On the Camino way

by Michael Shackleton · March 23, 2009

FOREVER A PILGRIM: My Personal Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and Beyond, by Ermanno Aiello. Positano Publications, Cape Town. 2008. 240pp.

Reviewed by Michael Shackleton

Far from the author�s intention is the presentation of just another kind of travelogue about the wonders and blunders of following the famous camino all the way to Compostela in north-west Spain. Aiello wants to uncover to his fellow South Africans and others his inner heart, his emotions, prayers, hardships, ecstatic moments and final experience of purification during April and May 2007.

He addresses the reader in an intimate and warm way, as if the little important and unimportant details of his spiritual journey were confided to no one else.

Writing frankly and in good flowing prose, not lacking that special sense of humour that all pilgrims seem to share, he subtly feeds readers with abundant descriptions and landmarks that might prompt some of them to follow in his footsteps.

As a 69-year-old, Aiello found at length that his feet and legs were taking a battering on the pilgrim way. He could not get his shoes on without difficulty. On the point of throwing in the towel, he prayed for God�s support. This was not slow to come. He struggled to the next town where, quite fortuitously, he found a physiotherapist who did what his doctors at home could not, and the next day he was on his way again with no pain.

It is moments like this that keep the narrative moving in more ways than one. Meeting, befriending and re-meeting fascinating people on the road are described vividly, as are his emotions when he knows that he intimately feels the presence and love of God.

Those who have undertaken the camino will welcome another pilgrim�s account of what all pilgrims must feel, and those who have not may get itchy feet to take to the same ancient trail.

Uplifting at times and down to earth at others, Forever a Pilgrim is a good read.

The last section of the book consists of the author�s reflections on what he achieved and learned from his experiences. It is somewhat repetitive and anticlimactic and adds nothing to his story. But this will not deter readers who want a refreshing and honest autobiographical description of the penitential practice and spiritual reward of a physically tough pilgrimage.

Michael Shackleton is a former editor of The Southern Cross.