November 2012 Book Club "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" by Rachel Joyce

Merry Christmas Book Club!

Our November meeting, the Butler Symphony Christmas home tour, was a beautiful day of sunshine, mild temperatures, and fun for all who attended. Members present including me were Ginnie, Lori, Becky, Barb K., Cheryl, and Jody. We had several guests with us as well: my sister Theresa Beck, Jody’s Daughter Drew, and Becky’s friend and mine Karen Doran. We hope that each of our guests enjoyed their day with us and all are welcome to join our club for any future meetings and events.

Our home tour began just a little on the shaky side with a bad choice of restaurants in Saxonburg for breakfast. Although it would have been an ideal location for discussing our November book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, the kitchen was basically out of all of the food on their menu. We ended up leaving the restaurant and were, luckily, quickly accommodated at Kelly’s Diner, just a few blocks down Saxonburg’s Main Street. Although, our group was seated at different tables, we were close enough to interact with a few opinions on our book.

Joyce’s first novel is a winner. The main character Harold Fry is a likable senior citizen with the common humorous nature of an Englishman. As Joyce writes his story, it is obvious she is using him as a medium for her own perspective on the world and a confessional for her own transgressions. Harold Fry is from a typically ordinary world, a place where all journeys of heroes must begin. One ordinary morning, Harold sets out for the post office to mail a card to his friend, Queenie Hennessy, who is dying of cancer. This is where the ordinary for Harold ends, he steps out of his safe world and answers “the call to adventure” the second step of a hero’s journey. Impulsively, he decides to walk in the hopes of keeping his friend alive. His journey is wrought with misgivings, cathartic moments, and purgative experiences. On several occasions, walking in unsuitably soled boat shoes and scant walking apparel, Harold almost gives up, but along the way, he finds renewed motivation through the people he meets and the places he travels.

I found Harold’s epiphanies on his life familiar. When Harold reflects on his son David’s pushing away as he grew up; he thinks of it as a natural process. He and his wife Maureen dealt with their son’s rejection in different ways, mostly in silence, “an energy and violence of its own.” However lonely Harold and Maureen felt, both knew the world would be even more desolate without each other. Their coming to terms with all of their mistakes and finding the true value of their relationship is the essence of this story. Harold’s journey also has a resurrection moment as there is with all hero journeys, and Harold learns that he really knows nothing and that is the biggest truth of all. I think of Odysseus who admits this to Poseidon, “I am nothing, I know nothing,” the summation of his knowledge after a twenty year journey, a valuable lesson for us all.

As no book was yet decided for January, please join us for the Christmas dinner with your ideas for future titles and for an always entertaining evening with friends. We will meet with our husbands and guests at the Butler Day’s Inn at 5 PM for a cocktail, and then drive to Glenshaw for our dinner reservations at the Hartwood Restaurant http://www.hartwoodrestaurant.com/menu.html  for Saturday, December 8, at 6:30 PM. We can leave a few cars parked at the Day’s Inn and then carpool to the restaurant. Please let me know if you plan to attend but have not emailed me your RSVP; all are welcome, past, present, and possible future members!  Also, be festive and break out your holiday glitz! 

Looking forward to our night out,

Tammy

P.S. At the party, we need to finalize our donation to the Chicora Medical Center Library. I would like to make our donation in memory of Gin Ramsey for the fun and laughter she gave to all who knew her.