Jerry Ellis (1)

More than eight hundred years ago, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by King Henry II's knights. Soon, miracles began to take place in the cathedral where he was murdered and people began to make pilgrimages to the shrine. Walking to Canterbury is Jerry Ellis's account of his own modern pilgrimage along the same path those pilgrims took long ago."

This book wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be, but it wasn't bad. While I don't care much for the flowery and melodramatic writing style of the author, his research and knowledge are outstanding. The book is packed with historical anecdotes and more information than one can really process the first time through. I loved how he wove medieval history with what he was doing each day. He really is a brilliant writer, even if I don't prefer his style.

I wasn't keen on his weird spiritual weirdnesses. He's very New Agey---citing strange thoughts on God or god or whomever he chooses to recognize in whatever situation. That particular element only got worse as the book progressed.

All in all, I thought the material was fabulous. I'm glad I read this and think it would be quite the eye-opening experience to make the pilgrimage myself someday.… (altro)

A good book to read. Ellis shares just a bit of his own personal history but more of his immediate actions & responses to the people and nature he encounters on his walk from Tahlequah, OK to New Echota, GA. He is mostly encouraged by the helpfulness of strangers he meets along the way. His search for his connection with the Aniyun'Wiya (Cherokee) loses some of its power when the reader realizes he follows this book with one on his retracing the Pony Express Trail. He gives little pieces of events from the historical expulsion of the Cherokee from their homelands, so it helps if you've heard of the history before. There is a brief reference list cited at the end.… (altro)