A curiosity

[Tom Priestly]

Hi all,
For my practice walks in Edmonton's river valley (I start the Camino
in about 6 weeks' time) I have been listening to sets of CD's from
the public library. Novels mostly. Most of them well worth listening
to. But the last one . . . not so. I bring it to your attention NOT,
repeat NOT because it is to be recommended: I find its plot
preposterous, its characters predictable, and its clichés pervasive.
I am reporting about it because of two passages in it.

The hero of Robert Ludlum's *The Prometheus Deception* (2000) is,
with another "operative", washed ashore at Finisterre/Fisterra. They
assume that they are being pursued. They commandeer a truck and drive
off towards Santiago. Later our hero "noticed that the road was
becoming crowded with people . . ." There follows a description of
dense crowds of pilgrims, also gypsy vendors along the roadside
selling souvenirs. It is all very colorful (and has several things
right - the locals speak Galician, the scallop shell emblem, and so
on) but when an inevitable shoot-out takes place, we read of a
"frenzied stampeding crowd." Later, in Santiago centre, they are in
the crowded Praza de Obradoiro, and once again there is a shootout
(and once again a stampede).

Not having been in Santiago yet, I cannot judge the accuracy of
Ludlum's description. Perhaps he has the latter part right.  But
given what I assume to be inaccurate (am I correct?) - massive crowds
on the road into Santiago from the WEST - I have to wonder. It may be
that Ludlum is confusing the western approach to Santiago with the
approach from the east, which this summer (and next year) does sound
as if it will be thronged. He does indeed mention "the pilgrim's road
of some one hundred kilometers from the pass at Roncesvalles to the
ancient shrine of St. James in Santiago. It usually took a month to
make the journey on foot." [Yes, 100! That makes four km per day
average. Poor proof-reading!]

You may imagine my surprise and anticipation, as I walked, to be
transported aurally to the Fisterra-Santiago road; and my annoyance
when I guessed that I was being short-changed. This looks like being
one Camino reference to be tucked away in a corner of the archives.
Using these locales, with their actual connotations, for descriptions
of mayhem and bloodshed is of course unfortunate, but there is so
much of these elements throughout the book that it would be
inconsistent if or hero did NOT make harrowing escapes in these
places.

A quick search of movie internet pages tells me of a 2001 movie "The
Prometheus Factor" with 2 writers whom I have never heard of but,
oddly, no further details: no cast, no crew. It seems not to have
been released. If it is based on Ludlum's book, this may be just as
well . . .

¡Buen camino!
Tom Priestly