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racheladventure's review
3.0
Having walked the Camino myself, I felt nostalgic reading through Harrison's narrative recounting her three different Caminos. My own Camino looked very different than hers, but I still appreciated the reflections Harrison provides.
liralen's review
3.0
Hmm. Hadn't actually planned to read this one, but then I ran across a copy, and...I am powerless in the grip of a used book store.
It's a quick little read; I read it cover to cover in a little more than an hour. Harrison writes of three segments of the Camino de Santiago that she travelled -- 1992, 1999, 2002. All short segments; she wasn't particularly interested in completing the whole route or identifying herself as a pilgrim. In many ways it was just not my book because of that -- absolutely nothing wrong with the way she experienced the Camino, but not what I particularly want to read about. Not that there's anything wrong with the writing itself, but I wonder whether she'd have had a harder time finding a publisher -- or whether a publisher would have wanted more in the concrete realm of walking -- had she not already had impressive publishing credits.
I suppose it comes down to this being more about soul-searching (and unanswerable questions) than about physically walking the Camino; fine but not what I'm looking for.
It's a quick little read; I read it cover to cover in a little more than an hour. Harrison writes of three segments of the Camino de Santiago that she travelled -- 1992, 1999, 2002. All short segments; she wasn't particularly interested in completing the whole route or identifying herself as a pilgrim. In many ways it was just not my book because of that -- absolutely nothing wrong with the way she experienced the Camino, but not what I particularly want to read about. Not that there's anything wrong with the writing itself, but I wonder whether she'd have had a harder time finding a publisher -- or whether a publisher would have wanted more in the concrete realm of walking -- had she not already had impressive publishing credits.
I suppose it comes down to this being more about soul-searching (and unanswerable questions) than about physically walking the Camino; fine but not what I'm looking for.
kirstena's review
4.0
Most Camino books I've read are filled with details of every step and every person met. This is a very quiet, introspective story.
kim4673's review
3.0
I liked the general story in the book. It was interesting to read about her travels to Santiago and also about her personal experiences and what she learns. On the other hand, I missed detail in the story. It wasn't possible for me to get involved in the book because of this. It was more of a personal story about her own feelings and thoughts, and not about the road itself.
juliechristinejohnson's review
4.0
A meditative and somber essay on El Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James. Kathryn Harrison offers intimate glimpses into three different journeys she undertook along the Camino, over a period of ten years. None makes the Camino particularly appealing from a physical standpoint, though it must be acknowledged she made many poor decisions, including starting late in the day and pushing herself —and during one journey, her 12-year-old daughter—past the point of exhaustion, walking during the hottest parts of the day during of the hottest months of the year, trekking while seven months pregnant, carrying too little water and hardly any food. Her account could serve as a mini-primer on how not to be a Camino peregrino.
But she captures with beautiful, honest language what it means to walk, day after day, along a storied, arduous route. Priorities narrow to the essentials: water, shelter, food and feet. The mind quiets, the heart beats more slowly, the eyes see more, the ears pick up the tiniest sounds. Walking is pure meditation. The fear of being alone is subsumed by the craving for solitude.
Harrison's treks are short: each lasts no more than a week, so her body hardly has time to acclimate to the the rigors of the Camino. And each journey is so brief, she seems to pry open and examine dark places in her soul without having time enough to resolve them (I'm afraid I found the closing paragraph disappointingly pat).
I respected this book for what it did not try to be: a blow-by-blow travelogue. It is an interior monologue we've been invited to listen in on. It would be easy to judge Kathryn Harrison for the choices she made. Until it comes time to undertake our own pilgrimage, or admit we don't have what it takes to go the distance she did.
But she captures with beautiful, honest language what it means to walk, day after day, along a storied, arduous route. Priorities narrow to the essentials: water, shelter, food and feet. The mind quiets, the heart beats more slowly, the eyes see more, the ears pick up the tiniest sounds. Walking is pure meditation. The fear of being alone is subsumed by the craving for solitude.
Harrison's treks are short: each lasts no more than a week, so her body hardly has time to acclimate to the the rigors of the Camino. And each journey is so brief, she seems to pry open and examine dark places in her soul without having time enough to resolve them (I'm afraid I found the closing paragraph disappointingly pat).
I respected this book for what it did not try to be: a blow-by-blow travelogue. It is an interior monologue we've been invited to listen in on. It would be easy to judge Kathryn Harrison for the choices she made. Until it comes time to undertake our own pilgrimage, or admit we don't have what it takes to go the distance she did.
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