Bringing The Camino home - an Interview with John Brierley

[John Finn]

This interview with John Brierley by Greg Daly of The Irish Catholic newspaper may be of interest:

https://www.irishcatholic.com/bringing-the-camino-home/

 

[Jan_D]

Loved this! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[MelissaOb]

Thank you for sharing - I also got the shivers at the end - I live in Drumcondra... and had no idea there was an Irish connection

 

[lt56ny]

This interview with John Brierley by Greg Daly of The Irish Catholic newspaper may be of interest:

https://www.irishcatholic.com/bringing-the-camino-home/

I haven’t read it yet but did the reporter ask him if he was going to write a guide and leave out his spiritual ramblings and just have maps, directions, Albergues and whatever necessary information people need. I can take care of my own spirit.

 

[NorthernLight]

I haven’t read it yet but did the reporter ask him if he was going to write a guide and leave out his spiritual ramblings and just have maps, directions, Albergues and whatever necessary information people need. I can take care of my own spirit.

He already has. The maps version of the guide includes accommodations, elevations, distances, etc., with zero commentary.

 

[lt56ny]

He already has. The maps version of the guide includes accommodations, elevations, distances, etc., with zero commentary.

I know but from what I’ve been told it has a lot less information. Maybe I’m wrong about that. Now on my Camino’s I use wise pilgrim app and Gronze. Works great for me

 

[NorthernLight]

I bought the maps version of his book after my third Frances, just for reference sake. It's good. I've compared it to the full book.

Info wise, the accommodations are simply listed in geographical order and by category, and with zero commentary. That's likely the piece of missing info that bothers some.

Maps show the various alternate routes. I did my first CF with the Michelin book, which did not. The town maps are a nice feature.

Elevation, distances, type of walking surfaces are still there.

Description of things you are seeing are gone.

 

[Becky 59]

After reading the interview I’m thinking of going back to my old guide and re-reading the spiritual bits.

 

[John Finn]

I haven’t read it yet but did the reporter ask him if he was going to write a guide and leave out his spiritual ramblings and just have maps, directions, Albergues and whatever necessary information people need. I can take care of my own spirit.

Like yourself, I find the spiritual musings in his celebrated guidebook to be eminently skippable and I much prefer the maps only version for its brevity and lighter weight (in every sense of the word). That said, the interview is worth reading for the insight it provides into the personality of the man who is second only to the great Elias Valina Sampedro for popularising the Camino Frances in modern times.

 

[RJM]

I haven’t read it yet but did the reporter ask him if he was going to write a guide and leave out his spiritual ramblings and just have maps, directions, Albergues and whatever necessary information people need. I can take care of my own spirit.

There has been a maps only version of his guidebook out for several years. They sell them on this forum. Or you could always just buy a guidebook written by a different author. They sell those on this forum as well.
Or you could always just make your own guide of sorts utilizing information free from the internet.

 

[Bradypus]

Or you could always just make your own guide of sorts utilizing information free from the internet. That way you can totally avoid any ramblings that offend you.

Pretty much what I do. Gronze for information on accommodation, Eroski for its historical and cultural background notes. All the basic information I need or want. I prefer to experience the Caminos for myself and not to interpret my Camino journeys through someone else's spiritual and metaphysical filters.

 

[Tincatinker]

I haven’t read it yet but did the reporter ask him if he was going to write a guide and leave out his spiritual ramblings and just have maps, directions, Albergues and whatever necessary information people need. I can take care of my own spirit.

Your spirit is of course in your own care. None can do otherwise.

As has been said above good John has published a more mechanical guide to the Camino Frances, as have many others. Brierley's suggestions for metaphysic considerations in his guide are no more compulsory than his end stages. His tellings of his own tales are just that. No ones Camino is changed because it is not Brierley's.

I regard Brierley, as I do Hape Kerkeling, The Way, 6 Ways to Santiago, Push Me and this blessed Forum: all as contributors to the modern phenomenon that is "The Camino".

