Full Title: A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith
Author: Timothy Egan
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa, Putnam Six Bookstore
A Pilgrimage to Eternity is a 2019 non-fiction book from Timothy Egan, author of the incredibly-written The Worst Hard Time (2006). His more recent book, Pilgrimage, is a travelogue combined with history, biography, and theology, as he journeys by foot, car, and public transit from England to Italy. Egan, a “lapsed but listening” Irish Catholic, is struggling with his faith, as are more and more people today. He decides to embark on the Via Francigena trail – roughly 1,200 miles – to reflect on both the history and future of Christianity in Europe, as well as his own relationship to religion now.
As Egan makes his way through the small towns, he uses them as jumping off points. For example, in Saint-Omer, France, he explains how monks used to transcribe sacred texts by hand onto parchment to keep the stories alive. Later, in Laon, he discusses the miracles of the Bible, and in Brienne-le-Chateau, the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. In Geneva, Switzerland, he explains the work of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and in Italy, he considers Augustine and the concept of free will in the village of Bollengo. As he gets closer to the Vatican, he tells the story of Saint Francis of Assisi in the thirteenth century and talks of how Pope Francis is changing the Catholic Church in the twenty-first century.
A Pilgrimage to Eternity is not just a history book though – Egan adds hilarious quips here and there and describes the interesting people he meets on the route and the delicious food and drink he has too. It’s a nicely balanced book – light on one page and thought-provoking on the next – with numerous quotes to pull out as well (“for many of us, malnutrition of the soul is a plague of modern life”). So, sit back in your favorite reading chair and let the author be your personal tour guide across four countries and thousands of years – all without any blisters or knee pain.
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