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Stories, Thoughts, Encounters

Gianni Amerio

L'Età dell'Aquario Edition

"I no longer know why I leave,

I only know that I'm afraid,

but I feel I must depart.

I fear the silence. (..) "

The opening words of Gianni Amerio in his Walking the Road to Santiago are contained in these verses, as if they were the ultimate attempt of a man seeking justification for not departing. Because "letting it be" is easy, and as he himself will write at the most difficult and painful moment of his journey, "one way or another, you can always find a reason".

But the Way calls to him, so insistently that he can no longer delay.

An honest, ironic, at times entertaining and deeply introspective narrative, it is a journey not only through space and countless kilometres walked, but a pilgrimage through the human soul, through his thoughts, his stories, the simplicity of his perceptions.

Faith, though understated, becomes a central element of his account. It underlies many of his reflections, and doesn't prevent him from offering serious critique of certain forms of religiosity, informed by a keen historical awareness. This is truly a travel narrative, in which the description of places is woven together with thoughts, encounters and friendships that become genuine bonds along the Way.

Throughout the journey, everything within him changes. He undergoes a complete metamorphosis. The Way "strips him down to his essential elements, discards the superfluous" and recomposes his being "in a new way", because there is no rebirth without death.

Thus occurs the encounter with his true self, with another version of himself; a violent collision with "someone you don't know very well" that "embarrasses you", one of those moments in life that mark "a before and after".

Becoming capable of "intuiting and perceiving ever more" while "reasoning and thinking ever less", he realises the journey is not giving him answers, not illuminating his path, but rather is emptying him out, stripping away the superfluous, making him increasingly able "to receive, to feel, to see...to move forward, despite everything", thus capable of accepting God's unconditional love.

And so silence too becomes a travelling companion, a friend to no longer fear, because one must "be empty in order to seek ( ..) and accept fullness".

A book worth reading, then, which not only guides you through the discovery of Spain and its wonders, but carries you on a journey that is far more inward and intimate.

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G.AMERIO, Walking the Road to Santiago. Stories, Thoughts, Encounters, L'Età dell'Acquario Editions, Turin 2015, €19.50

Proceeds from sales will be donated to initiatives aimed at protecting children's vision and eye health.

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