Sign in with FacebookMitch's Reviews > I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago
I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago
by Hape Kerkeling, Shelley Frisch
by Hape Kerkeling, Shelley Frisch
This is the first time I've included a rotten book here on GoodReads. Pure and simple, this is an act of revenge.
It seemed to have such potential- written by a German comedian (or was that perhaps an ominous warning?), sold over 3 million copies, was all about hiking a historically famous spiritual hike along the roof of Spain...
The man was out of shape and shouldn't have undertaken it. The reader is subjected to innumerable references to how much his feet hurt and that he doesn't like walking. He also indulges himself constantly- disdaining to stay in the austere conditions with the other pilgrims, he hangs his hat in hotels, rises late each day and has a nice, relaxed breakfast, skips over rough sections of the Camino via bus and hitchiking, and then subjects us to his multitude of New Age platitudes about how it's teaching him to live his life better. ("My weakness is my strength.")
If weakness is strength then this book is Mr. Olympia. The content is dull and whiny and the translator used up the entire world supply of exclamation points. Obviously the book got published because of the author's fame.
And it ISN'T funny.
-Unless, of course, you count the title. At first I thought it meant he was taking off on a trip. After reading a while though, I came to understand that he was unconsciously referring to either his own stability or his spiritual conclusions.
It seemed to have such potential- written by a German comedian (or was that perhaps an ominous warning?), sold over 3 million copies, was all about hiking a historically famous spiritual hike along the roof of Spain...
The man was out of shape and shouldn't have undertaken it. The reader is subjected to innumerable references to how much his feet hurt and that he doesn't like walking. He also indulges himself constantly- disdaining to stay in the austere conditions with the other pilgrims, he hangs his hat in hotels, rises late each day and has a nice, relaxed breakfast, skips over rough sections of the Camino via bus and hitchiking, and then subjects us to his multitude of New Age platitudes about how it's teaching him to live his life better. ("My weakness is my strength.")
If weakness is strength then this book is Mr. Olympia. The content is dull and whiny and the translator used up the entire world supply of exclamation points. Obviously the book got published because of the author's fame.
And it ISN'T funny.
-Unless, of course, you count the title. At first I thought it meant he was taking off on a trip. After reading a while though, I came to understand that he was unconsciously referring to either his own stability or his spiritual conclusions.
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Emily
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rated it 2 stars
May 19, 2011 06:47am
Rats. I'm about a third of the way through and was starting to get irritated with him, but continuing to read, hoping he'd go through some kind of transformation in which he stops judging all his fellow pilgrims and being so arrogant. Doesn't sound like that really happens, I guess. I hiked this 15 years ago, and my experience was very different than his.
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