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Summary: The Camino
Review: I recently completed the Camino de Santiago and when I learned of Ms. Mac Laine's newest book I enthusiastically sought to buy a copy. After all, we are both now Peregrinos, kindred spirits who have survived the rigors of The Way and savored its many joys. What was revealed to her fertile imagination and how would it compare to my own experiences. On a less spiritual level, how did a Hollywood celebrity deal with the many daily inconveniences which are so much a part of pilgrimage. Finally, what route did she actually travel; which villages or cities did she stop in each night and what were her recollections regarding these locales.I've finished the book and my inescapable conclusion is that it does not represent the enlightened musings of a fellow Peregrino but is, instead, simply another airing of Ms. Mac Laine's very creative perceptions of her prior existences. This book should be bought and read only by those who are interested in the author and her unique perspectives on life and spirituality. It really has little to do with The Camino except that the latter provides a stage upon which this popular actress can continue to articulate her, arguably, entertaining metaphysical balderdash--any or all of which is no better or worse than you or I might conjure up. By her own admission, she cherishes her role as actress. As an actress she "creates reality."Which, as any good actress knows, is the name of the game. I have no problem with any of that. I simply contend that this book is not about The Camino. It is very much about Shirley MacLaine. This work is really a celebration of celebrity. A status which bestows on its members a right to opine, for profit, on all manner of issues without the normal encumbrances of other writers, i.e. authenticity and outside validation of the facts. The hubris of this author is startling. Before 20 pages have passed, the author-- who I assume would have us believe that she is a serious and erudite writer--feels compelled to share the fact that she intends to walk The Camino braless. My oh My. Talk about significant reportage. I guess she is just trying to get us thinking about the inevitable movie which will follow. To anyone who is seriously interested in The Camino, I would only offer the thought that Ms. MacLaine's experiences are the product of her own very talented and creative mind. To view her musings as a cause and effect model of what The Camino imparts to those who trod it is simply wrong. There is very little of value in her book to the aspiring Peregrino. If you so aspire, look elsewhere. In the final analysis, however, The Camino experience will be a unique one for each pilgrim. As the days pass and the experiences multiply, there will be an increasingly clear sense of the development of the deepest of personal truths. This intensely satisfying awareness is the essence of the solitary, unencumbered environment that is The Camino.
Rating: 
Summary: The Camino - A Spiritual Journey
Review: From a fellow pilgrim - There is a certain amount of misinformation given by Ms. Mclain: she states for example that the Camino de Santiago can be done for as little as $50. Considering that one must sleep each night in the pilgrim hostals ("refugios") which rely on minimum donations of 500 pesetas ($3) from each pilgrim and that one must purchase food along the way, the journey, while not expensive, is impossible even at ten times the amount she quotes. She also states that Spanish is not spoken in Castille, which is the very source of Spanish: the equivalent to British English in the English speaking world. Anyone who speaks any dialect of Spanish can be understood anywhere in Spain and in the Spanish speaking world. We know Ms Mclain's body and spirit were on the road to Santiago, but this basic misinformation makes me wonder how much of her mind was there.
Rating: 
Summary: I TOO HAVE DONE CAMINO & MORE
Review: MS. MACLAINE NEEDS TO STOP SHARING HER "BORED CELEBRITY IN SEARCH OF MEANING" LIFE WITH THE REST OF US. SHE HAS MUCH TO LEARN. I SUGGEST SHE READ A BOOK CALLED SIGNALS HERE AT AMAZON. RATHER THAT TREK HER OLD BODY ON A SEARCH THAT SHOULD BE MADE WITHIN. THEN GO VOLUNTEER AT A CANCER HOSPICE FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME THIS TRIP TOOK HER TO MAKE.
Rating:
Summary: Don't read unless you love Shirley MacLaine
Review: Having done the camino myself I was eager to read this book. I am not a Shirley MacLaine fan, and I admire her for setting out to do this ardous juouney at her age. I found she shared too little about the actual journey and plenty about her inner journey. This is fine if you can imagine and believe all she believes. I can't. I personally hated the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Spiritual Journey!
Review: Shirley Maclaine is the only actress I ever pay any attention to, and it is precisely because of her spiritual journeys & the valuable information that she has to impart. It amused me to read a couple of the reviewers who were surprised that this book was so "spiritual" and not completley focused on the "Camino." Obviously, they had little knowledge of Shirley Maclaine when they started reading, or they would have known going in that they were going to be reading about "spiritual" adventures. A couple years ago at the age of 40, completely caught up in Christian traditionalism, I started hearing a voice telling me that hell did not exist and encouraging me to search and question my beliefs. I started having dreams about past lives (one life during a period of intense racism, where I took a black child and raised him)--another life as a passionate artist in Italy. I didn't understand what was happening to me, and there were times when I honestly thought I was going crazy. One night, I found Shirley's book "Out on a Limb" under my bed. I didn't have any idea how it got there--I live alone, and I never purchased it. But I started reading and realized I was going through so many of the things that she described in this book. When she described her "Out of body" experience, I felt such a relief. This happened to me several years ago, every single night for an entire summer. I didn't understand what was happening at the time. I would go to sleep, and the next thing I knew I would be out of my body watching myself sleep. My church taught us that out of body experiences were sinful, and I never told anyone. At the time it happened, it was confusing to me, and although I felt that I could have gone anywhere or done anything--I didn't. I simply sat there every night and watched myself sleep. I wish I'd had Shirley's books at that time in my life. The Camino is her best book of all. Thank you, Shirley. You have been one of my "teachers" and have helped me on an incredible spiritual journey of my own!
