mrsmac

I will probably get the book although I haven't read any of the Harry Potter ones, probably in the minority!

Flash floods in Toronto and the surrounding area tonight, train which runs from Toronto to points west stopped on the tracks because of water, occupants had to move to the upper level because of the height of the water. The passengers were eventually being rescued from the train and taken to locations where they could get the bus to their destination. The subway was halted because of flooding and there were power outages all over the city. Many travellers from Toronto were unable to get home and will have to stay overnight in hotels in the city. Lots of pictures of submerged cars - a real mess. We were lucky to escape the big storm, just got heavy rainfall which didn't last long. Been really strange weather for July.

gas

hiatus

Has anyone else seen the picture of the statue of D'Arcy of Pride & Prejudice emerging from the Serpentine? I think Colin Firth looked a lot better.

My aunt used to grow Hydragenias, no one ever corrected her as we all knew what she meant.

Your garden is looking very nice Huggle - gardens are great, a source of much pleasure.

We have had the air conditioning going steadily for about five days now as the humidity pushes the temp up to about 37C. I just hide indoors, the heat is coupled with heavy rain showers which makes the atmosphere much more muggy. We're looking forward to seeing our son and family here on July 25th, they are currently holidaying in Florida. They live in Yellowknife which is in the Northwest Territories of Canada, way up north near the land of the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. We haven't seen them in two years so are really looking forward to their visit.

weft

Just finished Unseen by Karin Slaughter. She writes really suspenseful police thrillers. Next up is Steve Hamilton's Let It Burn. An Alex McKnight mystery set in Paradise, Michigan on Lake Superior. Steve Hamilton is a good writer, have read several of his Alex McKnight series. There's a Daniel Silva book to be released in July, The English Girl, looks like it might be interesting. Always so many new releases, looks like my Visa will take a beating this month.

innoculations

reputable

Charles Dickens' biography by Claire Tomalin - really tried with this but it defeated me, too many details and dates. Every little detail about his life that I didn't want to know and yet I feel embarrassed because apparently it's well regarded in the literary world.

The Jesse Stone 'made for telly movies' are great, always enjoy them. Also have enjoyed all the Parker books I've read. Sorry that he's no longer with us. James Lee Burke is a very popular writer, I believe his books are mostly set in Louisiana in the U.S. Pontalba on the forum would be able to tell you a lot more about him.

Don't really skip pages, more like just scan them if they seem a bit too wordy, however, if I find I'm scanning too many I'll retire the book to the archives if it's on my Kindle with the intention of going back at some time, which usually means never. If it's a hardback that I've bought and it's a disappointing read to the extent that I'm rushing through pages it gets taken to the library for them to put in their book sale or into the system. I used to put those books into the book case with the intent of going back to them but that has never happened so they have all been banished now.

yuck

funny cigarette

choreographer

1. Who was your favourite character? My favourite characters were Harold and Maureen. They are two fairly ordinary people who meet, fall in love, get married, have a child and then their lives are blown apart by the tragedy of their only son's suicide. Maureen is extremely bitter and blames Harold for not being able to help the boy and Harold blames himself too. They continue to live together with Maureen trying to cope with her loss by 'talking' to her dead son. Harold doesn't know how to deal with this so they live in this unhappy situation until the letter from Queenie arrives which devastates Harold who again has something else to feel guilty about - he didn't keep in touch with a friend who took the blame for him and saved him from being fired. He decides to answer the letter immediately, while Maureen looks on with little interest. While walking and making several abortive attempts to mail the letter at different locations he is taken by the strange thought that if only he can get to Queenie in time he can save her and alters his letter to reflect his intentions (wait for me, I'm coming). Thus begins the pilgrimage which changes both his and Maureen's lives and ultimately heals their marriage. The way they both handle the situation brings about a marvellous reconciliation with the revival of Maureen's love. To me it's both a pilgrimage and a love story. 2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I liked the way Harold began noticing nature all around and seeing the world as he hasn't seen it before, sort of an awakening. I also thought it was amazing how Harold found a depth in himself to attempt and continue with the seemingly impossible task of walking for 500+ miles. 3. Was this the first book you've read in this genre by this author, has it encouraged you to read more? Yes, I hadn't read anything like this which I guess is called literature fiction. I wasn't too impressed the first time but reading it for the second time and knowing the outcome I enjoyed it immensely because of not worrying about some horrible climax. It was very pleasant and I think I would read something again by this author. 4. Was there any part you struggled with? The whole concept of walking away from home and continuing to walk for hundreds of miles struck me as being the behaviour of someone mentally unstable but it made more sense as I continued to read as what he was doing was intensely therapeutic for him although not so for Maureen. While he was 'finding himself' he was leaving Maureen to deal with her abandonment although he did stay in touch with postcards and little gifts. I found it particularly selfish that he was using his retirement income for himself with little thought for Maureen, although he does come to realize this and changes his spending behaviour. 5. Overall, was reading this book an enjoyable experience? Yes, it was, the second time around, not as enjoyable with the first reading. 6. How important do you think the girl in the garage was? She was important in that she bolstered Harold's belief that it was possible to save someone with terminal cancer. 7. Why do you think strangers who met Harold wanted to help him? I think Harold's self-effacing ways and possibly his appearance of helplessness and general innocence brought out the best in people. 9. Did he help Queenie in the end at all? I'd like to think that she was aware of him when she was dying and it gave her some comfort but I think it helped Harold more than Queenie. I think actually seeing Queenie and realizing that there really had never been anything he could do to help her was another life lesson for Harold. 10. Was Harold's Pilgrimage all in vain? No, definitely not, it gave Harold a different perspective on life in general and it healed his marriage. He never had stopped loving Maureen but it was a gradual understanding on her part which caused the reconciliation, so I think his pilgrimage with its attendant challenges was a huge success for both him and Maureen. Not sure about the other 'pilgrims' - they had issues of their own with which to deal and in the end they just weren't there for Harold.

fish

decibels

nonentity

Am reading The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, for the second time, so that I can join in the July discussion of the book. Fortunately I had it in my Kindle archives so didn't have to get another copy. Sorry, this post is in the wrong thread, tried to remove but couldn't find a delete button.

point

anglophile