The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Author: Rachel Joyce
Published by: Penguin Random House
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle e-book
My Rating ★★★
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.
Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.
Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him - allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.
My thoughts
This book was an unusual one for me, selected by a reader’s group I recently attended at my local library.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is thought provoking, but I’m still a little unsure on how I feel about it overall. Whilst I enjoyed seeing the sights and characters Harold interacted with, I couldn’t help feeling that parts of the story dragged a tad too much for me and even made me a little bored in some moments.
The premise of the story is pretty simple, with more and more detail about the characters emerging as the plot develops. I liked the experiences Harold unexpectedly shared with strangers along his journey to Queenie, and it was interesting to learn about his reflections on specific circumstances that occurred in his life. However, as the story began I couldn’t help but find it all kind of ridiculous if I’m honest.
Basically, it is about a man taking a walk. Beginning, middle, and end. He gets bad news about an old friend and just randomly starts walking, wearing the wrong kind of shoes and without bringing his ‘mobile’ out with him.
He discovers an old friend has cancer and so on a complete whim he decides it might be a good idea to walk a really long way to see her. In all honesty, I’m just not sure what he was actually hoping to achieve, and this never became clear at any point in the book. I hate to be cynical, but I mean does he really think his last minute visit to see her will somehow cure her cancer and save her life? After all, she’s currently in a hospice and in a very bad way.
However, despite the slightly perplexing reasons for doing so, Harold walks. After a while it becomes clear that a great deal of this book is really about regret and Harold finding his way back to what matters. As much as that makes sense, I found the writing fairly clunky. From the outset, I didn’t enjoy the author’s perception of ‘old people.’ After all, Harold is only 65, yet presented in the book as a doddering and boring old man who sits around the house all day. I felt the descriptions of his physical aging perhaps overshadowed Harold’s real identity: an everyman figure who embarks on a spiritual journey.
On reflection, I think this one just wasn’t really for me. Whilst I can partly understand how others have seen the book as a tale of an emotional journey towards self-knowledge, I personally thought it focused too much on grief, and came off pretty depressing and even dull at times. I really couldn’t call it an uplifting read. This novel might force you to slow down and reflect upon your life, but I think I generally found the book predictable, if not a little trite even. I feel like I’m the only person in the world who didn’t love this book; I tried but I honestly just struggled to connect with this one unfortunately.
Overall reaction:
Published by: Penguin Random House
Pages: 320
Format: Kindle e-book
My Rating ★★★
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.
Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.
Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him - allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.
My thoughts
This book was an unusual one for me, selected by a reader’s group I recently attended at my local library.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is thought provoking, but I’m still a little unsure on how I feel about it overall. Whilst I enjoyed seeing the sights and characters Harold interacted with, I couldn’t help feeling that parts of the story dragged a tad too much for me and even made me a little bored in some moments.
The premise of the story is pretty simple, with more and more detail about the characters emerging as the plot develops. I liked the experiences Harold unexpectedly shared with strangers along his journey to Queenie, and it was interesting to learn about his reflections on specific circumstances that occurred in his life. However, as the story began I couldn’t help but find it all kind of ridiculous if I’m honest.
Basically, it is about a man taking a walk. Beginning, middle, and end. He gets bad news about an old friend and just randomly starts walking, wearing the wrong kind of shoes and without bringing his ‘mobile’ out with him.
He discovers an old friend has cancer and so on a complete whim he decides it might be a good idea to walk a really long way to see her. In all honesty, I’m just not sure what he was actually hoping to achieve, and this never became clear at any point in the book. I hate to be cynical, but I mean does he really think his last minute visit to see her will somehow cure her cancer and save her life? After all, she’s currently in a hospice and in a very bad way.
However, despite the slightly perplexing reasons for doing so, Harold walks. After a while it becomes clear that a great deal of this book is really about regret and Harold finding his way back to what matters. As much as that makes sense, I found the writing fairly clunky. From the outset, I didn’t enjoy the author’s perception of ‘old people.’ After all, Harold is only 65, yet presented in the book as a doddering and boring old man who sits around the house all day. I felt the descriptions of his physical aging perhaps overshadowed Harold’s real identity: an everyman figure who embarks on a spiritual journey.
On reflection, I think this one just wasn’t really for me. Whilst I can partly understand how others have seen the book as a tale of an emotional journey towards self-knowledge, I personally thought it focused too much on grief, and came off pretty depressing and even dull at times. I really couldn’t call it an uplifting read. This novel might force you to slow down and reflect upon your life, but I think I generally found the book predictable, if not a little trite even. I feel like I’m the only person in the world who didn’t love this book; I tried but I honestly just struggled to connect with this one unfortunately.
Overall reaction: