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A review by clairereviews
The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down by Andrew McCarthy
5.0
This book intrigued me, as I'd been somewhat of a fan of the author in the 80's, and I thought it sounded interesting and different. Hearing that he had a book out renewed my interest, so I looked him up and found that he was now a travel writer. The book promised to be the story of McCarthy's twofold journey, to visit some very far flung places and to also discover himself. I was really hoping that this was not going to be an actor's self-indulgent trip down memory lane combined with a few holiday memoirs thrown in for good measure...and it wasn't.
The places that Andrew visited are so far off the beaten track that no ordinary tourist would have a hope in hell of finding them, not to mention that I needed to look them up on a map!
His clever use of vocabulary described these places so vividly that I felt I could really get a sense of each place, he made them come alive! The characters he met along the way sounded so colourful and full of life, such was the extent of his descriptive words.
The anecdotes offered about Andrew's personal life were succinct - descriptive enough so that you had all the facts, but without one iota of self indulgence. I was really impressed. So impressed that I found myself wanting to visit Patagonia if only to experience what he described so well. This may not sound like a big deal, but I'm a sunbed + pool + book kind of holidaymaker as a rule.
I was also so impressed that I decided to tweet Mr McCarthy to tell him how much I had enjoyed this book, and that he had made me want to visit those places. I'm sure only a fellow ex-obsessive-fan will understand my shock at not only receiving a reply, but telling me that I had better pack my bags! I'm sure I'll be forgiven (if only by Jenny Colgan!) for thinking for one second that he would whisk me off...(yes, I was also a size 10 in the clip that played in my mind!)
I'm so pleased that while he was on his journey he found within him the courage to settle down with D. That woman deserves a medal!
The places that Andrew visited are so far off the beaten track that no ordinary tourist would have a hope in hell of finding them, not to mention that I needed to look them up on a map!
His clever use of vocabulary described these places so vividly that I felt I could really get a sense of each place, he made them come alive! The characters he met along the way sounded so colourful and full of life, such was the extent of his descriptive words.
The anecdotes offered about Andrew's personal life were succinct - descriptive enough so that you had all the facts, but without one iota of self indulgence. I was really impressed. So impressed that I found myself wanting to visit Patagonia if only to experience what he described so well. This may not sound like a big deal, but I'm a sunbed + pool + book kind of holidaymaker as a rule.
I was also so impressed that I decided to tweet Mr McCarthy to tell him how much I had enjoyed this book, and that he had made me want to visit those places. I'm sure only a fellow ex-obsessive-fan will understand my shock at not only receiving a reply, but telling me that I had better pack my bags! I'm sure I'll be forgiven (if only by Jenny Colgan!) for thinking for one second that he would whisk me off...(yes, I was also a size 10 in the clip that played in my mind!)
I'm so pleased that while he was on his journey he found within him the courage to settle down with D. That woman deserves a medal!