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Don't waste your time.haven't read it myself
I've read enough about this book to know that it in no way truly represents the Camino.The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's. This is the work reputed to have set the English-speaking world on the pilgrim path. haven't read it myself, so can't comment further.
Thanks for a (new) book suggestion, for me at least, although at first glance I read it as On the Road by Jack KerouacOff The Road, by Jack Hitt.
Do not bother to read.Some of it is realistic Camino experience,the rest is comic book fantasy IMO at least.The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's. This is the work reputed to have set the English-speaking world on the pilgrim path. haven't read it myself, so can't comment further.
Don't waste your time.
Nor on Paolo Coelho's book.
Unless you want to read mythology.
Edward F. Stanton's Road of Stars to Santiago was published in 1994 and, due to COVID-19, online access to this book has temporarily been made available to all by the University of Kentucky. The list price is $70 (yes) and it sells on Amazon for about $35. So, currently, it is free. It's a proper no-frills report of his walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago but you can see that the writer has solid knowledge of Spain and her history and culture.Does anyone know of books which are about doing the camino back the 90s, 80s, or possibly even... gulp.. the 70s?
Hey, I cut off the handle of my toothbrush to save a few grams and you want me to lug a sword??VNWalking; you don’t wish to visit or rather revisit your past lives while fighting or running from dogs in Foncebadon, then looking for that sword.
My, my; where’s your sense of adventure?
The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's.
Some days ago someone published the link (I am sorry but I don´t have the link) to the book "The way of Saint James" by Georgiana Goddar King. The book was published in 1920 by the Hipanic Society of America (if I remember well).
If you are interested, may be you can find it in internet.
View attachment 74861
Georgiana Goddard King, The Way of St. James (1920)
King Vol. 1
https://archive.org/stream/waysaintjames02kinggoog#page/n11/mode/2up
King Vol. 2
https://archive.org/details/waysaintjames00kinggoog/page/n12
King Vol. 3
https://archive.org/details/waysaintjames06kinggoog/page/n11
Edward F. Stanton's Road of Stars to Santiago was published in 1994 and, due to COVID-19, online access to this book has temporarily been made available to all by the University of Kentucky.
Here is what I pulled out of this website as to pilgrim reports published before the year 2000 and in English. Shirley MacLaine's book is not in the list because it was published in 2001. Paul Coelho's book is not in the list because it is listed under "fiction". I marked those books in colour that are frequently mentioned.There is a long list here: http://xacobeo.fr/biblio.html - look for the links to Récits/Romans in a number of languages including English (look for "anglais").
Hope you left in recycling bin and not on bookshelfThis is a definite MUST read . . . so you know what everybody else is talking about!
I picked it up in an albergue - left behind by someone else.
After I read it, I left it at another albergue. It's probably still kicking around out there somewhere.
A wonderful read - but have the tissues ready!LUARD Nicholas - The Field of the Star. A Journey to Santiago de Compostela (1998)
At times a delightfully funny readSELBY Bettina - Pilgrim's road (1994)
I have only read a little of this (it sits on my bookshelf waiting for me to reach it - but this Irish writer has a sense of humourSLADER Bert - Pilgrim's footsteps (1989)
Hidden here is a fine French account/diary available on line of a young man, Dominique Paladilhe, who walked just after WW2 in 1948; he later became a distinguished historian. Be sure to follow the instructions posted here by mla1 on how to read this as a pdf file.
For additional accounts of the good old days on the CF check out some of links cited below.
Happy research and Buen camino.
hahaha. I thought you were asking about the 1800'sHey pilgrim-readers, I'd really like to read something about the early wild-west days of the modern camino. You know, back before all the camino infrastructure got put in place and it became this huge international thing for everyone to aspire to do.
Does anyone know of books which are about doing the camino back the 90s, 80s, or possibly even... gulp.. the 70s?
Thanks!
That would also be fascinating to hear about!hahaha. I thought you were asking about the 1800's
Fabulous, thanks. Downloaded that one and it's now queued up behind Kevin Codd's book, which I'm about half-way through.Edward F. Stanton's Road of Stars to Santiago was published in 1994 and, due to COVID-19, online access to this book has temporarily been made available to all by the University of Kentucky. The list price is $70 (yes) and it sells on Amazon for about $35. So, currently, it is free. It's a proper no-frills report of his walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago but you can see that the writer has solid knowledge of Spain and her history and culture.
The majority of the books and reports from the 90s, 80s, or earlier are not in English and have not been translated into English; they are mainly in French, Spanish, German, Dutch and other languages. There is a long list here: http://xacobeo.fr/biblio.html - look for the links to Récits/Romans in a number of languages including English (look for "anglais").
