The Pilgrimage (Plus)
Here Paulo Coelho details his journey across Spain along the legendaryroad of San Tiago, which pilgrims have travelled since Middle Ages. On this contemporary quest, he encounters a Chaucerian variety of mysterious guides and devilish opponents and learns to understand the nature of truth through the simplicity of life. The Pilgrimage holds an important place in Paulo Coelho's literary canon. His first book, it not only paved the way for his phenomenal novel The Alchemist , but it also fully expresses his humanist philosophy and the depth of his unique search for meaning.
Reviews (177)
Fascinating and Intense, But Be Prepared to (Slightly) Suspend Your Belief in Reality
This book about the Camino de Santiago is slightly bizarre, a bit peculiar and actually quite curious. It is also intensely spiritual. Despite the subject matter—a pilgrimage hike of 500 miles (mostly) through Spain to the shrine of St. James the Great in Galicia—its focus is not so much on the physical walk but rather an existential examination of the meaning of life. Written by Paulo Coelho, the book greatly surprised me. After the first few pages, I had to confirm I was reading nonfiction and not a novel of magical realism. It is nonfiction, but the stories he tells feel like magic at times. Coelho participated in the pilgrimage in a quest to find his sword—the ultimate accomplishment—as part of the initiation into a religious group called the Order of the RAM. Along the way, he meets and fights with his personal devil in the guise of a dog, encounters mysterious guides, supernatural beings, and is taught a series of "exercises" to reach deep inside his soul. In one of those exercises he sees when he will die. He experiences the occult, miracles, physical and spiritual tests, personal battles, life lessons, and the all-consuming power of agape love. It's a fascinating book, albeit quite intense. Read it for spiritual insight and be prepared to (slightly) suspend your belief in reality.
Just like in the Alchemist
I started reading this last week, a month or so after I read the Alchemist. This story held the same mystical magic in it as the Alchemist, but the religious undertones were much more pronounced because of the actual journey. Just like in the Alchemist, I felt like Coelho was pausing the story from time to time to say something directly to me, the reader. He had such wonderful messages about how to experience agape love, let go of the things that tether us, and free ourselves from the things that are distracting us from our true destiny. I'm convinced that I must now try to read everything Coelho has written (which is a lot!). He's truly a wonderful writer and offers God given words.
Paul Coelho's journey
I have walked to Santiago twice, once west across the northern tier of Spain and once north from Porto near the Portuguese coast. I caught myself wishing I had read Coelho's book before starting on the Strange Road to Santiago. Now I'm relieved that I didn't because my experience of the pilgrimage was so similar to his in the most meaningful ways. I needed to discover it for myself. I plan to walk to Santiago again in a few weeks on the gentle route south from Spain's Atlantic coast, and I'll do it with the special joy of taking my friend Coelho's along.
If you love the Alchemist
If you love the Alchemist, and want to see not only the inspiration, but the real life practice of that book's lessons, this book is for you. I also highly recommend Paulo's other autobiographical novels (of which I've read all but one, his newest work, "Hippie") Aleph and The Valkryies. These books not only give you insight into Paulo's life, and the mystery/magical elements of the world, but they also provide a window into the evolution of his marriage to his wife Christina. As for the Pilgrimage, I have bought this book repeatedly for others because I believe it is THE book to show you the way to faith, as well as the way BACK to it, without the preachiness of relgious rhetoric. Check it out. You won't regret it.
This is a great book however it is missing the last chapter!
Below is what I had written in March 2017 but I found out in July 2017 that this book is not ended properly. It is missing the last chapter Santiago de Compostela. The previous chapter is not properly ended either. "...caused the blade of my sword to glisten" was not how Paulo Coelho finished the book. I think all purchaser of the book deserve an explanation from Amazon and HarperOne. I found this very bizarre. So I changed from an original 5-star rating to a 2-star. I read The Pilgrimage more than once. The first time I read it was when I was traveling in Spain and Morocco. This is the type of books that feeds our souls. Though Paulo has other books perhaps more popular The Pilgrimage remains my favorite. It is more for mature readers. I recommend it to everyone who wants to add a bit food to our spiritual journey and pursue life with enthusiasm, wisdom and courage.
Not what I expected!
I think my own expectations lessened my liking for this book. I was not expecting a how-to walk the Camino, but perhaps a more objective real-life account of one’s personal experience. This genre, which I can’t even name or describe, is unfamiliar to me, and I struggle with “this really happened?” Or “Is this just fantasy?” I’m not familiar with Coelho’s style of writing, and this just didn’t win me over. But...I stuck with it, wanting to see if there was resolution.
a bit disappointed
I knew this was an allegorical read from the start. I just finished the Camino and had hoped to find more of a connection with the physical aspects of the journey. But alas not. ANd after finishing I wished i could say I get the message he was trying to convey. Thought the plus edition might have some questions for readers to help one decipher the true meaning of this book. perhaps somethings were lost in the transaltion of this book from his native language to english.
Spiritual Fantasy Presented as Reality
I guess I am a little too grounded in actual reality to buy into the mythology Mr. Coelho sells as reality in this book. It was an interesting read of the authors spiritual adventure and awakening on the Camino de Santiago. As I am planning on making this walk later this year I was interested in both the mystical and historical perspectives presented in this book. If you are looking for a fantasy that is presented as fact this is the book for you. I did not understand this was an autobiographical account until after reading the book. Knowing it was suppose to be non-fiction made me like the book less in that it asks the reader to accept mythology as fact. I can do that with fantasies, but not in realities. If you don't have that hang-up with non-belief in mythology you may enjoy the book more than I did.
The Journey through the Pilgrimage
~Summary~ The Pilgrimage is about one mans journey to find himself through the excuse of finding his sword. At first, the main character had gone through a set of trails not specifically talked about in the book, to earn the right to have his sword. But because of his impatiance, he has to prove himself by taveling down the Road of Santiago. There, he meets his mentor who will teach him the practices that he has to use to find his sword. The main meat of the book is the main character on this journey. Whether he finds his sword or not will be up to you to find out. ~Impressions~ To be honest, there were parts of this book that made it hard to read. Some parts just made you loes intrest. But to conteract that, there were parts where the words flowed naturally off of the page to make not reading on to the next chapter hard. The book teaches a lot about the human mind and how most people think and I found that interesting. I loved how it emphsized the importance of having mental toughness in life as that is truth. ~Recommendations~ I would recommend this book to anyone having trouble finding themselves. This book has a lot to do with that and may provide some answers for said person. Coming from a teenage male perspective, I feel like it can relate a bit to my group. Would read again in a few years.
The Pilgrimage
The Pilgrimage is the story of Paulo Coelho's journey on The Road to Santiago. During his journey he discovers the secrets of wisdom, love, and God who resides in all of us. It's very interesting and even entertaining to read. He describes all the excersices and practices to obtain the secrets of the world and describes some of the religious visions he has, that sometimes seem like he was having a trip off some psychedelic drugs. Very interesting read.
