I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago

I purchased this by accident and, after reading it, was very happy about this accident since I found the book delightful. The book has become a big bestseller here in Germany and has motivated many people to go on a pilgrimmage. In it, the German comic Hape Kerkeling, tells the story about his walking of the Camino de Santiago as a result of trying to get over what seems to have ben a bad case of burnout. Unlike many pilgrimage books that gush about the revelations they experience while walking, Kerkeling feels free to complain and hitch a rode when the going gets too tough. His mediations on the trip are worth reading.

This gets 2 stars instead of 1 because the author had a soft spot for animals and was kind to many dogs along his route. From many of his interactions, I think he might like dogs more than people. I decided about halfway through the book that I didn’t really like this guy, who picked and chose who he’d be civil to along the Camino. Once he made some real friends that he hiked the route with, his attitude picked up a little, but he still thought himself perfectly justified to just not respond to people who were trying to connect with him.

I walked the Camino with my husband in 1996. Of course the experience would be different for a newly married couple who had recently celebrated their first anniversary. Kerkeling was on his own, and show more so our approaches to the route and the people on it, and their approaches and reactions to us would be different. But still, we met people we didn’t like and kept running into them too, but we didn’t just refuse to talk to them when we saw them. Kerkeling does this on many occasions in the book, and his detailed critique of a German couple after eavesdropping on them in a hotel was where I first started really disliking this guy. He only speaks to the people he deems worthy of his time.

Besides that, the book just wasn’t consistently enjoyable to read, with his kooky philosophical ramblings and judgments of his fellow hikers. He did have a couple of religious metaphors that I thought were quite good, but overall, the spiritual commentary seemed kind of fluffy to me.

Reading this did inspire me to get out my old journal to consult my own attitudes and memories, so I am glad that I read it. Walking the Camino de Santiago is one of the great memories of my life, so a refresher about the places and challenges of the pilgrimage was welcome. show less

Translated into English, as I'm Off Then: Losing and Finding Myself on the Camino de Santiago.

Hans Peter "Hape" Kerkeling is a comedian of some reputation in Germany. Despite being a self-proclaimed couch potato, he sets out to walk the Camino de Santiago... all 800 km of it. Ok, make that most of it, and definitely include the last 100km.

Things started out really well, with Kerkeling setting a suitably doubtful tone for this entire endeavor.
We have his grandmother's old prophecy on the one hand - "If we don't pay attention, our Hans Peter is going to fly away one day!" - , and his friends' disbelieving remarks on the other hand - "Uh-uh, you've gone bonkers now!". To be fair to said friends, he did leave with a rather flippant "I'm show more off then".
Add to this the author's own serious doubts about actually achieving his goal, and I was hooked.

It was sort of fun for a while, seeing our "hero" huff and puff his way to the top of a hill in the pouring rain with no visibility. I even felt sort of smug, seeing him accept a car ride, on his VERY. FIRST. DAY. If he could fake his way through a pilgrimage, anyone could (yours truly included).

I nodded along with his remarks about choosing comfy hotel rooms over the church-approved hostels. Then again, I'm a sinful atheist, so what do I know?

Little by little however, I found myself avoiding the book. I would read about half a chapter amidst constant sighing, put it down, start something completely different and much more frivolous in genre. In essence, it slowly but surely became kind of a chore, so I dropped it half-way through.

Score: 2/5 stars

2016 was the year of guilt. Be it professional-development, home cleanliness, etiquette, or any other personal goal, I've gone through them all. While I have an amazing capacity for wailing about any of these topics, I'll try to limit myself to those pertaining to Goodreads: read more books in German.

In any case when it comes to my upcoming German reading material, I'll probably stick to the less popular YA books, since at least those reviews seem to make a difference. show less

I really enjoyed reading this. I felt like I was there and although I can't say that I'll be putting on my hiking boots and hitting the trail anytime soon, I am happy that Kerkeling decided to publish his chatty, witty and often moving little travel diary - I was absorbed - and I didn't even have to get any blisters along the way. (NB: I read the original German version, so I can't vouch for the English translation.)

Hape Kerkeling, Deutschlands vielseitigster TV-Entertainer, lief zu Fuß zum Grab des heiligen Jakob – über 600 Kilometer durch Spanien bis nach Santiago de Compostela – und erlebte die reinigende Kraft der Pilgerreise. Ein außergewöhnliches Buch voller Witz, Weisheit und Wärme, ein ehrlicher Bericht über die Suche nach Gott und sich selbst und den unschätzbaren Wert des Wanderns.

I was deeply disappointed in this book as it was billed as one of spiritual transformation. Hah! The joke was on me. Other than getting sore feet and making two new friends, I failed to see how Hape Kerkeling "found himself" on his long journey to Santiago. He may have been seeking something grander, but he kept getting caught up in making snide little remarks about people he met along the way. If that kind of attitude was meant to be funny, this book failed in that category, too.

Suffered in translation, I think, but the journey was interesting. Read on recommendation.