And face it - no one needs a guide to the Camino Frances anymore. they just need the patience to follow the Pilgrim in front

 

[Bradypus]

And face it - no one needs a guide to the Camino Frances anymore. they just need the patience to follow the Pilgrim in front

Very true. Sadly age does not seem to have mellowed me much and I am getting steadily more impatient with crowds all the time. Give me the VdlP or the Mozarabe these days

 

[Tincatinker]

Ach, @Bradypus, if I ever find myself mellowing I'll be looking for the exit. Whether it's the theatricals' " Angry Young Men" of the '50's or the BBC's "Grumpy Old Men" I'm a fully-paid-up member

But I'll reserve my outrage for those that outrage me...

 

[Bradypus]

Ach, @Bradypus, if I ever find myself mellowing I'll be looking for the exit.

I am slowly working my way through images of grumpy middle-aged or elderly Scotsmen for my avatar. Fortunately that gives me plenty of scope.... Still not sure whether the next one will be Victor Meldrew or Malcolm Tucker. Probably depends on what thread has got up my nose most that day

 

[Former member 49149]

I am slowly working my way through images of grumpy middle-aged or elderly Scotsmen for my avatar. Fortunately that gives me plenty of scope.... Still not sure whether the next one will be Victor Meldrew or Malcolm Tucker. Probably depends on what thread has got up my nose most that day

I had noticed... and what about Coltrane?

 

[RJM]

Pretty much what I do. Gronze for information on accommodation, Eroski for its historical and cultural background notes. All the basic information I need or want. I prefer to experience the Caminos for myself and not to interpret my Camino journeys through someone else's spiritual and metaphysical filters.

but it is just a book, after all....
There is no hand that leaps from the pages and forces one to read all the sentences. No spiritual forces hypnotizing and brainwashing.
Just a book. Look at the maps. Look at the albergues etc listing and information. That is all that is needed. The rest is freedom of choice.

 

[Bradypus]

but it is just a book, after all....
There is no hand that leaps from the pages and forces one to read all the sentences. No spiritual forces hypnotizing and brainwashing.
Just a book. Look at the maps. Look at the albergues etc listing and information. That is all that is needed. The rest is freedom of choice.

All very true. I could of course buy and carry Brierley's guide and simply disregard his purple prose. But as I said above all the practical and historical information which I need for my Caminos is freely and readily available elsewhere. So why would I choose to buy and carry one particular book whose only distinctive and unique features are ones which I actively dislike and feel no personal need for? I do not go into a pizzeria and order a Quattro Formaggio only to then carefully pick off all the cheese before eating the remaining pizza. Similarly I do not wish to buy "A Practical & Mystical Manual" with the intention of then studiously avoiding reading the mystical content. Other printed guides are available if I want one. Or for popular routes like the Frances there are many online sources and apps. For reasons which probably have a lot to do with my own religious background and current outlook, theological education and walking experience I do not find Brierley's guides to my taste. Clearly many people think otherwise and if the guides meet their needs then that is well and good. Each to their own.

 

[RJM]

All very true. I could of course buy and carry Brierley's guide and simply disregard his purple prose. But as I said above all the practical and historical information which I need for my Caminos is freely and readily available elsewhere. So why would I choose to buy and carry a particular book whose only distinctive and unique features are ones which I actively dislike and feel no personal need for? Other printed guides are available if I want one. Or for popular routes like the Frances there are many online sources and apps. For reasons which probably have a lot to do with my own religious background and current outlook, theological education and walking experience I do not find Brierley's guides to my taste. Clearly many people think otherwise and if the guides meet their needs then that is well and good. Each to their own.

So you have bought his guidebook(s) before?

 

[Bradypus]

So you have bought his guidebook(s) before?

No - but I have read them and decided they were not for me. I walked my first two Caminos in 1990 and 2002 before Brierley's first guide was published. For those journeys I used Valina's 1984 Spanish guidebook and a supplementary pamphlet guide from the Confraternity of St James. By the time I came to walk my third Camino Frances in 2016 there were many alternative sources of information available and I felt no particular need for a printed guidebook. In fact the albergue list and elevation profiles which I was given by the pilgrim office in SJPDP provided almost all the practical information I needed for that journey and I used Eroski and Wikipedia for historical background information.

