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| The mug is from University of Birmingham, freebie when I started my Masters! |
There has been a
lot of talk about this book recently. That and my friend lent it to me are the
reasons I picked up this book. I regret nothing. It is fascinating. In a way it
is a very engaging book, mixed with Miss Strayed’s personal journey and her
hiking experiences. To be honest, I was more fascinated with her hiking
experiences. It really made me want to strap on my walking boots and just go. But
her personal journey? I hate to say it but I wasn’t convinced. Yes she has gone
through personal hell with the death of her mother and the deterioration of her
marriage. I love her honesty, finally a woman who is the destroyer of a
marriage instead of playing the victim. But here comes the big BUT. The book
ends with her having an ice cream. It wasn’t very clear that the end of the
journey was at that point. And then a paragraph later we discover that in the
space of four years post the trek she gets married and then five years after
that they have a son and then a daughter. This may be coming from someone who
thinks that early marriages/engagements are a bad choice but FOUR YEARS?! After
heroin addiction, walking eleven hundred miles and a messy divorce AND her
mother’s death she commits to another human being for eternity? Really? Anyone
else think that is all a bit too soon? I thought the descriptions of her
experiences throughout the trail were amazing and very inspiring. Her battles
within her personal life, again, very moving and engaging. But the last two
pages were not convincing. And don’t get me started on the acknowledgements. That
being said, I am going to read more by Strayed. She may not be the next
Elizabeth Gilbert but her writing style is excellent and I look forward to more
from an author that has made a name for herself through her honesty.
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