The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce

Discussed Thursday, 22^nd August 2013, Forester & Flower, Combe Down

Six out of the nine of us were there: Chris B, Chris W, Mark T, Ras, Rob (who had not finished the book) and Richard; (apols from Mark Th, Neil [who sent his views by e-mail, below], and Steve [who sent a short review with more to come later – also below]).

As often, there were a range of views – some thought that it was a good and enjoyable book, others were irritated by the lack of realism.

Selected by Richard as his wife had recommended it, his summary suggested that as Rachel Joyce is a writer of successful radio plays, there was quite good dialogue and story development. Initially, he rather disliked it, feeling that it was unrealistic, light, and a little meaningless; but by the end, he felt that it was interesting, quite well written, and written from a ‘magical realism’ perspective which means that one needed to suspend judgement (shoes which don’t wear out, foraging off the land with no experience, etc etc).

From reading other reviews, Richard realised that the book was an updated version of an old form of writing, the allegory. Once it had been mentioned in a review, the links with “Pilgrim’s Progress: the journey of Christian through Vanity Fair and the Slough of Despond to the Celestial City” seemed quite clear: a humble, everyman hero struggling on his way, with his burden on his back. Obviously some of the religious symbolism in Pilgrim’s Progress isn’t here in this modern-day version, but Harold is an Everyman figure whose spiritual journey is prone to pitfalls and distraction and presented as both heroic and mundane. Some of the symbolism related to the fact that ostensibly Harold Fry is setting out on his long walk from Devon to Berwick-on-Tweed to save his friend, Queenie Hennessy, who is dying of cancer in a nursing home; but this was also a symbolic journey, with Harold trying to save himself from the "slough of despond" into which his own life has sunk. One person suggested that the whole book could almost have been Harold’s fantasy. 

Although a wide range of views was expressed, most fell into one of two categories: those who liked and enjoyed it, and those who found it unrealistic, shallow and frustrating.

Positives included:

·      the easy style,

·      good dialogue,

·      Harold and Maureen - good and quite well drawn characters (although ‘magical realism’ here again – not really believable, and many realised from the first introduction that David had died)’

·      a book celebrating the kindness of strangers,

·      Harold's non-judgmental responses to everyone he meets forms the crux of the narrative,
·      A novel inspired by loss, it contains a really good summation of grief – not expressed by Harold, but by his neighbour Rex (also a figure from Bunyan: named Plausible), who is gradually coming to terms with the death of his wife: "I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone. The only difference is that I am getting used to the pain. It's like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it's there and keep falling in. After a while, it's still there, but you learn to walk round it.”

Negatives:

·      prone to sentimentality,

·      the overpoweringly good intentions of its hero can seem a little pious

·      unrealistic

Overall:

·      Richard felt that it was a good read and enjoyed lots about it.

·      Mark T liked it, feeling that the it was rather Murakami-like and allowed one to suspend realism.

·      Chris B “loved it”, enjoyed the fact that it started in Kingsbridge (a place he knows well (and one slight irritation is that there is NO petrol station where the book describes one!), liked the fact that Harold was an ordinary man – and throughout the book, felt that this was a consistent picture being painted, felt the relationship between the spouses was a very true reflection, liked how both characters developed, liked the anti-climax at the end; and loved the idea of just putting one foot in front of the other. “I thoroughly enjoyed the book.”

·      Ras was frustrated by Harold and his refusal to (for example) wear boots when walking. He found he had not a lot of sympathy for Harold, although it was good to see that he did complete the walk and get there. On the other hand, he felt that Maureen came over quite well; the hangers-on were different and realistic and well done – overall, a reasonably enjoyable read but frustrated by Harold.

·      Chris W felt that it was shallow and missed the opportunity to create more believable characters. In some ways, similar to the 100-year-old-man, irritating, very light-hearted but without the humour of that book. The hangers-on wanting to link in with his celebrity was more believable.

·      Steve said (by e-mail) that: “I'll send a review shortly but in brief, I thought this was a very consumable but rather lightweight book. Designed to appeal to the concerns of middle England (dead marriages, talking to strangers, being blind to the reality of family relationships, the meaning of life…) it was filled with recognisable characters, in settings anyone up and down the country could identify with. However, for me it also had a constant air of implausibility. How likely would My Fry really be to keep walking without thinking the better of it - especially given the kind of man the author had so carefully described? Mrs Fry was a pantomime villainess for the first part and her reformation as the book went on  also stretched credibility. In the end, I couldn't give a toss whether he got there or not. Disappointed, because I'd wanted to read it for a while.”

·      Neil said (by email) that “I have to admit to being a little confused by my feelings towards this book. On the one hand the simplistic storytelling riddled with such unlikely scenarios felt even more ridiculous than those described in that rather similar book, 100 year old man who.. The idea that Harold would just set off on this walk and keep going, that he would walk for weeks in the same pair of completely inappropriate shoes and the same clothes, managing to live off the land at times, etc. etc. was hard to swallow as was the highly contrived bunch of misfits that joined him and then equally suddenly disappeared with no interest in his journey's end.  But while all this was driving me nuts, the underlying emotional story of his relationship with his wife and the tragic backstory of their son did hold my attention and I found myself emotionally quite involved by the end.  However, I am inclined to put that down to my state of mind at the time rather than the book and looking back, while this was an easy read, I am left with a feeling of it having been rather unsatisfying.  The redeeming feature of 100 year old man for me was the dry humour that ran throughout, while this book seemed to wallow in mawkish reflection on scenarios that seem to have been lifted entirely from 1970's TV plays. When I finished the book I might have been inclined to give it a 6.5, but with the benefit of hindsight this has slipped to a 5.”