For what it is worth, Laurie Dennett's book has recently come back into print in a nice new edition. Another option to see what the Camino was like back then would be to pick up a guidebook from the time. The quinetessential guidebook was that written by Elias Galiña Sampedro and his team. He is perhaps best known for introducing the yellow arrows to the Camino. If you don't speak Spanish, there were English language guidebooks in the late 80s, early 90s (pre-Brierley). One that I have (that I purchased through AbeBooks) is called The Pilgrim Route to Compostela: In Search of St Jame:s: A Practical Guide for Pilgrims and Walkers and was written by Abbe G. Bernes, Georges Veron, and L. Laborde Balen, published by Robertson McCarta.Here is what I pulled out of this website as to pilgrim reports published before the year 2000 and in English. Shirley MacLaine's book is not in the list because it was published in 2001. Paul Coelho's book is not in the list because it is listed under "fiction". I marked those books in colour that are frequently mentioned.
ALVEY Ada - In search of St James. Cornwall to Compostela (1989)
BENTLEY James - The Way of St. James (1992): photographs by John MILLER
CURRY Neil - Walking to Santiago (1992)
DENNETT Laurie - A hug for the apostle (1987): on foot from Chartres to Santiago
FEINBERG Ellen O. - Following the Milky Way A Pilgrimage Across Spain (1989)
FOOT Judy - Foot by Foot to Santiago de Compostela (1997/2003): pilgrimage from St Jean Pied de Port
FREY Nancy Louise - Pilgrim Stories (1998)
GARCIA OSUNA Alfonso - Incidents of Travel on the Road To Santiago (1998)
HANBURY-TENISON Robin - Spanish pilgrimage. A canter to St James (1990)
HITT Jack - Off the road (1994)
HOINACKI Lee - El Camino (1996)
LAYTON T.A. - The Way of St James or the pilgrims' road to Santiago (1976)
LUARD Nicholas - The Field of the Star. A Journey to Santiago de Compostela (1998)
MULLINS Edwin - The pilgrimage to Santiago (1974)
NEILLANDS Robin - Road to Compostela (1989)
NELSON Howard - Trust and Tears (1998): "Poems of Pilgrimage"
NOTEBOOM Cees - Roads to Santiago (1997): "Detours and Riddles in the Lands and History of Spain"
POË Emma - Diary of a Pilgrim (2000): in 1992, three women pilgrims start from St Jean Pied de Port
ROBBERSTAD Knud H. - The Road to Santiago (1996)
SELBY Bettina - Pilgrim's road (1994)
SLADER Bert - Pilgrim's footsteps (1989)
STANTON Edward E. - Road of stars to Santiago (1994)
STARKIE Walter - The Road To Santiago (1957): "Pilgrims of St. James"
I'm very interested in the newest edition of Laurie Dennett's book, but has anyone got a tip on how to get it in the UK or Europe? The only places I've found it for sale are in Canada, which isn't looking very feasible currently.For what it is worth, Laurie Dennett's book has recently come back into print in a nice new edition. Another option to see what the Camino was like back then would be to pick up a guidebook from the time. The quinetessential guidebook was that written by Elias Galiña Sampedro and his team. He is perhaps best known for introducing the yellow arrows to the Camino. If you don't speak Spanish, there were English language guidebooks in the late 80s, early 90s (pre-Brierley). One that I have (that I purchased through AbeBooks) is called The Pilgrim Route to Compostela: In Search of St Jame:s: A Practical Guide for Pilgrims and Walkers and was written by Abbe G. Bernes, Georges Veron, and L. Laborde Balen, published by Robertson McCarta.
I'm in Canada and I suspect the publisher is a small Canadian publisher. That may be the source of the problem. I can pick one up and ship it to you, when things calm down.I'm very interested in the newest edition of Laurie Dennett's book, but has anyone got a tip on how to get it in the UK or Europe? The only places I've found it for sale are in Canada, which isn't looking very feasible currently.
Thanks, that's most kind!I'm in Canada and I suspect the publisher is a small Canadian publisher. That may be the source of the problem. I can pick one up and ship it to you, when things calm down.
I have asked the moderators to update that post as the links are out of date. Here is a direct link to Dominique Paladilhe's account of his pilgrimage from Saintes in France to Santiago de Compostela in 1948 (in French):
The net knows everythingI'm in Canada and I suspect the publisher is a small Canadian publisher.
