The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - now the book club thread!

Received my copy on Thursday also, thank you Gn. Couldn't resist starting it straightaway and I was hooked. Looking forward to a quiet weekend reading

Excellent start! A verse of my favourite hymn on the front page!

#truevaloursee.

You won't be disappointed, jingl. Wonderful book...I was sorry to have to finish it!

My copy arrived this morning, thank you GN. Am reading something at the moment, but will look forward to starting it very soon.

I'm half way through it. Such a wonderful book!

I'm with Tegan on the deck shoes. It bothered me all the way through. I really enjoyed the book although I felt it plots impetus when he reached the nursing home. But a good read.

I don't think he ever had them re-soled, though, did he? He just kept winding duct tape round them!

Stansgran - I felt the story was meant to lose impetus when he reached the nursing home.

I loved this book and just couldn't put it down until I'd found out how it all ended for Harold and the others. I found it moving, funny and very English, if that's possible with its shades of Forrest Gump! My only disappointment was the way Harold picked up pace as he passed through Northern England. The descriptions of the Southern towns and countryside on his journey were so detailed and well written, and I was looking forward to seeing what he made of Yorkshire, Durham etc. Well he didn't - he picked up speed and fair dashed through the grim North towards the book's end. I'd like to ask Ms Joyce why this was - did she realise she'd spent too long on the journey so far and had to speed it up, or did she think it was grim up North and just not fancy the research trip?

I'm sure he took them to a cobblers and had them resoled [you can actually have that done, I think, but I'm sure they'd have to be sent away]. And you couldn't realistically walk that far without proper footwear. And he wouldn't be able to wind duct tape round them without having a pair of scissors [have you ever tried to cut duct tape or even carry it with you without it sticking to everything]. And he kept washing his clothes and they'd be dry overnight [not possible]. I can cope with things like that in, say, Lord of the Rings [didn't , for example, worry about how they travelled all through Middle earth without a change of undies] but this wasn't the sort of book that I could do that with. [I know I'm really anal ...]

Well...I'll just stick with my suspension of belief for those bits, Tegan - in fact I'm pretty sure he'd have been hospitalised before he got further than halfway in real life...

Are there any spoilers going on here?! #onlyjuststartedit

I know what you mean; I'm desperately trying to avoid anything about Broadchurch [haven't seen it yet] but every time I turn on the telly they seem to be interviewing someone about it. Was channel hopping the other night and I just caught Olivia Colman saying 'I was hoping it would be...' before I managed to switch off. Which isn't quite as bad as someone complaining about Richard Madely mentioning the fact that the Titanic sank before they'd seen the film .

- about the Titanic "spoiler"!

Sorry folks! (But Tegan started it...)

...slinks away to watch Eurovision ...

Likewise, Tegan. Sorry folks.

GrandmaH its Wendy jones for the book you mentioned . I downloaded it for my hols and couldn't find it. Thanks for reminding me.

I got this on audio a couple of months ago - fascinating - loved it.

My copy was waiting on my return from holiday. Looking forward to reading it. Many Thanks.

My copy arrived yesterday, thank you. After reading some of the comments I think I shall just start reading it straight away. I often have two or three books on the go at once as it save me going up (or down) stairs if I have forgotten the book.

Thanks for my freebie, Gransnet. At first found it hard to get into the minutiae of Harold's life. Mind you, I had just finished Herman Koch's The Dinner- an intriguing & eventually very fast moving account of family members' differing approaches to a dreadful moral dilemma.shock[recommended.]
Now happy with Harold's gentle pace & realisations. Planning to recommend it to my book group.smile

Delighted with this book, characters well drawn; the book is very easy to read and I am whizzing through it because I want to see what happens when Harold reaches the end of his journey.
It is sensitively written, amusing in parts and also very funny in parts too. It would make a good movie too I think.
Who could we get to play Harold? Any suggestions?

Many thanks for my copy GN which arrived on Saturday. Have read one chapter so far but am now going back to bed to read another before getting dressed !. I like the look of it a lot.