Rating: 
Summary: Kept me up all night!
Review: A friend gave me a copy of this book for my 40th birthday and said I would love it. Yeah, I thought, like a hole in the head. I had Chaucer in school and the teacher made it a drag. But the power went off a couple of nights ago.Without TV or music--my dog did not seem to like my whistling tunes--I decided, by candle light, to give this Canterbury book a glance.I was hooked from the first page and stayed up all night thrilled with the author's adventure into medieval history, Chaucer's insight and wit. The people encountered on the route stuck with me as well. That and a fear that I was coming down with the plague,written about in great detail in the book.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling, fun and enlightening trek
Review: Ellis once again slips into his backpack to take readers on an exceptional journey, this time from London to Canterbury along the route of Chaucer's pilgrims. His poetic prose is filled with unusual encounters, detailed history of the middle ages and a contagious love of adventure and life. Every time I read one of his books, I want to hit the road. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Much of a Pilgrimage and Not Much of a Story
Review: I have to take exception to most of the other reviews. Please hear me out.The author, a man of Native American and English heritage, wrote an earlier book, Walking the Trail, about a several month walk tracing the infamous Cherokee "Trail of Tears" backward from Oklahoma to his home in northeast Alabama, as well as two other books tracing historic American routes. He claims his trip to England to follow the medieval Christian pilgrims' route from London to Canterbury Cathedral, described most famously by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, was an effort to connect with his English heritage. I finished the book concluding that Ellis' so-called pilgrimage was just a way to provide his publisher a sequel to sell based on the reputation of Ellis' apparently successful earlier writing. For a guy supposedly seeking to understand his English roots Ellis invests minuscule effort in the process. He's commits just nine days to his first trip to England: arrives in London, departs the next day a seven-day, 70-odd mile walk, spends the last night in Canterbury, then returns to London by train to catch a flight back to the U.S. Such a short trip can't provide enough material for 295 pages, so Ellis pads the book with flashbacks to his Trail of Tears walk plus a lot of material about medieval English history, customs, daily life and English and non-English Christian practices. Some of the historic material consists of pages-long quotes from other books. Mind you, the historic extracts can be interesting, but there are better sources for such things and the book's subtitle promised "a modern journey through Chaucer's medieval England." Ellis focuses on some fairly odd people for someone saying he wants to get in touch with his English heritage. His most significant encounters are with unemployed, spike-haired, heavily pierced slackers and their pet iguana (he actually tarries an extra day to party with them), Swedish, French and Dutch tourists, an Iranian immigrant and several bar tenders. No farmers, no police officers, no teachers. Ellis' walk is hardly a religious pilgrimage. His own beliefs are Native American/New Age (i.e., deifying created objects rather than the Creator) and he expresses scant respect for Christianity. On one occasion Ellis hurts his back when he trips in the forest and experiences excruciating pain. That night, seemingly for the first time, in desperation he prays for relief. The next morning he experiences a self-described miraculous healing. Then, rather than credit God for healing him, and perhaps seeing the occurrence as "a sign" to repent and complete the trip as a true pilgrimage of thanksgiving as medieval Christians would have, Ellis quickly explains away his healing as a fluke. Ellis encounters some New Age nutburgers from Holland. They are lead by a Dutchman calling himself Geronimo who, for unexplained reasons, came from Amsterdam to England to practice some half-baked version of Native American spirituality in an attempt to relieve urban angst. Ellis writes: "Geronimo's teaching Native American spirituality when he has no such heritage disturbed me." But a few pages later non-Christian Ellis perceives no hypocrisy when he arrives in Canterbury and, among secular visitors there to see the historic building and its art, makes a spectacle of himself by ascending the Cathedral steps on his knees in imitation of a pious Christian pilgrim. What a jerk! Afterward Ellis celebrates the conclusion of his "pilgrimage" at a bar where people mock Christian heritage, then leaves early the next day to rush back to Alabama and his supernatural dog and ancient Cherokee holy rocks. Ellis is a bit of a weird traveler, to boot. He lugs a 40 pound backpack of camping gear and spends a third of his nights in a tent in the semi-rural landscape, sort of like camping in the suburbs while walking from New York City to someplace in Connecticut. And he cooks on campfires several times at historic sites and just off the road in scraps of forest and farmers' fields. I've made walking tours in the British Isles and can tell you people just don't do that sort of thing; heck, most people don't build campfires anymore when they hike in the U.S. And Ellis blends into the local populace by wearing a broad-rimmed hat adorned with bird feathers, a rattlesnake rattle and sea shells. One bit of quaintness - the trip occurred in 1999 - is Ellis talking about the great pocket knife he always carries and uses to carve figures in his oak walking stick. Ahhhh, pocket knives.... remember when we were allowed to carry those when we traveled in the good old days before 9-11? I don't recommend this book. The stories aren't that good (most of Ellis' "adventures" are about as interesting as your maiden aunt would have on a package tour) and you can easily find better sources about the history of Canterbury or medieval England. I bought it because I enjoy making and reading about both Christian and secular pilgrimages, but this isn't, to my disappointment, really a pilgrimage book. Walking to Canterbury includes a small scale sketch map of the route, some small black-and-white reproductions of medieval scenes, a three-page bibliography of sources used for the historic extracts and a grainy photo of the author's muscular upper torso in a tight cowboy-looking shirt.
