Reviews

An interesting book that I saw in the travel section of a local bookstore. It was less about travel and more personal exploration of death/life tied to an historical exploration of St. Cuthbert through travelling, where the author uses the excuse of recreating St. Cuthbert's voyage to (and from, or back and forth to, it was a bit unclear) the island of Lindisfarne in the 600s as well as past experiences going to the island as a teenager to reflect on life. All that said, it was quite interesting, both the historical elements (in depth, engaging, funny, and with some deep contextualization of religious politics and beliefs at the time) and the personal elements (touching, raw, insightful, if somewhat saddening and overly self-reflective).

pierke's review against another edition

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5.0

It's a crossover between a travelogue, a memoir and a biography of St. Cuthbert. Not religious myself and in the same age group as the author, I liked his ruminations on how to best live the last decade(s) of your life and prepare for death. But the book gives also an interesting glimpse into the life of St. Cuthbert and into the history of the Kingdom of Northumbria and the Borders in the 7th century. It has the same engaging writing style of his other books and really shouldn't be missed.

I can strongly recommend the audiobook read by David Rintoul. I wished NAXOS or Audible would publish all Alistair Moffat's older books, or at least The Hidden Way, in audio format as well, preferably read by David Rintoul (or some of the other excellent narrators with Scotts accents, or narrators that know how to pronounce Gaelic words and phrases).

the_readingcorner's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

4.5

melissyteapot73's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

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