Customer Reviews

The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe (Vintage Departures)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great book to read while traveling (it just got me through a trip home on a weekend when winter storms had disrupted airline schedules throughout the entire U.S.!). The chapters are short and fairly self-contained, but each is well-written and engrossing. There's a lot of variety -- from fairly straightforward travelogues such as the accounts of the author's visits to Rome, to highly personal essays on his family and his belated coming to grips with his father's early death. And he's the only ex-Catholic author I've read who's accurately described that odd, characteristic combination of lack of belief in the Church's tenets with lingering reverence for all things Catholic: I'm a 'collapsed Catholic' myself, and I think he got it down exactly right. (Nostalgia for one's childhood is part of it, but it's certainly not ALL of it!) His discussions of Catholicism and the English are telling, and he makes some points about the Irish Catholic treatment of Protestants that most of us, raised as we are with a black-and-white (or, in this instance, orange-and-green!) view of the issue, have never considered. There's a lot here to think about as well as be entertained by, and I recommend the book without reservation.

I wonder what possessed the author to bother at all with this subject? The writer scorns believers and practices at every shrine he visits - never attempting to understand the significance of the spirituality at each distinctive site. For him, its all the same, whether Spain or France or Poland. Each time the faintest hint of an insightful question, a yearn to probe deeper starts to appear, he dismisses it and announces that he is off to a pub for yet more beer. We must witness him downing caseloads of suds in this short book. Maybe this is the real problem here. Regretfully, he fits the Irish stereotype with his booze a little too much. For him, the answer to every question is yet more booze.
I was hoping to learn whether he found differences among believers or types of spirituality among the countries and peoples he visited. He labels himself as an outsider and detached, and rudely mocks superficial details at each sacred site. He never gets beyond the surface in noticing details or in understanding what drives people to perform these pilgrimages, what significance the site holds in a culture or political situation, what meaning do the individuals find or hope to find at each place. Also, there is no examination of the communal aspect of the pilgrimages occurring en masse, with many thousands of people engaged in these practices at the same time.
Do not be fooled. I am a left leaning liberal, and thought that this book would contain at least a bit a substance. In the end, I felt ripped off as a consumer for its lack of serious examination or discussion of the subject. I can imagine those prone to more religiosity being seriously offended by this tome.
The writing itself is trite, the commentary sophmoric. Author, get thee to an AA meeting, then take up your pen !!!!!

This was an amazing book. Full of interesting facts and details. It made me want to visit...well nearly all of the places described by the author. If you are interested in Catholicism or European culture and politics, I would strongly urge you to read this book.

Like all the best travel writing, The Sign of the Cross makes you want to visit the places Colm Toibin visits. He travels to out-of-the-way spots throughout Europe, usually during religious holidays. Toibin interacts with both government officials and ordinary people and evokes a feeling for the churches and festivals in a way that makes you wish you were tagging along with him. The book is a combination of travelogue, history, sociology, and personal reminiscence. Toibin is funny and a great prose stylist. You don't have to be religious to appreciate his story.

If you are a believing Catholic, don't bother with this book. The author wastes all his words venting his own personal issues with the church. He manages to find a few folks in his travels who happen to agree with him. At one point he considers that he might still be Catholic even though he doesn't believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ! Don't let the Catholic sounding title decieve you. There is nothing redeeming or entertaining about this book.