The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Marriage is a tricky thing, you find someone to love who loves you back and you decide to commit yourselves to one another throughout all the good and bad of life. But simply because you are married to someone doesn’t mean you know how your spouse will approach everything that comes your way. So what happens when you and your spouse don’t adapt to unforeseen circumstances at the same pace?
Harold Fry and his wife are faced with just such a predicament. After years of confusion and sadness, Harold receives an unexpected letter in the mail and in an effort to respond he takes a walk to the mailbox. The emotional, psychological, and physical journey he takes from there provides insight to relationships of all types.
I left The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry wanting to be more loving, forgiving, and understanding. I hoped to have better communication skills in my own relationships and be a better friend. Perhaps I need to take a nice long walk to really help these personality traits sink in.
Historical Value- 0
Emotional Value- 4
Entertainment Value- 3
Personal Character Value- 5
Age recommendation-16 and up
“People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what no one else knew was the appalling weight of the thing they were carrying inside. The superhuman effort it took sometimes to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The loneliness of that.”
“I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone. The only difference is that I am getting used to the pain. It’s like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it’s there and keep falling in. After a while, it’s still there, but you learn to walk round it.”
“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 so for a long time.”
“If we don’t go mad once in a while, there’s no hope.”
“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.”
“There is so much to the human mind we don’t understand. But, you see, if you have faith, you can do anything.”
“If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it stands to reason that I’m going to get there. I’ve begun to think we sit far more than we’re supposed to…Why else would we have feet?”
“The least planned part of the journey, however, was the journey itself.”
“Beginnings could happen more than once, or in different ways.”
“But maybe it’s what the world needs. A little less sense, and a little more faith.”
“Even when it’s sunny I can’t enjoy it. I think to myself, Oh yes, it’s nice now, but it’s not going to last. I’m either watching rain, or waiting for it.”
“The people he met, the places he passed, were all steps in his journey, and he kept a place inside his heart for each of them.”
If you enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry you might also enjoy The Light Between Oceans