Rating:
Summary: Not a Much of a Pilgrimage and Not Much of a Story
Review: I have to take exception to most of the other reviews. Please hear me out. The author, a man of Native American and English heritage, wrote an earlier book, Walking the Trail, about a several month walk tracing the infamous Cherokee "Trail of Tears" backward from Oklahoma to his home in northeast Alabama, as well as two other books tracing historic American routes. He claims his trip to England to follow the medieval Christian pilgrims' route from London to Canterbury Cathedral, described most famously by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, was an effort to connect with his English heritage. I finished the book concluding that Ellis' so-called pilgrimage was just a way to provide his publisher a sequel to sell based on the reputation of Ellis' apparently successful earlier writing. For a guy supposedly seeking to understand his English roots Ellis invests minuscule effort in the process. He's commits just nine days to his first trip to England: arrives in London, departs the next day a seven-day, 70-odd mile walk, spends the last night in Canterbury, then returns to London by train to catch a flight back to the U.S. Such a short trip can't provide enough material for 295 pages, so Ellis pads the book with flashbacks to his Trail of Tears walk plus a lot of material about medieval English history, customs, daily life and English and non-English Christian practices. Some of the historic material consists of pages-long quotes from other books. Mind you, the historic extracts can be interesting, but there are better sources for such things and the book's subtitle promised "a modern journey through Chaucer's medieval England." Ellis focuses on some fairly odd people for someone saying he wants to get in touch with his English heritage. His most significant encounters are with unemployed, spike-haired, heavily pierced slackers and their pet iguana (he actually tarries an extra day to party with them), Swedish, French and Dutch tourists, an Iranian immigrant and several bar tenders. No farmers, no police officers, no teachers. Ellis' walk is hardly a religious pilgrimage. His own beliefs are Native American/New Age (i.e., deifying created objects rather than the Creator) and he expresses scant respect for Christianity. On one occasion Ellis hurts his back when he trips in the forest and experiences excruciating pain. That night, seemingly for the first time, in desperation he prays for relief. The next morning he experiences a self-described miraculous healing. Then, rather than credit God for healing him, and perhaps seeing the occurrence as "a sign" to repent and complete the trip as a true pilgrimage of thanksgiving as medieval Christians would have, Ellis quickly explains away his healing as a fluke. Ellis encounters some New Age nutburgers from Holland. They are lead by a Dutchman calling himself Geronimo who, for unexplained reasons, came from Amsterdam to England to practice some half-baked version of Native American spirituality in an attempt to relieve urban angst. Ellis writes: "Geronimo's teaching Native American spirituality when he has no such heritage disturbed me." But a few pages later non-Christian Ellis perceives no hypocrisy when he arrives in Canterbury and, among secular visitors there to see the historic building and its art, makes a spectacle of himself by ascending the Cathedral steps on his knees in imitation of a pious Christian pilgrim. What a jerk! Afterward Ellis celebrates the conclusion of his "pilgrimage" at a bar where people mock Christian heritage, then leaves early the next day to rush back to Alabama and his supernatural dog and ancient Cherokee holy rocks. Ellis is a bit of a weird traveler, to boot. He lugs a 40 pound backpack of camping gear and spends a third of his nights in a tent in the semi-rural landscape, sort of like camping in the suburbs while walking from New York City to someplace in Connecticut. And he cooks on campfires several times at historic sites and just off the road in scraps of forest and farmers' fields. I've made walking tours in the British Isles and can tell you people just don't do that sort of thing; heck, most people don't build campfires anymore when they hike in the U.S. And Ellis blends into the local populace by wearing a broad-rimmed hat adorned with bird feathers, a rattlesnake rattle and sea shells. One bit of quaintness - the trip occurred in 1999 - is Ellis talking about the great pocket knife he always carries and uses to carve figures in his oak walking stick. Ahhhh, pocket knives.... remember when we were allowed to carry those when we traveled in the good old days before 9-11? I don't recommend this book. The stories aren't that good (most of Ellis' "adventures" are about as interesting as your maiden aunt would have on a package tour) and you can easily find better sources about the history of Canterbury or medieval England. I bought it because I enjoy making and reading about both Christian and secular pilgrimages, but this isn't, to my disappointment, really a pilgrimage book. Walking to Canterbury includes a small scale sketch map of the route, some small black-and-white reproductions of medieval scenes, a three-page bibliography of sources used for the historic extracts and a grainy photo of the author's muscular upper torso in a tight cowboy-looking shirt.
Rating:
Summary: Every Step Was a Joy
Review: I recently flew to London on a business trip and discovered this book in the airport bookstore at JFK. I read it on the flight over and it gave a whole new slant on London and England in general. The book made me feel that I was living in the Middge Ages and I visited the pub where the author began his walk to Canterbury. My feet and heart itched to walk on...