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Summary: Altered visons....
Review: I read "Out on a Limb" when I was much younger and was enthralled with Ms. Maclaine's frankness aoubt her past incarnations. In those days, I was frightened of my own shadow, and her openess made me feel many things were possible. Since she is just a bit older than me and experiencing the same need to reflect on the meaning of the live she has been living, the "The Camino" -- her continuing autobiography -- is very relevant. I have made a few pilgrimages to high holy places in recent years, and have thought about the Camino for some time. I have been to Spain--my son lives there-- and mostly travled on my own as he and I never want to do the same things. When I first tried this, I was amazed solo traveling did not kill me, and in fact I found my self improved, better, stronger. Sometimes it's difficult for a woman to travel on her own, but it can be done. Perhaps now I will work up the courage to try the Camino. The trip Ms. Macline made was long and difficult, and she did it the right way, unburdening her self by letting go of all but the essential material things and reflecting as she went along. The book is about her trip on the Camino, and her reflections along the way. Ms. Maclaine believes she has lived past lives. I don't know if I have any past lives, but I think the possiblity exists. I have visited places in Europe where my ancestors lived for thousands of years, where I had never been in this life, but knew I had been there before. When I was a child, I recalled events that could not have happened in my current life. I used to startle my mother with these revelations. My mother and I both had incredible "ESP" and I don't know what that is except a heightened sensitiviry of some kind. When I went into labor with my first child at one o'clock in the morning, my mother woke up from a sound sleep because she heard me yelling 300 miles away. I wasn't on the phone (and I can't scream that loudly! ). In "The Camino" Ms. MacClaine says she slept with a General in a past life. General George Patten also believed in reincarnation, and that he had been a soldier in a battle fought over a thousand years ago. But Maclaine says the reincarnation of her general took the form of the Swedish Prime Minister whom she slept with in this life. Fortunately, the influx of Asian Indians into the U.S. is beginning to change the prejudice some of us have about 'past lives.' My friend Amara is Hindu, and she believes that Jesus was one of the incarnations of one of her Hindu deities.
Rating:
Summary: Bravo Shirley!
Review: Once again Shirley throws caution to the wind and graces us with another book we can't put down till the end. Even then we are left wanting more! Many tears I share each time I take upon a new journey with her through the truth that she shares. Each one of us is walking The Camino in our own way, in our own place and must find the truth that resonates with us. By Shirley's coming forward to share the secrets from within herself, she opens doors for all of us to find our own inner truth and to dissolve the programming that has been instilled in us all for generations. God Bless Shirley MacLaine and all those who are not afraid to tell the truth as it is given to them to share with the world. No more controlling our minds and thoughts forever and ever. Amen! You go girl!
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Summary: Once again MacLaine expands the mind...
Review: I have been reading and studying Ms. MacLaine's works since her release of "Out on a Limb" and I must say that this is her best work since then. Call her whacked out if you want...but (just like "Out on a Limb") you can't help but to feel that there is an unmeasurable amount of truth in every word shares with us. And if anything...even if you are not a believer in reincarnation, Lemuria, Atlantis or even God, she will make you seriously contemplate your position here on earth with the rest of us and why there is so much turmoil and pain. Shirley - if you are reading this...I love you! Thank you for opening my eyes and expanding my mind for all these years!
Rating:
Summary: Shirley still amazes!
Review: Once again Shirley MacLaine has taken the reader upon a perilous and mystical journey. Filled with fabulous insights and humor, this senior citizen proves that there are still adventures and worlds to explore. It is wonderful to see the fire burning just as bright in her as it had in Out on a limb. Shirley continues to be a remarkable soul and a light on any trail she ventures upon. As for those who don't agree with her mystical adventures, remember that this is her journey, not yours. You don't have to agree because what is true in her experience is just that: It's her experience! Just read the book with an open mind and allow yourself to be swept upon your own Camino Walk. You won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: STRETCHING OUR MINDS
Review: Shirley is at it again. She wrote OUT ON A LIMB many years ago and it was shocking to many, a laughing stock for others, but slowly those concepts have been integrated in our vocabulary like reincarnation, chakras, etc. The material presented in this book will be just as shocking to many but eventually, in 10 years from now these concepts will be accepted. Shirley has expanded the BOOK OF GENESIS, she has expanded its contents and this time it makes more sense, at least to me and others who are into metaphysics. This is perhaps her best book yet considering its contents. She is a pioneer, she takes risks, she is incredible, she is SHIRLEY MAC LAINE.
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