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cagillies's review
4.0
First book I’ve read on the Camino with a relatively humble author. Good pacing technique - hard to describe a long distance walk without it becoming mundane and Rufin seems to manage it. Candid, positive and touching.
sophiewdhs's review against another edition
3.0
a rich and privileged man feels sorry for himself because he’s not poor enough to fit in with the others on the pilgrimage.... the walk itself seems interesting enough, but this account could have been so much better. I think it’s obvious that he wrote everything after the fact because the retelling seems insufficient and it almost sounds like he’s only writing what he expects people to think of the walk, not very personal. his sense of superiority is obvious, as if he did the walk to impress his friends and family, not very inspiring. the arrival is anticlimactic, he couldn’t wait to reach the end of the walk, similar to me reading this book because I couldn’t wait to finish and be done with it.
sadie_slater's review against another edition
4.0
Jean-Christophe Rufin is someone I'd never heard of before picking up a colleague's copy of The Santiago Pilgrimage, though I feel I should have done; he's a doctor and novelist, a former French ambassador to Senegal, one of the founders of MSF, and a member of the Académie Française. The Santiago Pilgrimage is the account of his walk along the Camino Norte, the coastal route from Hendaye on the French/Spanish border to Santiago de Compostela. I was a little concerned that the book's focus might be on the religious aspects of the pilgrimage rather than the walk itself, but it's clear from the start that Rufin's journey was prompted less by religious fervour than by a desire for physical challenge, and the decision to walk the Camino rather than heading east through the Pyrenees was a last-minute one.
Rufin's book is much more about the psychological impact of his walk than the external landscapes he moved through; it's short on description and detail of the route, though there are the obligatory amusing anecdotes about the fellow pilgrims he encounters along the way (and I did find his accounts of encounters with women slightly uncomfortable - often unneccessarily sexualised, or generalising about "women" from one woman, and ending with his deciding, instead of being annoyed that when his wife joins him she's brought a heavy make-up bag to carry, to be thankful that she has the means to be beautiful with her). Mostly, though, his focus is on the way his own mental state changed across the course of his 800km walk. I found this absolutely fascinating; in fact, I'd say that of all the books about walking I've read, this one comes closest to expressing the way I, too, feel about long-distance walking. None of my walks have been anything like as long as the Camino, but I absolutely recognise the gradual falling away of all other concerns Rufin describes, the way narrowing life down to the simple need to keep putting one foot in front can be a transcendent experience in and of itself, and the horrible anticlimax of reaching your destination only to find that the walk itself was what mattered, not the place you have arrived in. So many walking books, even the ones which are ostensibly about walking and mental health, seem to focus on the scenery, or the blisters, and despite some things in the book I wasn't wild about, overall I really enjoyed seeing my experience of walking reflected here.
Rufin's book is much more about the psychological impact of his walk than the external landscapes he moved through; it's short on description and detail of the route, though there are the obligatory amusing anecdotes about the fellow pilgrims he encounters along the way (and I did find his accounts of encounters with women slightly uncomfortable - often unneccessarily sexualised, or generalising about "women" from one woman, and ending with his deciding, instead of being annoyed that when his wife joins him she's brought a heavy make-up bag to carry, to be thankful that she has the means to be beautiful with her). Mostly, though, his focus is on the way his own mental state changed across the course of his 800km walk. I found this absolutely fascinating; in fact, I'd say that of all the books about walking I've read, this one comes closest to expressing the way I, too, feel about long-distance walking. None of my walks have been anything like as long as the Camino, but I absolutely recognise the gradual falling away of all other concerns Rufin describes, the way narrowing life down to the simple need to keep putting one foot in front can be a transcendent experience in and of itself, and the horrible anticlimax of reaching your destination only to find that the walk itself was what mattered, not the place you have arrived in. So many walking books, even the ones which are ostensibly about walking and mental health, seem to focus on the scenery, or the blisters, and despite some things in the book I wasn't wild about, overall I really enjoyed seeing my experience of walking reflected here.
brona's review
3.0
Rufin's book, The Santiago Pilgrimage, attracted my attention though, as he also approached the religious aspect of this pilgrimage with a great deal of scepticism. Instead, after a very busy period of his life, he simply decided he needed to go for a long walk to clear his head.
His travel memoir, provides a little background information about the pilgrimage, but then he goes on to outline his approach to this long walk with humour and humility.
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/the-santiago-pilgrimage-by-jean.html?m=1
His travel memoir, provides a little background information about the pilgrimage, but then he goes on to outline his approach to this long walk with humour and humility.
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/the-santiago-pilgrimage-by-jean.html?m=1
khrys's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.5
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