BOOK REVIEW – My MIDSUMMER MORNING

• Julia’s Reading Challenge for 2019

  0%

Introduction

My Midsummer Morning: Rediscovering a Life of Adventure

by  Alastair Humphreys 

Seasoned adventurer Alastair Humphreys pushes himself to his very limits – busking his way across Spain with a violin he can barely play.

In 1935 a young Englishman named Laurie Lee arrived in Spain. He had never been overseas; had hardly even left the quiet village he grew up in. His idea was to walk through the country, earning money for food by playing his violin in bars and plazas.

Nearly a century later, the book Laurie Lee wrote – As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – inspired Alastair Humphreys. It made him fall in love with Spain – the landscapes and the spirit – and with Laurie’s style of travel. He travelled slow, lived simply, slept on hilltops, relished spontaneity, and loved conversations with the different people he met along the hot and dusty road.

For 15 years, Alastair dreamed of retracing Laurie Lee’s footsteps, but could never get past the hurdle of being distinctly unmusical. This year, he decided to go anyway. The journey was his most terrifying yet, risking failure and humiliation every day, and finding himself truly vulnerable to the rhythms of the road and of his own life. But along the way, he found humility, redemption and triumph. It was a very good adventure.

Julia’s Review

I loved this book! It was funny, heartwarming and above all, it was a very honest read. The way Alastair talks about his home life and his feelings towards feeling a bit suffocated in life is something that most adventurers experience, but would never vocalise. I love Spain and I felt that I was right there with him on the journey.