In this one, having heard about the Way of Saint James (the Camino Santiago, which I know as the Jakobsweg, having first heard about it in German). This is the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela which is supposedly the last resting place of St James, the patron saint of Spain. The route begins just over the French border - anyone with a passing acquaintance with European geography knows that this also means just over the Pyraneees.
Over the last decade or so the popularity of this pilgramage has increased and many people undertake it by foot. Some go on bicycles. A few take donkeys and, thinking that if it was good enough for Jesus it would be good enough for him, Tim Moore decides that if he is going to do the walk, it has to be accompanied by his very own beast of burden.
Out of the three writers I've mentioned, Moore is my least favourite, but he does provide rib-ticklingly, belly-laughinly funny prose. He, in common with Charlie Connolley though, seems to start out for his trek woefully under prepared and that tends to annoy me at times, funny though the results can be.
Another reason, apart from a fairly recently acquired passion for travel writing, for reading this one is that - as a family - we have been thinking of tackling the trek to Santiago de Compostela. Not for any religious resasons but becuase as an established long walk it's "relatively" straightforward. Also it doesn't matter how long you take, we plan to do it in stages if we ever get started, as long as you collect all the Scallop Shell stamps in your pass, you get a certificate of acomplishment when you finally get to the cathedral at Santiago.
Moore also mentions a couple of other books about this pilgrimage, including a totally madcap one by Shirley McLaine which I'd like to try.
Being about a third of the way through this book at the moment I can offer one criticism, albeit a small one. Moore does tend to overcomplicate his language and I'm not sure why.
5 comments:
Brilliant! Looking forward to this :)
What can I do to convince you to read Master and Commander with me?
Well, I have actually read Master and Commander but there was too much of that splicing the mainsail jib brace stuff. (which is what you say about Hornblower I think)
Maybe I'll give it another go this year, I really did like the film.
So now I have finished this book I can safely say that whenever (if ever) I do the Camino Santiago - I will not be taking a donkey!
I quickly got used to his convoluted use of English and his apparent hatred of he donkey - Shinto - becuase I could sense that there was an underlying respect there that wasn't articulated until the end.
But the woeful inadequate preparations and donkey care really did begin to wear a bit thin. Moore met a whole host of weird and wonderful characters along the way, and as he grew to tolerate some of their less endearing ways so did I as a reader.
But having finished reading I am now bitten by the walking bug and planning my first practice walk. Although the Gruesome Twosome have decided they don't want to join in at all.
I'm pretty sure there was a well-written account of this trek years ago in the EG.
Oh I'll have to look that one up. It's something I've only really heard of since I've been in Germany so for me it's the Jakobsweg, and whenever I mention it, people know what I mean. If I say "the Way of Saint James" or "Camino Santiago" to folks in UK, they don't seem to have heard of it.
So thanks for the tip.
:-)
Post a Comment