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Reload this Page The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
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Old 08-09-2012, 06:46 PM   #1
scarletpeaches
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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
I bought this a few weeks back for my Kindle because it was on sale for one day only, for around £2. When I heard it was longlisted for the Booker, I bumped it to the top of my to-read pile and finished it a few days ago.

Has anyone else here read it? I loved the build-up, the pilgrimage itself. I read the last few chapters with, er...something in my eyes.

However, I think the book should have ended with...

SPOILER!
...Queenie's death. We know that's what the pilgrimage was leading up to, but I feel like Joyce dragged the book on a little too long.
END SPOILER.

I felt like I should have seen the revelation about David coming, too.

But aside from all that, this is going on my favourite reads of 2012 list, for sure.

Anyone else?
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Old 08-09-2012, 06:48 PM   #2
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mirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate compliments
I read this a couple of months ago and really enjoyed it.

But yeah, you're right that she dragged out the ending for too long.

I did get the spoiler well before it was revealed but that may just be the way my mind works.

This was one of the books the Waterstone's assistant recommended. I will miss bookshops when they are gone.
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Old 08-09-2012, 06:50 PM   #3
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scarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate compliments
I might have twigged about David (or rather, cheated) if I'd read it in print. "Hmm, I wonder if...I'll just flick forward to see..."

But reading in Kindle format makes flicking forward more laborious, so I read each page in order, without looking ahead.
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Old 08-09-2012, 06:52 PM   #4
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mirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate compliments
Errmmm.... Are you accusing me of cheating?

LOL!
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Old 08-09-2012, 06:55 PM   #5
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scarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsscarletpeaches is so great that we've run out of appropriate compliments
Either that, or you're psychic!

But seriously, it's a device that's been used in other books and it's becoming less of a shock now.

SPOILER
"Oh, he was dead all along. Well, that's...old."
END SPOILER

^^^My reaction. Not one of shock at all. The twist has become a cliche. However, Joyce wrote it very well, I think.

I loved Harold as a character. I wish he'd told Wilf to piss off, though. And the other people who joined him. In those chapters, he was far too much of a doormat.
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Old 08-09-2012, 07:23 PM   #6
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mirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate complimentsmirandashell is so great that we've run out of appropriate compliments
I promise I didn't cheat! I did guess it was coming.


She did write it well though. And I had a lot of sympathy for Harold's wife as well, by the end.

ETA: I didn't guess the way the spoiler happened. That made me go hmmm....
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