[Gocamino] Another multi-million seller Camino book

[Glenn]

I visited my relatives in Hamburg in September 2006 and they told me of the 
book.  I purchased it there and skimmed through it and did not like it at 
all.  I know that there has been this long discussion on who is a pilgrim 
and who is not, but I have to admit that my impression was that Kerkling was 
not like any pilgrim I had met.

The crowds I met on the Camino in 2007 were attributed to that book by 
German pilgrims I got to know along the way.  They thought that Kerkling 
should give the profits from that book to the various associations that 
maintain the Camino.  It seemed to us that many in the crowds were trying to 
replicate Kerkling's experiences, and they often had support systems, like 
vans or buses, along the way at various points.  We noticed the telltale day 
packs and sparkling clean shoes.  One problem with this was at the bars that 
were overrun with demanding people.  I never saw that in 2005 during the 
same time period.

Kerkling's book seemed like a farce to me of a place and experience that is 
very dear to my heart.  The Coelho book, however, led me to the Camino.  I 
never heard of it before reading that book.  It caused me to do research on 
the Camino and to look into Internet groups for information.  I took the 
things that he wrote as metaphors for some of the struggles that I 
identified in my own life.

Glenn


>
> Hello you all,
>
> El Correo Gallego, the Galician newspaper, carries an article today about 
> another multi-million-copies best seller Camino book.
>
> The book is called, in German, “Ich bin dann mal weg” (On my way [to the 
> Camino]), was written by a German humorist, Hape Kerkeling, and it has 
> sold more than three million copies already. Since its publication in May, 
> 2006, the book has been in first or second place in the best-seller 
> nonfiction category lists published by the German newspapers. Its success 
> was totally unexpected since the original issue was only 50,000 copies.
>
> The author of the book is a well-known TV comedian who went to the Camino 
> to try to cope with a serious personal crisis. While he took his 
> pilgrimage seriously he couldn’t help portray his efforts and experiences 
> as a pilgrim, and those of other pilgrims, in caricature form in his book.
>
> The book became an immediate success with its readers, although it was 
> panned by literary critics. The chief editor of the magazine “Literaturen”, 
> Sigrid Loffler, herself a Camino pilgrim, had written a book about the 
> pilgrimage which even although it was published by the prestigious firm 
> Cees Nooteboom received little notice. Freulein Loffler confesses to being 
> perplexed by the exit of Kerkeling’s Camino book adding that: “first 
> Coelho wrote an idiotic book about the Camino and the book was a 
> tremendous success, and now Kerkeling writes an even more idiotic book 
> about the pilgrimage and it is a smash”.
>
> Personally, I disliked Coelho’s book and did not get beyond the first ten 
> pages or so…. Why it has sold more than fifty million copies in umpteen 
> languages is a total mystery to me…. If the German book is in the same 
> vein I doubt very much that I would bother with it….. nevertheless, when I 
> am in Germany next August (for the Bayreuth Wagner Festival……..hurrah!!!) 
> I’ll look around to see whether the book has been translated into English 
> or into a more accessible language. Bayreuth, by the way, is a tiny, 
> beautiful Bavarian town, with the most important opera house in the 
> universe, built by Richard Wagner himself, another lovely rococo 
> theatre…. -so beautiful, in fact. that neither the Nazis nor the Allies 
> had the heart to destroy it in WW II….. although they destroyed almost 
> everything else, including Wahnfried!-, a university, and about twenty 
> bookstores! (I understand that the permanent residents of the town number 
> about 5,000).
>
> I’ll let you know whether there are any translations.
>
> Hugs!
>
> Rosina
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