“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” by Rachel Joyce
一辈子庸庸碌碌，从童年到婚姻都失败的Harold，在退休后过着一潭死水的日子，却因为一封老同事的永别信，一份单纯的信念，走上了一场不可思议的非理性长途跋涉，徒步穿越整个英格兰。 一路上Harold风餐露宿，遇到了各式各样的人物。 Harold学会以谦逊和勇气向路人求助，也享受抛弃一切外物轻装上路的自由。 日子变得无比的单纯，不过是不断地把一只脚迈到另一脚前面。 一步步前行的同时，Harold的心灵旅程也随之展开，潜入那些被尘封的痛苦回忆，面对生命的美好和缺憾、面对不可能重回补救的错误。。。
87天的pilgrimage给了Harold一段自省的良机，坦诚面对自己，包括过往一切的伤痛、遗弃和背叛、愧对他人的负罪感。。。并终于和自己make peace，不再纠结内心的遗憾。
而在家的妻子Maureen也由最初的愤怒、羞辱，慢慢改变心态，甚至后来成为他最坚定的支持者。
结尾并未出现奇迹，却更叫人感动。
小说的语调也如英国绅士一样温吞礼貌，没有大洒狗血、煽情的高潮迭起，偶尔带点小小的讽刺和幽默，和读者有点疏离，叫人读起来有思考的自由、呼吸的空间。
也许我们每一个人都需要一场独自跋涉的自我疗伤。 没有了外界的喧嚣，没有了红尘的诱惑，才能以最朴素的方式贴近自己最真实最赤裸裸的内心。 就算在人生的夕阳，也还不晚改变自己，重新发掘生命中最珍贵的点滴。
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.”
英格兰的乡下甜美迷人，我们一家都很喜欢。
我还蛮羡慕Harold老先生这样慢悠悠享受这些美景呢。
