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A review by flijn
The Walk by Richard Paul Evans
2.0
I was simultaneously moved by and disappointed with this book. More disappointed, unfortunately.
The title and the premise on the back cover suggest this story will be about a man on a walk. So I expected something like [b:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|13227454|The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, #1)|Rachel Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1335816092s/13227454.jpg|18156927] or [b:Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail|12262741|Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail|Cheryl Strayed|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453189881s/12262741.jpg|17237712], which both deal with loss by going on a journey on foot, and both of which I liked a lot.
But the first half of The Walk detailes Alan's loss, which you already know is going to happen. To be fair, that part had me almost crying on an airplane, it was quite emotional. But it felt like the real story had yet to begin, and it took more than twenty (very short) chapters to do so. And then, when Alan is finally walking, it bassically is: "I walked this many miles, from this town to that town, and then I was tired and had this, this, and this to eat."
Every significant event in this part of the story had nothing to do with walking!
The structure bothered me as well.
The idea is that Alan keeps a diary, and every chapter starts with an entry. This does not make sense. Firstly, the fragments don't do what such quotations at the beginning of a chapter usually do, i.e. add a deeper layer in a different voice, often a cryptic foreshadowing or reflection on the theme. Here, it is just a short spoiler of what is going to happen, or a gratuit 'insightful' comment.
Second, the story is written in first person. This is just odd, when combined with diary entries from the 'same' person.
And finally, the supposedly insightful comments were unoriginal. Some of them I have literally read before, and none of them follow naturally from the context. Oh, a walk is also metaphorical journey? Who has ever heard of such a thing! Certainly not Tolkien, to name just one...
The first page pretty much shouts 'Hey, reader! You are gonna be blown away by the life changing wisdom that I learned on my walk; hold on to your seat!" But the book does not deliver.
The title and the premise on the back cover suggest this story will be about a man on a walk. So I expected something like [b:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry|13227454|The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Harold Fry, #1)|Rachel Joyce|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1335816092s/13227454.jpg|18156927] or [b:Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail|12262741|Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail|Cheryl Strayed|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453189881s/12262741.jpg|17237712], which both deal with loss by going on a journey on foot, and both of which I liked a lot.
But the first half of The Walk detailes Alan's loss, which you already know is going to happen. To be fair, that part had me almost crying on an airplane, it was quite emotional. But it felt like the real story had yet to begin, and it took more than twenty (very short) chapters to do so. And then, when Alan is finally walking, it bassically is: "I walked this many miles, from this town to that town, and then I was tired and had this, this, and this to eat."
Every significant event in this part of the story had nothing to do with walking!
The structure bothered me as well.
The idea is that Alan keeps a diary, and every chapter starts with an entry. This does not make sense. Firstly, the fragments don't do what such quotations at the beginning of a chapter usually do, i.e. add a deeper layer in a different voice, often a cryptic foreshadowing or reflection on the theme. Here, it is just a short spoiler of what is going to happen, or a gratuit 'insightful' comment.
Second, the story is written in first person. This is just odd, when combined with diary entries from the 'same' person.
And finally, the supposedly insightful comments were unoriginal. Some of them I have literally read before, and none of them follow naturally from the context. Oh, a walk is also metaphorical journey? Who has ever heard of such a thing! Certainly not Tolkien, to name just one...
The first page pretty much shouts 'Hey, reader! You are gonna be blown away by the life changing wisdom that I learned on my walk; hold on to your seat!" But the book does not deliver.