Rachel Joyce
The book that I read just prior to this one was “Who’s in charge? Free Will & the Science of the Brain”. The author of that book summed it all up in the end when he said that beyond the machinations of the body and the brain that science has, or has the potential to explain fully, there lies an abstraction that we call mind or consciousness. The recognition of that is what makes us human. When Harold Fry went out to post a letter and unwittingly begins an absolutely unplanned walk from one end of the country to another, I thought the coincidence was fantastic.
With no preparation – maps, travel gear, phone, or even proper shoes – Harold decides to walk to save a life. The life of a friend he feels he has wronged. The book itself is not just the interesting details of Harold’s travels and how various people and circumstances shape it, or his character and how it evolved our time, or even the events of his life that have led to the why and how of this journey. It is also about his wife Maureen, her perspective of the events that transpired in her life and their impact on her relationship with Harold.
What I really liked was the sensitivity with which the author has tackled the many subjects in the book – parenthood, the loneliness in marriage, failing health, faith, regret and so on. It’s the kind of book that will make one look back on one’s own life, and wonder about the twists, turns, and where they really began.
The book begins and ends with the sea, probably a good reminder of the vastness of our own selves that are incomprehensible to us.
