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This is a beautifully written and deceptively simple novel with a premise that seems a bit different than the usual literary fiction. I really enjoyed this very quiet and thought provoking novel. I don't think its what I'd call fast paced in any way but its very engaging.
What really stands out here is the writing ... wow. It's breathtaking in places. I found myself just taking in the words and feeling overwhelmed by the pure beauty of the language. Combine that with the fact that the novel lends ...more
What really stands out here is the writing ... wow. It's breathtaking in places. I found myself just taking in the words and feeling overwhelmed by the pure beauty of the language. Combine that with the fact that the novel lends ...more
"The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday", thus begins Harold Fry's emotional, spiritual and physical journey across England to say goodbye to a former coworker who's in a hospice, dying of cancer. Along the way we learn of Harold's painful past ( his childhood, his son, his marriage)and see him grow and reawaken through his memories and the people he meets on his journey.
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Loved this odd mix of "Up" and "Travels With Charley" story, with a bit of Anne Tyler's works thrown in. It's completely unique prose -- I don't mean to imply that Joyce copies or just reinvents the stories of others. I just felt that various elements of those others came into play and added dimension to Joyce's story. I enjoyed meeting the people encountered along the way, as I did when reading "Travels With Charley;" I found myself reflecting on my own love for my husband of many years, as I d
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The premise of this novel is fairly simple. Harold Fry, a very ordinary retired British man receives a letter one day from a former female coworker, Queenie Hennessy; he hasn't seen her in twenty years. She tells him that she has terminal cancer. When he leaves his house to post a reply, he suddenly changes his mind and decides to keep walking to deliver the letter to Queenie in person. He leaves on his journey with nothing more than the clothes on his back. In so doing, he leaves behind his wif
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It's the journey, not the destination. Take this journey with Harold Fry.
Harold's retired life in a small English village is little more than similar days running into one another. His wife usually tells him what to do, and how he did it wrong. He notices his wife's pain in not seeing their son, but he never talks to her about it. Not much changes until one day he gets a brief, typed letter from Queenie, a woman he used to work with twenty years ago. She writes to tell him goodbye, as she is re ...more
Harold's retired life in a small English village is little more than similar days running into one another. His wife usually tells him what to do, and how he did it wrong. He notices his wife's pain in not seeing their son, but he never talks to her about it. Not much changes until one day he gets a brief, typed letter from Queenie, a woman he used to work with twenty years ago. She writes to tell him goodbye, as she is re ...more
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What will be the impetus for a person to shuck all he/she knows and is comfortable with, although not happy with, in order to discover what is really important is his/her life and who he/she really is? For one who is settled, however discontentedly, in life and is well over the wandering age of youth to embark upon the unknown is not the stuff of which self-discovery tales are made. Someone should have told that to Harold Fry, who in his mid-sixties unwittingly sets out on a 600+ mile journey to
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Overall I enjoyed this book. At times I did find it slightly tedious in terms of the repetitive references to walking, shoes, feet etc. and wished it would get to the point. The ending left me with a feeling of sadness- despite the fact that it ended on a hopeful note for Harold- the feeling of the pointlessness of life was a depressing one!
I cannot wait - although I have waited 12 years - for the Jim Broadbent movie!
Such a beautiful real story, simple but poignant.
Jul 29, 2012
Julie
marked it as to-check-out
Aug 02, 2012
Karen
marked it as to-read
Aug 05, 2012
Steven
marked it as to-read
Aug 24, 2012
Amanda
marked it as to-read
Feb 21, 2013
Helen
added it
