Which ONE book to bring?

[Kimmy]

In one week's time I will take of for 10 days on CF. I have not decided if I should bring a book or not. But if I do, which one do you suggest - it has to be paperback, not too heavy and I want it to be a book about life. Spiritual yes but not too dogmatic in any sense. It should be more than just a good fiction book, or a very well written classic with a good balance on the external world and interior growth. I do not wish to bring a kindle or such, so it must be a physical book. Any suggestions

 

[jdpiguet]

Hi Kimmy,

"Wind, Sand and Stars" from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Buen Camino,
Jacques-D.

 

[ktchnofdngr]

Even though I am an avid reader, I have yet to read more than a page since starting the Camino. You might be better to save the weight!

Blessings,

Ruth

 

[Kimmy]

Jacques - that seems like a great read. Will definitely put it on my reading list. And Ruth, you may be right. Last time I did not read many sentences... I will
probably bring one thin book for the airplane and then we will see how long it will last me.

 

[PMSLAW]

The Oxford English Dictionary. It has all of the words, just out of order.

Seriously, I took a bunch of audiobooks on an mp3 player with me to "fill the time". I didn't listen to a single minute as the time was filled by my thoughts.

 

[Kitsambler]

On walking the first Le Puy section, I read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and recommend it. A great narrative of an internal and external journey.

Last year while walking from Prague to Nuremberg, I loved the daily entries in Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, and how they spawned my daily journal entries.

 

[DinoCamino]

Kimmy you should be fine...i'm heading on Sun and will be walking in a full suit carrying a brief case and an umbrella.....have dread already

 

[wayfarer]

Kimmy you should be fine...i'm heading on Sun and will be walking in a full suit carrying a brief case and an umbrella.....have dread already

I can only assume you go to work in walking boots, shorts and rucksack then.

 

[cableseller]

I leave next Friday and have also been back and forth on bringing a book. Will probably depend how the "weigh ins" go this week.

 

[WayWalker63]

Three that come to mind for me are: 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' or 'Illusions' both by Richard Bach and 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield.
Even if all you read is a few paragraphs a day to help you relax at the end of the day then for me it would be worth it. Of course I am speaking from my perspective, I don't go anywhere without a book and always have several I'm in the process of reading.
I'm going to add one more to the list 'The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything' by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica.

 

[jimkaszynski]

I took "THE ALCHEMIST" by Paulo Coelho, didn't even get a chance to read it, had to get rid of the weight along with my Chicago Bears t-shirt which just about killed me! My friend gave me an iphone with the audio book, "The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle, I do recommend that book, I listened to it before I went to sleep every night, I always heard something that related to my thoughts for the day.

 

[Kimmy]

Thanks for all your very good suggestions. I will visit the biggest bookshop in the country the day before I leave for my Camino. I guess they should have at least one of the titles you have mentioned in stock. On my last Camino I brought Eckhart Tolles "Practicing the Power of Now" but was always a little bit too tired to read more than a page or two. I have a paperback copy of his new book - A new Earth. Anyone who has read it and can recommend it as a Camino read?

When walking the Camino you do not read The Alchemist, because you are already figuring the answer out

 

[KinkyOne]

When walking the Camino you do not read The Alchemist, because you are already figuring the answer out

That's exactly why I didn't take any such (maybe I should say inspiring, deep, meaningful, philosophical etc.) book on my Camino. Instead Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections was with me throughout the Camino. Paperback, small fonts, very light-weight and exactly the right amount of reading for approx.40 days I've been in Spain. Very good novel with firm storyline, just enough to think a bit of something else in the evening before fell asleep than everyday and those Q&A's

 

[dariosilva]

"...it has to be paperback, not too heavy and I want it to be a book about life. Spiritual yes but not too dogmatic in any sense..."

"Awareness"or "The way to Love" both by Anthony de Mello. Both very light to carry, the second is pocketbook size. One chapter in either book takes about 3 to 5 minutes to read but the thought/ concept will weigh in your mind all day long. I suggest you take one or the other not both, the Camino is a book on its own . You may also just want to take a journal to write in and nothing else.

 

[Sixwheeler]

Why would you want to read? You have the rest of your life for that. I'm starting on 17 September, no book, no Kindle but I am very much looking forward to meeting and talking to other people. If all else fails I'll pick up a local paper and try and find out a little of the locality and what's going on there.

 

[KinkyOne]

Why would you want to read? You have the rest of your life for that.

Why would you want to meet and talk to other people? You have the rest of your life for that.

 

[indyinmaine]

Try "Hiking the Camino: 500 Miles with Jesus": Fr. Dave Pivonka T.O.R. It's thoroughly personal yet down to earth (and funny !) read. I've read it three times already so don't need to take it.

 

[Kimmy]

Thanks for all of your responses and suggestions. One book it will be, not sure which one yet. Probably it depends on what I can find in paperback in the store (and how heavy it is). I have packed super light so I think a book will be a nice splurge, if not for the camino then for the airplanes and the departure terminal

 

[StuartM]

I read The Way Home by Simon Armitage on the El Salvador route this year. He's a poet who walked The Pennine Way in the UK paying his way by doing readings at night and passing round the hat. Not the most profound but a nice take on life on foot. It's a three week trip and each chapter is a day so comes up just shy of being enough for the Frances.

 

[hecate105]

Three Men in a Boat - it will keep your sense of humour intact even when everything else falls apart...

 

[brkdn2]

Walking guide to the Camino de Santiago History Culture Architecture by Gerald Kelly and Brierley's I know that's two books but I think they work well togeather

 

[gerardcarey]

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever ~ by Christopher Hitchens

 

[alansykes]

Last time I carried a small book of my favourite poems that I'm trying to learn by heart. As I was almost always the only person in the albergue (it was November-December), I needed something to read, and the advantage of poems is that you can read them again and again. The local paper is a good suggestion as well, and there's always a copy in the bar if there's nobody there to talk to. My first camino I read Moby Dick in full for the first time, and a lightweight (Everyman edition) long Anthony Trollope novel, but despite their length I'd finished them both by Zamora. But I'm tempted to take my kindle next time.

 

[Kimmy]

Thanks all for your replies. On my way to airport now with my ONE book which turned out to be Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Now it remains to be seen if it will be read during or after the Camino...

 

[Caplen]

Too late, but I still want to play!
Watership Down (Richard Adams - bunny pilgrimage!)
A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)

 

[Stellere]

I'm planning on bringing a child's school notebook and a pen. I figure I'll just write my own story.

 

[Caplen]

Also.....
Labyrinths by Juan Luis Borges
Del amor y otros demonios by Gabriel García Márquez

I rarely find time on a hike when I want to read alone. But my partner and I like to read to each other. I also love to keep a watercolor journal in a postcard spiral of watercolor paper.

 

[dmantony]

Bring a journal and write your own book.

 

[WayWalker63]

I know it is too late and I already suggested a few but here's another suggestion in case someone else is looking for a book to read. 'A Return to Love' by Marianne Williamson is one of my favorite non fiction books. Not lightweight but very good is the oldie but goody 'Iberia' by James Michner.