Book or Film Part 2 - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
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I belong to a book club at my local library. If you love reading, have you ever wondered about joining a book club? I prevaricated for a long time, unsure about: the pressure of reading one book per month; reading books I hadn’t selected; the cost of purchasing the books. The latter was eradicated when I discovered that my local library facilitates several book clubs. I took the plunge and never looked back. The other members are lovely local people I wouldn’t otherwise have met (apart from the 2 I knew!) We agreed from the outset that there was no pressure to finish a book if you weren’t enjoying it. I enjoy discovering new titles and authors chosen by others. Some of them I love, others not so much – exactly as when I choose for myself!
Last month’s book was ‘The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry’ by Rachel Joyce. Our group gave it an average of 8.3 out of 10. I loved the book. It is character-driven, and beautifully written, with an unhurried but well-crafted plot which oozes a slow-burn suspense. Pensioner Harold Fry has only ever walked out of necessity. He stumbles into his pilgrimage from Devon to Berwick-upon-Tweed, but it takes hold of him and he discovers life anew. His child-like wonder and growing attachment to the natural world are simply but poignantly expressed, and struck a particular chord with me, unearthing half-forgotten experiences. Likewise his many and varied encounters with strangers: some banal, one or two hostile, many meaningful and some life-changing. The reader journeys with Harold as he opens himself to physical encounters on the road and to internal wanderings, penetrating the locked places in his heart. The book left me both satisfied and wanting more.
If you’ve not read the book, but have seen the film, directed by Hettie Macdonald, with memorable performances by Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton, you may well have found it enjoyable and moving. But for me, the film could only scratch the surface, because so much of the characters’ ‘journey’ is internal, particularly for Mrs Fry. Physically speaking, she is left behind but her ‘journey’ is as significant as her husband’s. Book or film? For Harold Fry, my vote is 7.5 for the film and 8.5 for the book.
There are some ‘unlikely pilgrims’ in my novel, ‘The Twelfth Cross.’ Their journey is also largely internal, though it takes them firstly across time and then from Lincoln to medieval London in the depths of winter. COMING SOON!