Thank you for that link to ROAD OF STARS TO SANTIAGO! Indeed, the link does work and I shall settle down this evening to read it. Gracias!Edward F. Stanton's Road of Stars to Santiago was published in 1994 and, due to COVID-19, online access to this book has temporarily been made available to all by the University of Kentucky. The list price is $70 (yes) and it sells on Amazon for about $35. So, currently, it is free. It's a proper no-frills report of his walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago but you can see that the writer has solid knowledge of Spain and her history and culture.
The majority of the books and reports from the 90s, 80s, or earlier are not in English and have not been translated into English; they are mainly in French, Spanish, German, Dutch and other languages. There is a long list here: http://xacobeo.fr/biblio.html - look for the links to Récits/Romans in a number of languages including English (look for "anglais").
I read Ms MacLaine's book, noted the 'bit in the middle' and sensed her attempt to convey something vibrantly real from former lives was guiding her to make this pilgrimage, especially where Ms MacLaine founds a piece of jewelery she used to own in a past life. Does the reader have only her word for this experience? Indeed. And does our destination to a cathedral whose construction was inspired by a monk whose midnight angels instructed him to 'dig here'? Indeed. So as a 'new age' American, I happened upon a pilgrim I shall call "Squaddie'. As we shared a table at a cafe, he took his boots off and we obeserved his superating bleeding blisters, but not a word of complaint. As he told me, post-demobbing from the British Army, his life and prospects were at loose ends. He wandered into a bookstore and Ms MacLaine's book toppled off a shelf and landed on his head! To the 'shock and awe' of family and friends, he grabbed his boots (thus the bleeding bisters), booked a flight, and, here he was, knowing with absolute certainty Ms MacLaine's account, for all some portions did raise his eyebrows, inspired his Camino. He knew without a trace of a doubt he was on the Camino for purpoose and good. And many along my 2002 pilgrimage said much the same; they read Ms MacLaine, raised their eyebrows at the middle bit, admired her determination and pluck and noted her account as one more beacon lighting the way to their own Caminos.Do not bother to read.Some of it is realistic Camino experience,the rest is comic book fantasy IMO at least.
Spanish Pilgrimage: A Canter to Saint James; Robin Hanbury-Tenison; Arrow Books, 1990.Hey pilgrim-readers, I'd really like to read something about the early wild-west days of the modern camino. You know, back before all the camino infrastructure got put in place and it became this huge international thing for everyone to aspire to do.
Does anyone know of books which are about doing the camino back the 90s, 80s, or possibly even... gulp.. the 70s?
Thanks!
Do not bother to read.Some of it is realistic Camino experience,the rest is comic book fantasy IMO at least.
The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's. This is the work reputed to have set the English-speaking world on the pilgrim path. haven't read it myself, so can't comment further.
The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's. This is the work reputed to have set the English-speaking world on the pilgrim path. haven't read it myself, so can't comment further.
The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Shirley MacLaine. Originally published in 2000, so her trip would have been in the 1990's. This is the work reputed to have set the English-speaking world on the pilgrim path. haven't read it myself, so can't comment further.
I'm very interested in the newest edition of Laurie Dennett's book, but has anyone got a tip on how to get it in the UK or Europe? The only places I've found it for sale are in Canada, which isn't looking very feasible currently.
Thank you for the link. Have downloaded Road of Stars etc. Looking forward to a good read.Thank you for that link to ROAD OF STARS TO SANTIAGO! Indeed, the link does work and I shall settle down this evening to read it. Gracias!
Hello. I want to thank you for mentioning this book. I am about one hundred pages into it and am enjoying it immensely! Has anyone mentioned the part of the book that tells of the author’s encounter with Ramon? I can’t help but believe that this is the source of the infamous Ramon in Sheen’s movie “The Way.” Too many similarities to not have a connection. Buen Camino, eventually.Downloaded - thank you so much!
Thanks for a (new) book suggestion, for me at least, although at first glance I read it as On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Could've been done in El Camino though
Some days ago someone published the link (I am sorry but I don´t have the link) to the book "The way of Saint James" by Georgiana Goddar King. The book was published in 1920 by the Hipanic Society of America (if I remember well).
If you are interested, may be you can find it in internet.
THE classic book of the early days, the mother of all camino pilgrim accounts to come: Priez-pour nous à Compostelle - Pray for us in Compostela. By Pierre Barret and Jean-Noël Gurgand.
Never translated into English but into Dutch, German and Spanish, and a success in France. An inspiration for hundreds if not thousands who read the book or heard about it and then walked themselves.
