Unlikely Pilgrimage

[fortview]

Have just finished " The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry " by Rachel Joyce.

"When Harold Fry leaves home one morning to post a letter, with his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass , waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone's life."

It's not about the camino, but it is a lovely book about a pilgrimage.

Will ring lots of bells! Highly recommend it .

 

[JohnnieWalker]

This book is fabulous. The author MUST have walked the camino

 

[fortview]

That is what I thought! How else could she have so much insight into the experience of walking, how disconnected you feel on leaving a path and entering a city, and the joys and pitfalls of being joined by others?
Incidentally, the barefooted tax inspector lives in our town, Stroud

 

[Whalleyranger]

I've just finished it an hour ago. It's only £2.69 for the kindle and I can't recommend it highly enough.

 

[Keldi]

Bought this from the Book Depository and it arrived yesterday. Read it today and loved it! What an amazing journey Harold had, and it was such an emotional book. Can't wait to start my Camino in 16 sleeps!,

 

[Phillypilgrim]

Read it last fall while walking the Camino, I loved it!

 

[angie]

I have bad eye sight so listen a lot to audio books. I listened to this last year but didn't really "get it" until I decided I was doing my Camino so had a listen again ans found it a brilliant book as I could relate to it now that I'm planning my pilgrimage.

 

[Kanga]

I also loved Harold. But I'm just settling down to re-read my all time favourite book, "Journey Through Britain" by John Hillaby. I wish enough people would convince Amazon or whoever to put it in ereader form. It is out of print and I'm sure would have a huge readership amongst Camino walkers, if it were available. The book that introduced me to the idea of long distance walking. Wonderful.

 

[Kanga]

Oh dear. I've just read "Before the Start" from Journey Through Britain and I'm in tears already: "Ecstacy, I know, is an unfashionable commodity. At points on the trip when I slept out under the stars or got through hills by means of gaps as spectacular as you can find anywhere I can only say it was a privilege to be there. To learn something of places I had never been to before..."

But he is also wildly funny too.

 

[jsalt]

Have just finished " The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry " by Rachel Joyce.

"When Harold Fry leaves home one morning to post a letter, with his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass , waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone's life."

It's not about the camino, but it is a lovely book about a pilgrimage.

Will ring lots of bells! Highly recommend it .

Hi, I have just finished reading this book. What a lovely story, and so many similarities to walking the Camino. A must read! Jill

 

[Whalleyranger]

Funny that this thread should be resurrected this week. The companion (not a sequel) to Harold has just been published and tells the story of Harold's walk from Queenie's point of view.

It's called the Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey and it'll make you cry.

 

[Kanga]

Oh goodie. I so loved Harold. Hope its in ebook format so I can take it on my Camino in September.

 

[domigee]

I loved that book and have just bought the new one on Kindle, thanks for mentioning it.

 

[Phillypilgrim]

Hooray, thanks for the new book tip!

 

[Bala]

What a beautiful, poignant story. I simply couldn't put it down. The characters are so well-drawn; they made me laugh out loud at times, break into tears at others. And what a pilgrimage. Harold doesn't really even understand completely why he is going. He didn't even know he was going until he was already on his way. And yet he journeys on -- with faith and hope that he never knew he had, discovering love and compassion that he'd thought were long dead.

I'm so glad I opened this thread. I'd never heard of this book, but I liked the sound of it. I started reading yesterday afternoon and finished the book late last night. Now I can't wait to read about Queenie.

 

[Griffin57]

Me too!! Couldn't put it down! I too had never heard of the book and I too am off to purchase Queenie's story.
Thanks @fortview for the head's up!

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

I'm a sucker for 2 kinds of books books about walking and books about books/reading. Right now I'm reading Señor Peregrino (english title Tarnished Beauty).
From the cover "Jamilet finds work at a mental hospital where she attends to the eccentric and disagreeable elderly Señor Peregrino. He begins to share with her the glorious stories from his youth when he embarked on a religious pilgrimage along the legendary and mystical Road to Santiago. " I have of course read about Harold as well he was me company on a flight to San Francisco in May this year.