I'm Off Then

May 4, 2009
The 500-mile route along the Camino Frances, from the base of the Pyrenees to the shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, has afforded a sacred pilgrimage to Christians for centuries, and German comedian Kerkeling, somewhat whimsically, resolved to hike it. At 36, a self-described “pudgy couch potato” who suffered some health problems, Kerkeling, wanting to know who God is, set out along the route in the summer of 2001 with an overheavy knapsack only to nearly give up at the first pass. There are nearly 40 stops along the way (helpfully laid out on a map insert), and chapter by chapter, Kerkeling chronicles nearly every one. Pilgrims must get their credencial del peregrino
(passport) stamped at official hostels, usually dreary bunk-packed dorms, as they go, but Kerkeling, a fastidious German craving privacy and hot baths, mostly chooses to stay in hotels. As well, he jumped into cars and trains whenever his feet were smarting. Encounters with other pilgrims enliven this travel account, especially the two English-speaking ladies who accompanied him toward the end; as they approached Santiago, they all felt emotionally uplifted. While the author is better known in Germany and his antics somewhat lost in translation, his emotionally probing narrative develops depth and a touching sincerity.

May 15, 2009
The English-language debut of an international bestseller about an unlikely pilgrim who dispenses life lessons while hiking through northern Spain.

In 2001, Kerkeling—a celebrated German comedian who was suffering from a host of physical, mental and spiritual ailments—decided to embark on the strenuous pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile trek that begins in the French Pyrenees, winds through the Basque country and culminates in the Galician area of northwestern Spain, where Saint James was supposedly interred. The author hoped that the journey would"help me find my way to God and thus to myself." His travel diaries offer amusing, offbeat observations about the trials and tribulations of an overweight, self-described couch potato attempting to hike 12 to 18 miles per day along a rugged trail with a 25-pound backpack slung across his shoulders. Kerkeling's comic sensibility shines through when he describes the motley assortment of individuals that he encountered along the way, from a fraudulent Peruvian shaman who argued that Hitler's Mein Kampf was one of the best books ever written, to a perpetually squabbling couple the author nicknamed"Beaky and Billy Goat." The most touching moments involve the friendships that he established with fellow pilgrims and how the camaraderie helped him complete the arduous route. Kerkeling is less adept at conveying his internal spiritual transformation, largely because he neglects to provide sufficient details about his life before the pilgrimage. Moreover, his musings on spirituality are often rendered in hackneyed prose. He makes assertions such as,"I view God the way I do outstanding films like Gandhi: award-winning and superb!" and ends each chapter with an"insight of the day"—a nugget of homespun wisdom that reads like the inside of a greeting card. Examples include"The heart is always right" and"Do what life demands of you."

Amiable but trite.

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