalupe, Nooteboom writes with the depth and intelligence of an historian, the bravado of an adventurer, and the passion of a poet. Reminiscent of Robert Hughes's Barcelona, Roads to Santiago is the consummate portrait of Spain for all readers.
Customer Reviews:
Great context if you're planning to take the pilgrimage.......2003-10-29
This is a spectacular book, written by the best kind of travel writer. Mr. Nooteboom's passion for Spain, Spanish art, and Spanish architecture is infectious. I did the pilgrimage to Santiago in September of 2003, and understanding the Camino in the larger context of Spanish history (which Mr. Nooteboom limns so admirably) was invaluable. I don't believe I would have looked for, much less appreciated the Romanesque architecture I saw along the way. Coincidentally, his love of the great Spanish painters Zurbaran and Velazquez inspired me to visit New York for the Velazquez to Manet exhibit. I consider this one of the essential books to read before you set out for Santiago de Compostela. Guide books will get you from A to B. This book will help you understand the importance of A, B, and all the points in between.
EVER WONDERED HOW TO TRAVEL?.......2002-08-29
first of all, cees nooteboom is a shining oasis in the arid intellectual desert of contemporary travel writing, and secondly, you should let go of everything that makes you unhappy, and set sail tomorrow.
the sheer profundity and wit of nooteboom's observations left me, for one, in like total dumbstruck awe, and his seemingly divine ability to translate the most visceral of emotions into words (a medium of communication i had always, up till now, considered inferior) made me feel a little bit the same way i felt the first time i went skydiving. folks, this here is a man who knows how to travel, as well as being a freakin miracle of a writer--and anyone who is capable of firing a sincere philosophic-type synapse will LOVE HIM. also read "the following story," all you existential types out there--he's like a dreamy, colorful Camus, and his prose will make your eyes feel clean for the first time in years.
Disappointed in this book........2001-08-24
Am still trying to finish this book! Compared to some of the others on the subject, it's a hard read. I'll probably sell it.
A silly babble-logue about Spain........1999-04-28
Spain becomes grist for the cracked mill wheel of Cees Nooteboom's mind. The book isn't really about Spain, it's about the author and his obsessive fixation with certain Spanish topics. He does this with painfully long rambling descriptions of various Spanish cultural icons that have caught his attention, drilling down to the time when they first caught his attention and the many times since then that he has pondered them. The topics themselves are interesting but almost irrelevant to the self indulgent dredging of the author's own mind. You would learn more hard facts about these topics from a museum brochure. The twin pillars of this tortuously slow moving narrative are the painter Zurban and Romanesque architecture. He drops and picks up these topics at random, throughout the book, and prattles on about them as if he is possessed with a reoccurring fever. He also slathers his book with an impressive amount of trite clichés about Spain, Spain the land of contrasts, Castille La Mancha the land of desolate panoramas, etc. He goes on ad nauseum. He also plays a little fast and loose with the few historical facts he deigns to use. He states that the aqueduct in Segovia was used until 1974; according to Segovia's municipal web site it is still in use. He states that Pizzaro left from Extremadura with an invasion force for Peru; Pizzaro left from Central America where he had been established for some years. Obviously no fact checker touched this book before publication. There are many wonderful books about Spain. This isn't one of them.
Superb.......1999-03-07
Very interesting view of selected Spanish history and culture. Superbly written. I have been reading lots of books from Spain and about Spain in the last 10 years, but this is certainly one of the best.
Book Description
In the spring of 1999, Kathryn Harrison set out to walk the centuries-old pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela. "Not a vacation," she calls it, "but a time out of time." With a heavy pack, no hotel reservations, and little Spanish, she wanted an experience that would be both physically and psychically demanding. No pain, no gain, she thought, and she had some important things to contemplate. But the pilgrim road was spattered with violets and punctuated by medieval churches and alpine views, and, despite the exhaustion, aching knees, and brutal sun, she was unexpectedly flooded with joy and gratitude for life's gifts. "Why do I like this road?" she writes. "Why do I love it? What can be the comfort of understanding my footprint as just one among the millions? … While I'm walking I feel myself alive, feel my small life burning brightly."