Rating:
Summary: That old devil Chaucer made tasty!
Review: I teach in L.A. and have had trouble exciting my teen students about Chaucer till this book appeared. It has a couple of chapters about the author hanging out with teens, even partying with them around a campfire on the Thames, where one kid quotes Chaucer in a rather slangish manner. Anyway, my students love these chapters and has enticed them to read more. If you teach, you'll find it a great tool in making Chaucer and history fun.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book!
Review: I'll state up front that I am not a religious person, and I suppose as well not very spiritualistic in the sense that much of this book seems to refer to it. So I am perhaps not the best audience and therefore not the best reviewer. I picked this up mostly because the Chaucer aspect of it interested me and I'll confess to some disappointment at how little reference there was to Chaucer and his work. There were a lot of quoted sections, but I was hoping for more connections between his centuries-old tale and today's life. I was also put off somewhat by the speech of many of those Ellis ran into, which just didn't ring true to me. I have no problem with a writer removing the various "umms", "uhhs", and "huh's" that one has to assume were part of any conversation, but too many of these people spoke far too eloquently. I can overlook that flaw more readily in a fiction novel, but in a non-fiction work it makes me wonder what else the author has modified; it adds a small but constant feeling of mistrust. Beyond that, I didn't find much of interest in his present-day journey. Some of his encounters were pleasant enough, but none particularly riveting or moving, and at times I thought he tried too hard to make them feel so to the reader. His frequent swoops into the past, however, were far more interesting and enjoyable as he relates a slew of obscure information about Chaucer's time, ranging from table fare and manners to monastic rules. These passages are nicely woven into the text and I wouldn't have minded more of them. In fact, to be brutally honest, I could have done with just them. Others, however, clearly were moved by his own personal pilgrimage, so as I stated, perhaps I'm just the wrong audience. If you're picking this up for Chaucer material, be prepared to be disappointed. If you want information on Chaucer's time, you won't be disappointed but you might be better served skimming. If, on the other hand, journeys of personal spiritual redemption are what you're looking for, I'll leave it to the other reviewers to give you a more refined and fair sense of whether or not you'll find it here.
Rating: 
Summary: preferred the sections on the past
Review: I'll state up front that I am not a religious person, and I suppose as well not very spiritualistic in the sense that much of this book seems to refer to it. So I am perhaps not the best audience and therefore not the best reviewer. I picked this up mostly because the Chaucer aspect of it interested me and I'll confess to some disappointment at how little reference there was to Chaucer and his work. There were a lot of quoted sections, but I was hoping for more connections between his centuries-old tale and today's life. I was also put off somewhat by the speech of many of those Ellis ran into, which just didn't ring true to me. I have no problem with a writer removing the various "umms", "uhhs", and "huh's" that one has to assume were part of any conversation, but too many of these people spoke far too eloquently. I can overlook that flaw more readily in a fiction novel, but in a non-fiction work it makes me wonder what else the author has modified; it adds a small but constant feeling of mistrust. Beyond that, I didn't find much of interest in his present-day journey. Some of his encounters were pleasant enough, but none particularly riveting or moving, and at times I thought he tried too hard to make them feel so to the reader. His frequent swoops into the past, however, were far more interesting and enjoyable as he relates a slew of obscure information about Chaucer's time, ranging from table fare and manners to monastic rules. These passages are nicely woven into the text and I wouldn't have minded more of them. In fact, to be brutally honest, I could have done with just them. Others, however, clearly were moved by his own personal pilgrimage, so as I stated, perhaps I'm just the wrong audience. If you're picking this up for Chaucer material, be prepared to be disappointed. If you want information on Chaucer's time, you won't be disappointed but you might be better served skimming. If, on the other hand, journeys of personal spiritual redemption are what you're looking for, I'll leave it to the other reviewers to give you a more refined and fair sense of whether or not you'll find it here.
Rating:
Summary: A wondrous journey
Review: On a long train ride to New York, I consumed Jerry Ellis's wonderful new book in one sitting. From the man who walked a straight line to the squeaky staircase, the stories Ellis tells make the reader feel as if he were along on the pilgrimage too. And a pilgrimage it was as even I, a particularly non-spiritual person, felt moved by the otherworldly aspects of the quest.
Further the fact that Chaucer, all these years later, drew Ellis across the Atlantic to make this trek is captivating proof of the universal power of literature. Walking to Canterbury achieves the right balance of the then and now, and I predict that Ellis will introduce thousands to Chaucer who would have never known him.
Rating:
Summary: A Spirited and Spiritual Quest
Review: Once again the master of the physical and the spiritual journey has taken again to the road. How lucky for us! Sit back, take in both journey's, and you will find pleasure, humility, and wisdom. The world is sorely in need of this adventurer. When you put WALKING TO CANTERBURY down you will most assuredly hope that Ellis hits the road again. Soon!
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