Customer Reviews

The Way Is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino de Santiago

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

 

 

I'm constantly struck by how each book about the Camino brings a unique lens to bear. How many variations can there be when describing a demanding trek of many days? It's a classic play, the walker as the hero, with a flaw of physical frailty and self-doubt, with the adversary being the distance and the climate. With the help of the ally - the support of strangers, and for some, faith - the walker triumphs; or there is failure and the play is a tragedy.

Arthur Boers gives us another one of these unique views. His is the insight of a Mennonite pastor and teacher, walking the walk, and analyzing the experience in terms of his faith and his occupation. Of Dutch background, he speaks Dutch, French, English and Spanish, along with a little German.

The thread of the book is of course, the journey. The reader will be mentally tracking him across Spain, sharing the experiences, but what I found the most instructive was listening to this man of God share his daily thoughts.

As the author encounters the situations of daily walking, he finds correlations and metaphors in scripture. Just some of his daily thoughts: Feet get a lot of attention in scripture, and are an important part of the biblical experience. Walking can be a spiritual process. In current times, walking is an act of protest. What if everyone walked to church? Churchgoers attend for a variety of reasons, not always spiritual, so why be surprised to find walkers on pilgrimage for a variety of reasons?

The book has several appendices on practical matters, but one I mentally filed away for the future. That appendix listed a number of obscure pilgrimage routes. We all are familiar with the big three of Santiago, Rome and Jerusalem, but have you heard of Asperen, South Holland, Netherlands, or Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, Ireland, or Holy Island, Lindisfarne, England? To name a few.

I recommend this book particularly for those making a faith-based journey. The only other Camino book I can think of that is clearly faith based is Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino.

This was a total surprise. To prepare for a pilgrimage I read portions of the book slowly for months and found that it led me on a deep, transforming internal pilgrimage. I hated to have the book end. The actual pilgrimage I took didn't compare with the internal richness I gained as I read the book. There were no overt exhortations telling me what to think or believe or experience but simply Arthur de Boers sharing his own experience on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I will read it again and again I am sure.

I am planning to walk the Camino de Santiago next May and have been reading a variety of books by very different people with different reasons for doing the pilgrimage. I personally want the experience to be spiritual and provide me with time to reflect on the past and explore what comes next in my life. I feel the author did that on his journey. I had a hard time putting the book down and was disapointed when I finished. An outstanding book.

What a compelling read! Whether you're spritual in the traditional or secular sense, the author movingly uses the Camino as a metaphor for the larger walk of life. This book created in me an introspective re-examination of the deeper meaning of life and relationships. Read it whether you walk the Camino or not... you will be better off for having done so.

This is a nice enough book for the spiritually-minded walker, but I believe one has to take on faith the word of the author, a Mennonite teacher and preacher, as well as a Benedictine oblate, that he himself covered the entire Camino, for the little he writes about actual walking alludes to North America as well as to Spain -- his book being a series of loosely connected essay chapters, by no means confined to the Way of St. James, on such topics as pilgrimage ancient and modern, on simplifying one's life by cutting back on "stuff," on walking as a spiritual exercise, or on walking as a protest against the automobile. Although Boers, evidently a very traditional Christian, is philosophically the polar opposite of New Age Shirley MacLaine, both writers are similar in that neither reveals much about the day-by-day Camino experience and are best read for their respective worldviews alone.

The Way is Made by Walking is a significant book both for Christians and spiritual seekers. It is the story of pilgrimage, in this case literally, with its harsh physical and emotional demands. It is about taking God outside of buildings and letting him loose on the open road. It is about human companionship and the ties that bind us together.

A book you will want to read and read again and lend and lend again. The more people who read it the better!

I couldn't finish this book. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find a reason to care about the author. I bought it in preparation for walking the camino, but there was no connection between my goals and the sermons in this book. First, he is not a Catholic, and seems somewhat odd about the Catholic faith. Second, there's too little about the journey. Finally, the writer just seems too holier-than-thou for my taste.

purchsed the book based on one review that gave it a 5. was primarily abou tht author's past and religious quotes and thoughts. really seemed to lack cultural shared experiences or observiations with people along the way or the path itself, logistics, so forth. Was just one step above Shirley MacLaines book, more about themselves