Throughout this deeply personal and revealing memoir of her journey, first made alone and later in the company of her daughter, Harrison blends striking images of the route and her fellow pilgrims with reflections on the redemptive power of pilgrimages, mortality, family, the nature of endurance, the past and future, the mystery of friendship.
The Road to Santiago is an exquisitely written, courageous, and irresistible portrait of a personal pilgrimage in search of a broader understanding of life and self.
Customer Reviews:
Good..........2007-09-04
Having read and enjoyed Shirley MacLaine's "The Camino" several years back, I was happy to revisit the pilgrimmage experience in Kathryn Harrison's "Road to Santiago." Harrison has a graceful command of language that makes this memoir pleasant and easy to read. Apart from style and readability, I'm not sure this book has much to offer. Harrison details three different trips to the road (one solo, one while pregnant, and one with a pre-teen daughter.) All of this is supposed to signify something, but I'm not sure it's anywhere near as profound as the author hopes. She finishes the path and sees her family "luminous and exalted and mine." Alrighty then. Not exactly the Dalai Lama, this one.
internal journey.......2007-04-09
For my recent compilation of pilgrimage quotations ("Ultreia! Onward! Progress of the Pilgrim") I read all 40 or so contemporary English journal accounts available about the various routes. Harrison's is clearly within the first grouping of 8 or so best such books (i.e. largely those written by established authors and/or academics). There is really little to be learnt about the Camino in this book but much to gleam about the life of one of America's most talented writers of fiction (and one whose past has been so clouded in pain). Consequently I can understand why those looking for a straightforward account of the pilgrim route will be disappointed in this book. However, for those bored to death by the pedestrian prose of the majority of the self-published texts currently available on the subject, the present volume is a much needed attempt at another direction. And Harrison is probably the most skilled wordsmith who has ever written about the Camino; indeed, I used 7 quotations of hers in my review volume Ultreia!
glimpses into a soul.......2005-01-19
If you are looking for a travelogue about the pilgrims' road to Santiago de Campostela, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for one intelligent, well-educated, American woman's experience, told from the heart, read Kathryn Harrison. I read her slim but captivating volume in 2 hours. She has managed to convey in words, in only 150 pages, the effect that this walk/trek/meditation has had upon her consciousness, not on only one journey, but on three. Her words are luminous and capture slivers of her psyche. Isn't that what pilgrimage is all about?
Unreadable.......2004-02-19
Let's assume that the road to Santiago is inherently interesting. That the history, sights, sounds, smells, other pilgrims, architecture, locals, the travail of hiking the road, natural history, geology, weather, and so on, deserve an honest rendering. Fair enough? In a book with the National Geographic imprint, one could be forgiven expecting travelogue lite, but travelogue nevertheless, with informed observations. Some personal insights are expected, even if they have to do with blisters. One reads a book about the road to Santiago expecting to be carried along on the trip by the author. Kathryn Harrison's trip -- in my opinion and it may not be your experience of the book -- is a dreary, suffocating slog through the author's stunning self-absorbtion and callow, melancholy, teen-age soul searching. You've got to read this book, or at least the first 10 or 20 pages. If you do get through the whole book, then you will have taken a trip far more gruelling than the road to Santiago. The tiresome questions and their equally tiresome answers will make you squirm right out of your skin. This book is a dog.
If this book (or the first 30 pages) has given rise to such strong negative feelings, then it must be addressing something in me. It's probable that it is addressing no more than my excitement about finding a book about the Santiago pilgrimage, which I very much want to take, and being dropped into a hell of boredom. My heart does go out to Kathryn Harrison, honestly. She suffers as much as we all suffer, and there is no humor in suffering. This book's subtext is a call for her suffering to be addresed. And I wish her well. But all that notwithstanding, this book stinks.
Dosmujeres and I Had Different Expectations.......2004-01-11
As an inveterate fan of Kathryn Harrison's writing, I began this book several times, put off by the notion of a pilgrimage to a foreign shrine. But a few days ago I forced myself to get to about page nine, and then I was hooked. So hooked that I've underlined and dog-eared and penciled in the margins so I could return to favorite passages again and again.
