Rate this book

Paris To The Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks The Way Of Saint James (2013)

by David Downie(Favorite Author)

3.16 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1605984329 (ISBN13: 9781605984322)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Pegasus Books

review 1: Ugh. I give Downie two stars for keeping me reading this book. It's more likely that my love of France kept me reading it. The subtitle, "A Skeptic Pilgrim walks the Way of St. James" is entirely misleading. It should have read "hostile skeptic"; he's hostile at times and often snarky to belief whether it be Druid, Buddhist or Christian. And he and his wife did not walk the Way of St. James, but made it up as they went along. It's fine to meander, but then don't title your book as if you followed some path. His discussion of prehistory, Gallic, Roman, Christian, and modern history was so jumbled it was difficult to follow (although knowing all the characters, I had less of a problem). And I just about died when he was too good to get the Credenciel in the first part of his... more journey, but when it became necessary to get a place to stay he changed his tune. Such principles. OK..so what did I like? The descriptions of landscape, people, and food and the wistful sorrow at the lost of a very local type of France that we all knew when we were younger. I wish his wife, with her mysterious candle lighting all along the journey, would write a book.
review 2: Finished at last! I have been reading this book for nearly two months. It's not that I wasn't interested in it, because, I was. I guess I just had a lot of things going on and I didn't take enough time to sit down and just read. Anyways, I did like this book a lot. I enjoyed the history that was presented to the reader by the author, David Downie. Reading about France is rather foreign to me. After this book, I think I'd like to see some of the places that the author and his wife travel to. This isn't a light read but I think if you have an interest in the Way of Saint James, love food and wine, and enjoy hearing about Romans and Gauls, then this would be the book for you. less

Download links for: Paris to the Pyrenees: A Skeptic Pilgrim Walks the Way of Saint James

Advertising