The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Book Revew)

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
by Rachel Joyce

320 pages

Random House, 2012

fiction

Read in 4 days

Another Review...

My Rating: ★★★★

Amazon.com | BN.com

"The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday."

Review: What can I say about Harold Fry? He's an old man, but not as old as all that, who's recently retired, when he receives a letter from a co-worker he hasn't seen in several decades. Queenie is dying from cancer and she's writing to say her last good-bye.

This book had me from the very beginning. For me, it really starts when he decides to mail a response. The way this book is told from inside his head, his inner-most thoughts and ideas are fascinating and gripping. What lengths would any of us go to so a friend might live?

There are many moving moments in this story that sort of begins and ends with a girl who works in a garage (ie. a kind of convenience store) where Harold first makes the decision to walk from his home in Kingsbridge to Queenies Hospice located on the outskirts of Scotland. In all it's over 500 miles he's decided to walk. As long as he walks the whole way there it stands to reason that she will live until he gets there. It's what he believes from a story the young lady who works in the garage tells him. It's the beginning of a great many stories he's confided with on his journey. I'm reminded of the doctor who teaches him how to properly care for his feet since he insists on completing the journey in a pair of boat shoes. They are not aprapo footwear for a pilgrimage of any kind. Then there is the silver-haired gentleman who confides in him about his closet romance with another gentleman. There are so many different kinds of people Harold meets along the way it's fascinating to read.

Rachel has an uncanny way of answering questions the reader might have at the right moment that they might be thinking it. For instance, the notion that he would be walking for so long and no one ever taking his picture or his story never turning up on the news? Well, not only does that end up happening, but he's even tweeted about! This is a story that shows just how powerful a persons actions can be and just how personal their intent if they truly believe. Harold believed, which in turn made others believe in themselves enough to do unthinkable things. He does come across one or two with bad intents on their minds but the good people he encounters outweighs the others.

There is a lot of raw emotion and so much more to the story than a simple pilgrimage to visit a dying friend. At first you might think it odd that he should journey so far for a woman he hadn't heard from in over 20 years but as his journey continues so does the truth about his life and how the choices he made put him where he was at that moment, walking.

So I ask, how many of us would talk 500 miles if it meant a dying friend would live a little longer? I won't spoil the ending except to say, expect tears of joy and of sorrow. I would expect nothing less from an excellent book.

Summary: Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning a letter arrives, addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl, from a woman he hasn’t heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. But before Harold mails off a quick reply, a chance encounter convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. In his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold Fry embarks on an urgent quest. Determined to walk six hundred miles to the hospice, Harold believes that as long as he walks, Queenie will live. A novel of charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise—and utterly irresistible—storyteller.

If you want to learn more about Rachel Joyce, please visit her site.

TCM Presents...The Two Mrs. Carrolls

 



Title: The Two Mrs. Carrolls

Director: Peter Godfrey

Screenwriter(s): Thomas Job & Martin Vale

Producer: Jack L. Warner & Mark Hellinger

Distributor: Warner Bros.

In Theaters: March 4th, 1947

Run Time: 99 minutes

Color: B&W

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith, & Nigel Bruce

Genre(s): crime/drama/film-noir/thriller

Storyline: Struggling artist Geoffrey Carroll meets Sally whilst on holiday in the country. A romance develops but he doesn’t tell her he’s already married. Suffering from mental illness, Geoffrey returns home where he paints an impression of his wife as the angel of death and then promptly poisons her. He marries Sally but after a while he finds a strange urge to paint her as the angel of death too and history seems about to repeat itself. Written by Col Needham

Movie Trailer:

My Review: According to Robert Osbourne this is one of the Bogart movies that many critics felt he over acted. I would disagree. The man was portraying a mentally ill person, bordering on schizophrenia in my opinion. Back during this time period when there were no green screens, the actors relied on their ability to make a facial expression worth a thousand words. So many actors from the 30’s-70’s were experts at moving the story along through the expression on their face. Humphrey Bogart simply over exercised his facial muscles in, what he probably assumed, was the only way to let the audience know he was insane. For me, it worked brilliantly.

Ms. Stanwyck was superb in the scene when she discovers her husband whom she loves deeply is poisoning her in the same fashion that he poisoned his first wife. The first Mrs. Carroll. I appreciate Barbara Stanwyck’s performance in this movie because it further emphasizes what I knew about her all along. She’s a damn good actress. Her voice, for me, is the most distinct feature about her. I could close my eyes and recognize her voice instantly. It’s very deep and sultry and commands to be heard. In her library of movies this is a good addition to showcase how broad an actor she was.

There are a few minor players surrounding the two main characters as well. Alexis Smith for instance who plays the woman who Bogart has chosen to be his third wife after he’s gotten rid of his current wife of course. What amazes me is that no other person around him sees just how crazy he really is but her and she still is willing to love him and live with him. It just goes to show that women see what they want to see and when it comes to love they are blind to what’s right in front of their face.

His daughter, for me, is the most vital part of this movie. Without her the audience can easily forget just how human he is. True he is crazy, but when it comes to his daughter he is attentive, loving, and caring. She also is the only woman in his life who knows and understands his work as a painter better than even he knows it. She is supposed to be no older than 12 yet she speaks like that of a 40 year old woman. There is nothing she is afraid of. I believe she secretly knew her father was slowly killing her mother. That scene where he’s about to administer what will be the final and lethal dose to his first wife and his daughter says to him, “I will follow you anywhere and do anything you want me to do because I know what you’re doing is in my best interest.” I’m paraphrasing of course. It was her way of letting him know that she understands and will love him always no matter what he does or who he kills, even if it is her biological mother. That girl is the anomaly in the whole movie yet without her there would be no story.

If you’ve never seen Humphrey Bogart or if you’ve only seen him in a role of the cool guy, this is a great movie to see. It will open your eyes to just how great an actor he is, being able to play a role that no one would have ever imagined he’d be able to play.

My Rating: A