The thing about Kathryn Harrison is that she puts words to thoughts, emotions, and viewpoints that are usually soul-secrets we ordinary folks hide, even from ourselves. For instance, she writes of her 12 year old daughter, "I'm afraid of my child: her beauty and her silences, her ability to wound me." Oh yes, yes, I think.....exactly! But I wouldn't have realized that when my daughter was 12.
About friends she writes, "...amazing friends, the profound mystery of friendship: love outside of lust or blood." Yes, yes, exactly! Think about it! Kathryn Harrison forces me into unique, but dead-on, perspectives I so enjoy pondering.
A book from a Travel Series isn't something I would normally buy. But ANY book by Kathryn Harrison is an experience I wouldn't want to miss.....intense, haunting, lyrical, and..........spiritual? All her books are "spiritual", but not in a goody-two-shoes, genuflect, rosary kind of way. It's that you end up feeling spiritually affected by such gorgeous, profound writing. Don't get the idea that it's a HEAVY read, however. It's pure 24-karat pleasure I'm not up to the task of adequately describing. Pages 102 and 103 are my favorite, for their unique insight and ability to soothe my soul.
Try it! You'll like it! :-)
Book Description
A year after her father died, Kerry Egan walked through the fields, mountains, and villages of northern Spain on a medieval pilgrimage road called the Camino de Santiago. Fumbling is the moving journal of her experiences as she and her boyfriend traveled from the Pyrenees in southern France through the valleys of Navarra and westward through the dramatic Picos de Europa of northern Spain to the Cathedral of the Santiago de Compostela, said to contain the remains of Saint James. With humor and unabashed honesty, Egan records her struggles to deal with muddy paths, blistering heat, and the miles and miles of open road. She describes her fellow travelers from around the world, the humble villas that provide them shelter, and the beautiful, and often challenging, landscape of northern Spain. Each incident, encounter, and hard-won mile shapes her internal journey toward accepting the loss of her father, and the most unlikely events--from discovering chickens in church to a fist fight with an ATM machine to the joy of eating a pizza in a train station--reveal in fresh ways the many faces of love and the mysteries of grief, hope and faith.
Both an engaging and entertaining armchair travel adventure and a beautiful and deeply moving portrait of a spiritual transformation, Fumbling is a journey no reader will ever forget.
Average customer rating:
- The Road to Santiago is a magnificent chapter among many cuban stories
- I felt like I was there...
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The Road to Santiago
D. H. Figueredo
Manufacturer: Lee & Low Books
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ASIN: 1584300590 |
Customer Reviews:
The Road to Santiago is a magnificent chapter among many cuban stories.......2006-02-06
Having been touched by a previous story by Mr. Figueredo, I recently added this one to my collection.
This story underlines the challenges that a lot of cuban children experienced during and after the cuban revolution. Politics aside, it emphasizes world experiences through a child's eyes.
For children, all that is experienced is an adventure. It wasn't until I became an adult that I realized the elements of danger that I went through growing up in a country going through political turmoil.
Great story, beautifully illustrated by Pablo Torrecilla. The illustrations reminded me so much of the memories I have of my land of birth. Don't miss sharing this information with your children.
I felt like I was there..........2004-01-16
Reading Mr. Figueredo's book was a delight! All through the book I felt as if I was there with him experiencing everything he went through as he and his family traveled to Santiago. I even had to feel my chin after he received his bunelo from his abuela. I was sure it was going to be sticky from the dripping honey! I don't have any children but this was a delightful book to read and I highly recommend it. I bought this book for my mom and she said she felt the same way..."I felt I was there." I am a proud owner of 3 of Mr. Figueredo's books and a giver of them to my family as gifts.
Book Description
A practical but always stimulating guide, The Road to Santiago covers the art and architecture of this great pilgrimage route. The Road to Santiago crosses spectacular mountain country in the Pyrenees with both small Romanesque chapels and great Gothic churches. This newly revised edition brings all practical details up to date. "[Jacobs] is the ideal companion: . . . patient, lively, and endlessly generous with his encyclopedic, cultivated mind." - Irish Independent
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