- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (Sep 28 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385507658
- ISBN-13: 978-0385507653
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.2 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 363 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,141,600 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
While a student at Harvard Divinity School, Egan found herself immobilized by grief at the death of her father. Almost on a whim, she decided to walk the Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage route through northern Spain. The narrative loosely follows the chronology of her journey, and she records many of the trip's details, such as coping with the heat, staying in crowded refugios and dealing with the quirks of local residents. But the book is more than mere travelogue. Egan uses various events on the Camino as catalysts to explore such disparate topics as the history of the cult of relics, how she accidentally discovered breathing meditation and her own feelings of anger, sadness and guilt over her father's death. Indeed, when Egan embraces the essay form, particularly when she shares her moments of confusion and weakness on the journey, her writing is confident, sharp and engaging. By contrast, when she ventures into elements of fiction—such as dialogue and description—the writing often becomes strained. Nevertheless, Egan's effective combining of historical and theological musings with personal experience makes for a satisfying account of the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of religious pilgrimage.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Egan was a 24-year-old Harvard Divinity School student when her diabetic father died. A year later, she and her fiance set out on a 400-mile journey from the Pyrenees in southern France through the valleys of Navarra and westward along the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are supposedly buried. She gives a brief history of the medieval route over the centuries and writes vividly of her own journey--walking through towns, wheat fields, vineyards, and olive tree orchards, along muddy roads filled with giant black slugs, and running out of water in the scorching 110-degree heat. "While I adored him, he was not always kind to us, his children," she writes of her father. Walking many hours each day, Egan began to understand the concept of grief and the presence of God while overcoming her sadness and anger. The book is a compassionate and unforgettable testimony of her pilgrimage. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good bookclub book, Oct 18 2004
By pattycakes - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago (Hardcover)
An essential read for anyone who is struggling with grief or regrets, examining religion's place in his or her life, or merely fantasizing about running away to shake things up. With compelling historical and theological background to set the stage for her pilgrimage, the author is refreshingly honest about exposing her own flaws and struggles. Her boyfriend/traveling partner provides comic relief and keeps her from taking herself too seriously as he keeps her on track. I'm buying a few extra copies as gifts for friends so they can understand when I say, "That's exactly how I feel sometimes."
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible Read!, Oct 15 2004
By bob the bob "Bobster" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago (Hardcover)
A funny, moving memoir that made me laugh but also made me think about my relationship with God. A must read.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't go through life, or Spain, without reading this!, Nov 22 2004
By KHall - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Fumbling: A Pilgrimage Tale of Love, Grief, and Spiritual Renewal on the Camino de Santiago (Hardcover)
Whether you're reading this on a train or on your back porch during a snow storm, be prepared for an extraodinary journey through northern Spain in the summer. For those of you planning to travel the Camino, Egan describes with vivid detail the scenary(especially the wheat), the people, and everything you'd want to know that they don't tell you in a guide book. It is of course much more than a physical journey, and as you travel with Egan it is as though you are taking a trip through yourself, only this time with a witty, insightful, and adventurous tour guide who doesn't stick to the path.
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