2014 (111)
2015 (97)
2016 (139)
2019 (83)
2020 (69)
“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” by Rachel Joyce
一輩子庸庸碌碌，從童年到婚姻都失敗的Harold，在退休後過著一潭死水的日子，卻因為一封老同事的永別信，一份單純的信念，走上了一場不可思議的非理性長途跋涉，徒步穿越整個英格蘭。 一路上Harold風餐露宿，遇到了各式各樣的人物。 Harold學會以謙遜和勇氣向路人求助，也享受拋棄一切外物輕裝上路的自由。 日子變得無比的單純，不過是不斷地把一隻腳邁到另一腳前麵。 一步步前行的同時，Harold的心靈旅程也隨之展開，潛入那些被塵封的痛苦回憶，麵對生命的美好和缺憾、麵對不可能重回補救的錯誤。。。
87天的pilgrimage給了Harold一段自省的良機，坦誠麵對自己，包括過往一切的傷痛、遺棄和背叛、愧對他人的負罪感。。。並終於和自己make peace，不再糾結內心的遺憾。
而在家的妻子Maureen也由最初的憤怒、羞辱，慢慢改變心態，甚至後來成為他最堅定的支持者。
結尾並未出現奇跡，卻更叫人感動。
小說的語調也如英國紳士一樣溫吞禮貌，沒有大灑狗血、煽情的高潮迭起，偶爾帶點小小的諷刺和幽默，和讀者有點疏離，叫人讀起來有思考的自由、呼吸的空間。
也許我們每一個人都需要一場獨自跋涉的自我療傷。 沒有了外界的喧囂，沒有了紅塵的誘惑，才能以最樸素的方式貼近自己最真實最赤裸裸的內心。 就算在人生的夕陽，也還不晚改變自己，重新發掘生命中最珍貴的點滴。
Quotes:
“If we don't go mad once in a while, there's no hope.”
“But maybe it's what the world needs. A little less sense, and a little more faith.”
“Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways.” “He had learned that it was the smallness of people that filled him with wonder and tenderness, and the loneliness of that too. The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing it for a long time. Harold could no longer pass a stranger without acknowledging the truth that everyone was the same, and also unique; and that this was the dilemma of being human.”
“He understood that in walking to atone for the mistakes he had made, it was also his journey to accept the strangeness of others.”
“The past was the past; there was no escaping your beginnings.”
“He had felt safe with what he had confided. It had been the same with Queenie. You could say things in the car and know she had tucked them somewhere safe among her thoughts, and that she would not judge him for them, or hold it against him in years to come. He supposed that was what friendship was, and regretted all the years he had spent without it.”
“The kindness of the woman with the food came back to him, and that of Martina. They had offered him comfort and shelter, even when he was afraid of taking them, and in accepting he had learned something new. It was as much of a gift to receive as it was to give, requiring as it did both courage and humility.”
英格蘭的鄉下甜美迷人，我們一家都很喜歡。
我還蠻羨慕Harold老先生這樣慢悠悠享受這些美景呢。