In 1977, these two journalists, Barret and Gurgand, walked for 50 days from Vézelay via Roncesvalles to Santiago, from April to June. If I remember correctly, they sent articles to their newspaper while they walked - the Nouvel Observateur, a non-religious progressive weekly news magazine. They reached an audience that went beyond the scholars and historians and those interested in medieval history and Romanesque art. The following year, 1978, their book was published.
I've not read the book but I've read comments and interviews by the two walkers/pilgrims. Roncesvalles was apparently not very welcoming for pilgrims in those days ...
Here's a photocopy of a page from the Nouvel Observateur of 11 July 1977 with a grainy photo of the two pilgrims. Evidently in Spain but I can't make out where.
Coelho is one of my favorite authors. He doesn't right biographical about the Camino but fiction just as in most of his writings.Don't waste your time.
Nor on Paolo Coelho's book.
Unless you want to read mythology.
I thought it was both! Shook my head a bit, definitely inspirational, but then, I'm a New Age, tree-hugging, crystal-wearing baby-boomer peregrina!I have read it.... I do not recommend anyone else read it... Not so much "off the Road" as "Off the Planet..."
Many thanks @Kathar1na for link. Just finished reading it and things sure have changed a lot since then! Fascinated by his description of Galicia especially.Edward F. Stanton's Road of Stars to Santiago was published in 1994 and, due to COVID-19, online access to this book has temporarily been made available to all by the University of Kentucky. The list price is $70 (yes) and it sells on Amazon for about $35. So, currently, it is free. It's a proper no-frills report of his walk from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago but you can see that the writer has solid knowledge of Spain and her history and culture.
Only 18 years? That's practically yesterday! When I first arrived in Santiago de Compostela from Roncesvalles I rewarded myself with a private room. It cost me all of 200 pesetas ($2 Canadian).Its been 18 years since I was first on the Camino. Most prices were still quoted in both euros and pesetas and elderly peasants worked in the fields with wooden implements near Roncesvalles.
The only books I could find were those of Shirley McLaine and Paulo Coelho - I bought and read them both.
Although.............. I must admit that it was with trepidation that I neared Foncebadon.
A blizzard had started up and it was misty , Indeed Foncebadon WAS an abandoned town with a pack of about 6 dogs.
When I was just about there a massive Pyrenean Mountain dog broke through the mist and cantered towards little me ..............
Ahh , but I have not been gifted with immortalityOnly 18 years? That's practically yesterday! When I first arrived in Santiago de Compotela from Roncesvalles I rewarded myself with a private room. It cost me all of 200 pesetas ($2 Canadian).
Yes!! Wonderful book!! Good job translating, Rebekah! I found it in English in Santiago, and bought it -- am about to start re-reading!IMHO, one of the finest is "The Great Westward Walk," a journey by a young Basque man who harks back to his walks and bike-rides on the Via de la Plata, too. Mystical, historical, and sometimes very funny.
I also like Jack Hitt's "Off the Road," and Cees Nooteboom's "Roads to Santiago."
Thank you for this, @alhartman .I certainly never thought I would defend reading McCLaine (walked 1994) or Cohelo (walked 1986), as they are not my cup of tea. I read them, plus Hoinacki (walked 1993) before my first Camino in 2005. Read them please: I believe that they are watershed books for the tone of the modern Camino resurgence. I could visualize the wild dogs and wolves roaming Foncebadon!
...
Anyway, do read MacLaine and Cohelo even if that isn’t your ‘spirituality’. They are fully representative of a period of Camino—the ‘Early New-ager’ epoch.
What a conversation that would have been ❤I had a breakfast chat on my 2005 with an elderly priest (lovely man) who had let me sleep on his garage floor, and who had done his Camino in the 1950s.
What he described to me was quite similar to the French portion of my 1994 from Paris -- no waymarkers, no specific support infrastructure, DIY looking for churches, abbeys, monasteries, presbyteries along the way to look for stamps on the passport and hopefully somewhere to sleep, not always successfully so sometimes sleeping outdoors, and having constantly to keep a sharp eye out for watering and food supply opportunities.
That was what the Way in Spain was like for him.
I first walked in early 2009....
The differences over the past 5 years or so are so dramatic that I feel as if my first caminos were in the far past.
I had a breakfast chat on my 2005 with an elderly priest.... who had done his Camino in the 1950s.
no waymarkers, no specific support infrastructure, DIY looking for churches, abbeys, monasteries, presbyteries along the way to look for stamps on the passport and hopefully somewhere to sleep, not always successfully so sometimes sleeping outdoors, and having constantly to keep a sharp eye out for watering and food supply opportunities.
That was what the Way in Spain was like for him.
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