Book & Film Reviews

A review of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a British film adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s novel of the same name. This story is a genuine portrayal of pilgrimage in which the titular character sets off on foot to reach a friend in hospice care. Along the way, we discover that this journey of hope, forgiveness, and love is about so much more than reaching her.

A review of Before the Camino by Karin Kiser. Reviewer Sara Steig Gradwohl describes this pocket-sized guide as a “trusty companion as you prepare for your Camino.” This book complements Kiser’s other two books of the same small format, Your Inner Camino and After the Camino. Collectively, the three offer nuggets of wisdom, right-sized to carry in your backpack, before, during, and after your Camino.

A review of Dreams of Passing Fire, a collaborative collection of poems created by writing-group friends who embarked on a Camino journey. They didn’t then envision this book, but when their plans to return to the Camino were upended by a global pandemic, they set off on a different journey, retracing the steps of their earlier Camino through poetry writing presented in this collection.

A review of Thom Ryng’s Practical Pilgrimage, in which a Camino pilgrim who has walked into Santiago five times on assorted routes of varied distances offers readers 12 rules to “not necessarily ensure a more spiritual or fruitful pilgrimage, but perhaps a less needlessly difficult one.”

Joe Curro reviews The Way, My Way, a film adaptation of Australian filmmaker Bill Bennett’s 2013 memoir of the same name. Curro writes that this enjoyable film will resonate with accomplished pilgrims and the merely Camino-curious alike.

Rebekah Scott reviews the newly released English translation of Pilgrim Spirit: Elías Valiña and the Revival of the Camino 1959-1989 by Luis Celeiro Álvarez and translated by Laurie Dennett. This historic document, while dry and not meant to be an “easy read,” serves as an invaluable compendium to historical researchers about the life and work of the parish priest posted to the mountaintop village O Cebreiro and whose painted yellow arrows would start an avalanche that is the modern-day Camino de Santiago.

Jerald Stroebele reviews Leonard Vance’s An Atheist on Pilgrimage: Tales of Humanity from the Camino de Santiago. Stroebele calls it a “beautifully written, entertaining, and informative” memoir about a man’s adventures along the Caminos Via Serrana, Via de la Plata and Sanabrés. The details an observant Vance provides might also make this an ersatz guidebook to these lesser-traveled Camino routes.

Jerald Stroebele highlights some handy guidebooks for the Camino Francés, plus some helpful resources and guides for routes less traveled.

Carol Guttery offers both a designer’s eye and a pilgrim’s perception to this review of A Journey Between Heaven and Earth (Un Viaje Entre el Cielo y la Tierra), a Camino coffee table book featuring stunning photography by Jesús Tejel and the lyrical musings of Reyes Lambea.

Hany Farag reviews “Camino,” a Danish film about an estranged father and daughter on pilgrimage together to fulfill the dying wish of their wife and mother.