From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, #1)

Rachel Joyce

Start date: November 15, 2013

Finish date: December 15, 2013

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Ruth

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Jul 06, 2012 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it liked it

Shelves: location-uk, audiobook, read2012, booker-winners-and-listed

I fear I am heartless.

Some people I respect as readers give this book five stars and I just can't.

Basically, it is about a man taking a walk. Beginning, middle, end. He gets bad news about an old friend and just starts walking, wearing the wrong kind of shoes and without bringing his 'mobile.'

Most of the book is about regret and finding his way back to what matters. So, I get that, but it didn't poke through my tough exterior, I guess. You have my permission to call me heartless.

I listened to t ...more

95 likes · Like · see review

Aug 28, 2013 Clifford rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

This is a well-crafted book about a quest, and it is filled with charming characters and misfits. In the end, though, I found it overly sentimental and melodramatic. If you like that sort of thing--lots of people do--maybe this is for you.

The story is about Harold Fry, a retiree who learns that an old colleague is dying of cancer. He writes her a letter, but decides that isn't enough. He's going to go visit her. On foot. It's the least he can do because of something that happened 20 years earlie ...more

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Dec 10, 2012 Robert rated it really liked it

I thought this was excellent, and the only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that I'm a bit of a curmudgeon and I'm not ready to put it up there with the greatest historical works of literature like "Les Miserables." There's a lot of really insightful thinking in the characters, the story, and the issues addressed. It's a short book, and an easy read on a surface level. It's also one of those books whose depth measures the depth of the reader. ...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Harold is a recently-retired man with an empty marriage who receives a letter from a former coworker that he hasn't seen since she did something to save his job 20 years before. The letter says that she is dying at a hospice in Scotland and he writes a letter in response. When he goes to mail the letter, he finds himself walking to her instead, believing that she will live as long as he is walking. Both Harold and his wife learn so much about themselves. A very moving book. ...more

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