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Loading... The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (original 2012; edition 2012)by Rachel Joyce
Work InformationThe Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (2012)
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Something of a modern day 'Pilgrim's Progress', this book describes the journey of Harold Fry, on an unintended journey - a hike even - to see his old collegue Queenie, who has written to him from the hospice where she is seeing out her days. This journey is intended to bring her hope and the faith to conquer her cancer. A journey which Harold makes without even having meant to set forth, brings him in turn hope, despair, joy, renewed faith in humanity, and an opportunity to confront his past, and the emotional pain he has long buried. At times moving, sometimes thought-provoking, occasionally boring, this book is worth reading. It may make you think about missed opprtunities and the possibility we all have to change, or you may be relieved to have reached the last page. I'm not quite sure how it is with me ( ) I started out enjoying this one but once it got to the social media group joining with Harold, they lost me. from that point on I found it less interesting and the end, to me, fizzled. No real meeting with Queenie, the object of the journey. The reconciliation between Harold and his wife was poignant, overcoming a tragedy in their lives. Still a bit of a letdown. KIRKUS REVIEWThose with the patience to accompany the protagonist on this meandering journey will receive an emotional payoff at the end.The debut novel by an award-winning British radio playwright (and actor) offers an allegory that requires many leaps of faith, while straddling the line between the charming and cloying (as well as the comic and melodramatic). The title character has recently retired from his office job at a brewery, lives with a wife who hasn?t loved him for decadessince their intelligent, perhaps disturbed son sparked her estrangement from her husband¥and appears destined to live his life in everyday limbo until the grave. Then, one day, he receives a letter from a female co-worker with whom he had once been close but hasn?t been in contact for 20 years. She is dying from cancer and has written to let him know, to say goodbye. Without planning or preparation, he embarks on the title?s ?unlikely pilgrimage,? somehow believing that if he can walk the hundreds of miles over the many months it will take him, she will remain alive to welcome him. On his journey, he meets a bunch of characters, becomes something of a celebrity and learns a little bit more about the meaning of life. These lessons are articulated in homilies such as ?you could be ordinary and attempt something extraordinary,? and ?Maybe it?s what the world needs. A little less sense, and a little more faith.? Maybe, but if such sentiments seem akin to those from one of Mitch Albom?s bestselling parables, the novel?s evocation of everyday British reticence, heartbreak and wonder occasionally suggest the depths of the great Graham Swift. The final chapters of the novel resolve the mysteries that have been underlying the rest¥how the son divided his parents, why the co-worker had disappeared from Harold?s life¥and there?s a powerful resolution in which all?s well that ends well.Manipulative but moving, for readers who don?t mind having their strings pulled.Pub Date: July 24th, 2012ISBN: 978-0-8129-9329-5Page count: 320ppPublisher: Random HouseReview Posted Online: April 30th, 2012Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1st, 2012
That marvelous note of absurdity tempers the pain that runs beneath this whole novel. Joyce has no interest in mocking Harold; she just describes his quixotic trek in a gentle, matter-of-fact voice, mile after mile. At 65, he’s never walked farther than his own driveway. He has no map, cellphone or change of clothes, and his thin yachting shoes couldn’t be less appropriate for such a journey across England. “Harold would have been the first to admit that there were elements to his plan that were not finely tuned,” Joyce writes. But when the idea of saving Queenie blooms in the fallow soil of his mind, he can’t be stopped. “I will keep walking,” he declares, “and she must keep living.” Very rarely, you come upon a novel that feels less like a book than a poignant passage of your own life, and the protagonist like an acquaintance who has gently corrected your path. Never mind that the protagonist possesses all the realism of a painted clown and his tale the moral fibre of a fable. Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry starts off in just this way. A rumpled retiree determines to walk 500 miles, believing his hope-filled steps will keep his dying friend alive. The premise seems quaint and predictable, but morphs gracefully into a smart, subtle, funny, painful, weirdly personal novel. The unlikely but lovable hero of Rachel Joyce's remarkable debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, doesn't call his walk a pilgrimage. He never even calls it a hike, which would suggest planning, a map and hiking boots, all of which Harold lacks....Pilgrimage, one of the 12 novels just long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, Britain's top literary award, is a gentle adventure with an emotional wallop. It's a smart, feel-good story that doesn't feel forced. “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” is not just a book about lost love. It is about all the wonderful everyday things Harold discovers through the mere process of putting one foot in front of the other. “The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other,” ........The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” takes its opening epigraph from John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” It takes the stirring spirituality of its ending from Bunyan too. In between Ms. Joyce’s book loosely parallels “The Pilgrim’s Progress” at times, but it is very much a story of present-day courage. She writes about how easily a mousy, domesticated man can get lost and how joyously he can be refound. Joyce slowly reveals what he has to walk away from, and there are some surprises. His progress is measured in memories as well as miles; memories of parents who didn’t want him, and of the early days of his marriage and his only son David’s childhood. There are a few lapses in the story—events and characters that come along at convenient moments—but Joyce captures Harold’s emotions with a tidiness of words that is at times thrilling. It’s a trip worth taking. AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Harold Fry is convinced that he must deliver a letter to an old love in order to save her, meeting various characters along the way and reminiscing about the events of his past and people he has known, as he tries to find peace and acceptance. No library descriptions found.
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumRachel Joyce's book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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