Hic!
Thank you Simone for the cocktails, hic! They were delicious! Hic!
Those glasses were very large - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking
to it!
Ah,
the book - Harold Fry recently retired lives with his wife Maureen, his
life is dull, ordinary and full of daily frustrations. One morning
Harold receives a letter written shaky handwriting from a work colleague
Queenie Hennessey - a woman he could have had a affair with, if, if he
had been a different man. Taking the letter out to post, he decides on
the way that he will walk from Kingsbridge to Berwick on Tweed - and if
he does so Queenie will live. Dressed only in his deck-sider shoes and
light weight coat he starts walking. While walking he thinks about his
life, marriage and his son. The book is full of regret. Regret at miss
opportunities, regret at the way his marriage has turned out, regret at
the man he was. The light humour and slightly farcical situations that
Harold found himself in along the way only highlighted the pathos of
his musings. (Spoiler alter) it is only later on that we find out that
his son is dead and how and what impact the manner of his death had on
him, the blame from his wife and the regret he felt. Things happen to
Harold that make him think about his life and Maureen.
We
all liked this book - sometime for a good discussion you need an opposing view. We compared the journey of the character
to that of Christian in Pilgrim's Progress. Harold meets people along
his way that bring him enlightenment, changing his view on life and bring him
succor. Although without the Christian allegorical references there
were similarities. It seemed to engender within us all a certain amount
of sadness at the pathos of the story.
Words
used to describe it: endearing, quaint, metaphor, frustrating,
tragic, poignant, pedestrian, moving journey, tragically whimsical,
involving.
Marks out of 10: between 7 & 9 so very highly marked.
Next Book
Nothing to Envy - Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Next Meeting
9th January at 12 Lysia Street
Christmas Do
Friday 13th at La Pizzica
