- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Sep 1 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671758187
- ISBN-13: 978-0671758189
- Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 14.7 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,190,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
When freelance journalist Hitt decided he needed a long walk, he had in mind the 500-mile trek from Saint-Jean Pied de Port, in France, to Santiago del Compostello, in Spain, one of the medieval routes of pilgrims to the shrine of St. James the Apostle. For this lapsed Episcopalian, his immersion in the history of Santiago meant not only a long walk to clear his head but adventure and an exotic setting for a travel book. The self-questioning Hitt found the road crowded with other pilgrims with different agendas. In a pale, somewhat self-conscious version of a Canterbury Tale, he sketches them deftly as they straggle along, silhouetting them and himself against medieval pilgrims and dipping into church history and architecture, love and the stories of Saint James. This offbeat travelogue describes a still-living tradition of pilgrimage and a culture of the road both delightful and informative.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
For centuries the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela has been a magnet for millions of the faithful throughout Christendom. This shrined city, devoted to the marytred apostle St. James, is traditionally reached on foot by peregrinos (pilgrims) who hike hundreds of miles to receive blessings. Hitt, a contributing editor to Harper's and Lingua Franca, spent weeks walking this path, where Charlemagne, the Cid, Pope John XXIII, and countless others have tread since the ninth century. The author endured grueling weeks of rugged countryside, scorching weather, mangy dogs, and eccentric hostelers to write an irreverently amusing and colorful adventure. Most interesting are the assortment of characters he meets along the way, each of which could be drawn from Chaucer. Beyond his personal experiences, Hitt offers fascinating historical background on church architecture, the Crusades, and the Knights Templar, which makes this travelog a terrific complement to travel and Spanish and European cultural collections.
David Nudo, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
David Nudo, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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First Sentence
Where does the road to Santiago begin? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Where does the road to Santiago begin? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wherever you go, there you are, Feb 3 1998
By P. Lozar "plozar" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author is frank, spares neither himself nor others, and his writing is often screamingly funny. His fellow pilgrims are a motley collection of rogues, jocks, fanatics, earnest believers, and clueless tourists -- but even in more pious eras, people went on pilgrimages for all sorts of reasons, few of them lofty (witness the Canterbury Tales). Hitt never manages to pin down his own motivation for making the trip, doubtless disappointing readers who expect every journey to end in a blinding flash of insight. But I found his candor refreshing: he tells it like it is and doesn't pretend to a piety he doesn't feel, even when he's momentarily overcome with emotion upon reaching his goal. Chaucer had it right: a pilgrimage is a metaphor for life itself, we're all on this road together, and, if you keep your eyes open, you'll learn that the journey IS the destination.
29 of 38 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointment, Nov 1 1997
By dgkinney@alaska.net - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain (Hardcover)
Having read a favorable review of this book in one of the Seattle papers, and having heard my wife tell of the Pilgrim's Route to Santiago de Compostela, I looked forward to reading this and was very prepared to like it. Though Hitt is clearly a writer of some talent, the narrative was rather poorly drawn and aimless. There was simply not much interesting in his story. What's worse, the Kirkus Reviewer is right: Jack Hitt does adopt a smug tone, discussing the religious aspects of the journey and the concept of "god" (with a pointedly lower-case "g") in a belittling manner at every turn. He seems to incur experience but to absorb none of it; he seems to learn nothing, because he knew everything he wanted to know when he started. In short, this is a regrettable effort.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am inspired to be a pilgrim myself, Mar 6 1998
By Catherine Hallberg "(Kate)" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Off the Road: A Modern-Day Walk Down the Pilgrim's Route into Spain (Hardcover)
I'm about as "religious" as Jack Hitt, but this book piqued my interest in the North of Spain, Romanesque churches and pilgrimages. Why would I do it? Well, the same reason as the author did; historical, architectural, for the connection with the past. In the Middle Ages, it seemed that pilgrimages were a great excuse to travel and there still is a culture of the pilgrim that exists on the pigrim road. When I travel to Spain I will most assuredly travel a part of the Pilgrims Road. I won't get to see as much as Jack Hitt did but I hope I will see enough to recall his ironic humor. When my daughters are old enough I hope to travel the road with them, as pilgrims.
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