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★★★★★ 5
Truly embracing life along the Camino de Santiago
Format: Paperback, Format: Paperback
The Way of the Wind: Embracing Life While Walking the Camino do Santiago, by John W. Pearson, 2021, recounts one man’s experiences while walking the Camino de Santiago, a thirty-five day, five hundred mile walking journey from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The journey follows a path tread by literally millions of pilgrims, or “pelegrinos”, as they seek to find something very person in the experience. The book is a travelogue recounting the miles of the daily trek, the people, stories, dining, lodging, and local services encountered along the way. There are a series of black and white photographs accenting the dialogue which give the reader a sense of involvement in the story. A nice touch was a simple map at the beginning to orient the reader along each day’s travel.
I absolutely loved this book. It was enjoyable to read and I found myself slowing down near the end of the book to better savor the details. It warrants a double read to go back and let those early experiences soak in a bit more.
I found the book to be educational, as I learned a lot about the historical significance of the route of the Camino, as well as specific landmarks along the way, such as a 10th century Roman bridge dwarfed by a new modern bridge overhead. I imagined myself walking along that ancient roadway, imagining what a pilgrim in 1300 must have thought.
The dialogue is playful, recount with hours of walking, lively dinners, and crowded “albergues” (think camp dorm rooms with bunk beds).
All was not rosy along the Camino. The narrative relates the aches of sore feet, legs, backs; the challenges of securing lodging and laundry; meanings lost in translation; inclement weather and treacherous roadways. Often mentioned are markers to honor the fallen dead along the Camino.
About 2/3rds through the book, John recants his very personal reason for going on the pilgrimage, which he describes as “The Whale in the Room”, referring to the motivation of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. His honesty and vulnerability bring the entire journey into focus. He brings the reader to the Cruz de Ferro, where pilgrims have stopped for millennium with their deepest meanings.
I have known John Pearson since 1975, when we met in High School in El Paso, Texas. However, through the years, I moved and we lost close touch. There were many parts of this book of which I did not know the details. John’s story is very powerful, and will impact the reader deeply.
Once you have read the book, you will have a clear idea of the experience, and can judge for yourself if the Camino de Santiago is calling you. For me, I found the book asking me not “WILL you go?”, but “WHEN will you go?”
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Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2021