 

[lt56ny]

There has been a maps only version of his guidebook out for several years. They sell them on this forum. Or you could always just buy a guidebook written by a different author. They sell those on this forum as well.
Or you could always just make your own guide of sorts utilizing information free from the internet.

Tha is for your advice. I mentioned in another post here I use Wise Pilgrim and Gronze and they work great for me.

 

[samba]

This interview with John Brierley by Greg Daly of The Irish Catholic newspaper may be of interest:

https://www.irishcatholic.com/bringing-the-camino-home/

Poor Brierly to attract such strong feelings , over a book , a guide one can use or not . Sounding pious
Thanks for sharing this interview . I read him after I did the Francés about 10 yrs ago and was interested , more in his thoughts . Like him I took away from that first Camino an urge to change way I see my life and to be joyful , and cut out some of the physical and mental clouding that brings that grey veil with it .its a constant struggle to do with less and to immerse in life , hence walking other caminos in Spain . Each time I walk I get back more to who I am and closer to those I love
Buen Caminos wherever you walk . And Cheers J B

 

[Davey Boyd]

Brierley does get some flak, not too sure why to be honest. Saw some graffiti in an underpass on the Frances in 2015 that read "Best fiction award 2015 - John Brierley". Could of been his distances, but to be honest they are not too far out. I don't need a guide to the Frances but I carry Brierley's maps only version every time I walk the Frances. I like it and write notes in it as I walk, like a rudimentary diary.

So thanks John!
Davey

 

[Bradypus]

Poor Brierly to attract such strong feelings , over a book , a guide one can use or not .

You can't please all of the people all of the time. Brierley's guides are extremely popular and if I was a first-time pilgrim today then I would probably overlook his spiritual digressions for the convenience of having so much useful material in one handy volume. But in my own case the book Brierley chose to write is not the book that I personally want or need today. Over the years the information I want in order to walk a Camino has been pared down greatly. I had already walked the Camino Frances twice before the first edition of Brierley's guide appeared. So I already have a fairly good idea of the terrain, major towns and so on. I am also a reasonably experienced long-distance walker. Given the basic facts about distances, elevations, location of albergues and so on I can estimate my own pace fairly well and plan my own daily stages accordingly. So Brierley's division into stages does not interest me. Nor do I feel the need for his introductory material on physical fitness, travel to the Caminos or clothing checklists. I can easily find information such as accommodation lists online along with maps, historical notes and so on. For a popular route like the Camino Frances practical information is easily found from many different sources and a printed guidebook is no longer essential.

On a more personal note I find Brierley's spiritual commentary intrusive and I prefer to draw on other resources for my religious or spiritual reflections as I walk. At various stages of my life I have been a student of theology, church history and comparative religion, a priest and a teacher of religious studies. That has given me opportunities to encounter religious and spiritual belief and practice in many forms and in many places. Experiences which constantly feed into my thoughts as I walk. I also have a number of friends of various faiths and none - many who are themselves experienced pilgrims - with whom I can and do discuss spiritual and religious questions and experiences which arise from walking the Caminos. I also enjoy occasional challenging conversations with other pilgrims I meet along the way (or indeed here and in other online groups). A far more immediate and satisfying experience than a necessarily asymetrical imaginary dialogue with the solo voice of the author of a guidebook.

 

[Rowena]

Sorry, but I think you’re all missing the point. The interview with Brierley wasn’t about his guidebook!
Thank you to John Finn for posting it. There is much in the article that resonates with my post-Camino experience over the past year. Regardless of whether one likes Brierley’s guidebook, IMHO the points he makes in the interview are worth thinking about.

 

[JillGat]

I want to read the interview and plan to do so after I weigh in here (as is customary, haha)! Anyway, I know that some people are strongly annoyed by Brierley's psycho/spiritual ramblings. I was happy with the Raimund Joos guide and Wise Pilgrim on my phone, but did pick up a dog-eared Brierley guide, a couple years old, in an albergue and carried that too, just because I love poring over guidebooks at night.

Has anyone seen the Travel Guidebook parody, Molvanîa (A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry)? They did a couple others after that, including Phaic Tan, a guide to a fictional Indoneasian/SE Asian country. They are brilliant. I bet somebody here could write a spot-on Brierley-style Camino guide spoof.