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A Walking Guide
Joe Shelby -- a brilliant and daring combat reporter for a big magazine he refers to as "the comic" -- is an Englishman who is at home only in the world's trouble spots -- Chechnya, Rwanda, Gaza -- where he is face-to-face with murder, starvation, war crimes and the sound of bullets whistling past his ears. Now, after a life of triumphs, he must confront challenges he never lost love, incurable illness and failure both in his work and on his beloved high mountains.
His partner is glamorous French photographer and former fashion model Faria beautiful, cool, sexy and wildly intoxicated by taking incredible risks as she puts her life in jeopardy to capture with her battered Leica camera both war's killers and their victims -- a woman high on danger who, in her own way, loves Joe.
Eva Kimberly is a privileged white Kenyan about to marry her childhood sweetheart, Jeremy Davenport, when Joe and Faria explode into her life at a fancy lawn party given by her wealthy father.
At once the story of a complex love triangle and a novel about risk taking and politics, Alan Cowell's A Walking Guide uses an ostensibly simple mountain climbing expedition to explore the more complex inner struggles of its main character, Joe Shelby. On one level it is the story of a fit young war correspondent, fresh from the conflicts of the Middle East and Africa, coming to terms with a diagnosis of terminal disease that could cripple and kill him even as he walks high in the mountains. And as he walks, he is challenged to draw on reserves of courage far greater than those required by combat reporting. Confronted with hard trails and worsening weather in the rugged hills of the English Lake District, he must decide whether to pursue his goal -- England's highest peak -- or abandon the attempt. He presses on, with perilous consequences.
A Walking Guide is also the story of tangled emotions involving two women whose relationships with Joe Shelby offer competing definitions of love as passion and trusting companionship. Shelby veers between photographer Duclos and "white African" entrepreneur Eva Kimberly, finding ultimately that his illness makes crucial choices for him. Finally, A Walking Guide is the story of a man adrift from his roots, seeking to find identity after a life bridging the Atlantic and living in the danger spots of the world.
This novel brings Cowell into the rarefied company of such writers as Graham Greene and John le Carr#&233;, in a book that brilliantly dissects the convergence of love, risk and danger.
His partner is glamorous French photographer and former fashion model Faria beautiful, cool, sexy and wildly intoxicated by taking incredible risks as she puts her life in jeopardy to capture with her battered Leica camera both war's killers and their victims -- a woman high on danger who, in her own way, loves Joe.
Eva Kimberly is a privileged white Kenyan about to marry her childhood sweetheart, Jeremy Davenport, when Joe and Faria explode into her life at a fancy lawn party given by her wealthy father.
At once the story of a complex love triangle and a novel about risk taking and politics, Alan Cowell's A Walking Guide uses an ostensibly simple mountain climbing expedition to explore the more complex inner struggles of its main character, Joe Shelby. On one level it is the story of a fit young war correspondent, fresh from the conflicts of the Middle East and Africa, coming to terms with a diagnosis of terminal disease that could cripple and kill him even as he walks high in the mountains. And as he walks, he is challenged to draw on reserves of courage far greater than those required by combat reporting. Confronted with hard trails and worsening weather in the rugged hills of the English Lake District, he must decide whether to pursue his goal -- England's highest peak -- or abandon the attempt. He presses on, with perilous consequences.
A Walking Guide is also the story of tangled emotions involving two women whose relationships with Joe Shelby offer competing definitions of love as passion and trusting companionship. Shelby veers between photographer Duclos and "white African" entrepreneur Eva Kimberly, finding ultimately that his illness makes crucial choices for him. Finally, A Walking Guide is the story of a man adrift from his roots, seeking to find identity after a life bridging the Atlantic and living in the danger spots of the world.
This novel brings Cowell into the rarefied company of such writers as Graham Greene and John le Carr#&233;, in a book that brilliantly dissects the convergence of love, risk and danger.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2003
21 people want to read
About the author
Alan S. Cowell
12 books9 followersALAN S. COWELL is a British writer whose career spanned four decades as a foreign correspondent, first for Reuters and then for The New York Times. Alongside news coverage, he authored works of fiction and non-fiction, including The Terminal Spy, a definitive account of the life and death of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former KGB officer poisoned with radioactive polonium in London in 2006. His novels include Permanent Removal, set in post-apartheid South Africa. Cowell is married and lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 15, 2024
I have never understood the need some humans have to intentionally place themselves in danger. This is not an easy read. It is well written - even though I found myself just wanting to 'get through' the final pages. The story is depressing. This is an adrenaline filled journey of messy people. I guess there is a redemption in the end and finding of peace. I'm also not sure how autobiographical this work of fiction is so I will tread carefully.
A Walking Guide. Hmm. More like a man wrestling with his creator for control. It is interesting that some of the story takes place in Jerusalem and Israel - the nation bearing the name of the ancestor who struggled with God. This was very much about an internal struggle. Like a struggle, this book was tiring to read.
I find life rocky enough to maneuver without placing myself into a literal storm. I do not recommend this book if you are seeking entertainment. It is brutal in its depiction of war. The book jacket claims it accurately describes the life of a war correspondant. I can't tell now if that is bragging or a call for help. It describes a life that is stressful in its futility. And I'm not that convinced of its nobility.
This book does place into brilliantly depicted relief the brutality of war. It describes how open, violent conflict dehumanizes us. And I guess I don't really need to be reminded of that. Before war comes the million little ways we regular, non-war-torn humans belittle and demean each other against our creators wishes. I feel those like a bullet wound. This was over the top, overstimulating and somehow glorifying a walk with fear.
The point, the goal, the walking guide - in my opinion - is to get to a place where war doesn't have a chance. Perhaps we need journalists who go to the edge to chronicle the mayhem. But I have a feeling when we want that our intentions bend more to the salacious than to honorable pursuit.
I can hear it now. Life isn't like that, Pollyanna. And this is a fact I know. I guess, when considering life in all its mess, I would choose - perhaps just as stubbornly - to focus on the good over the bad.
4 stars for the writing. Incredible. Beautiful. Tragic. Tiring. Depressing story that it was.
A Walking Guide. Hmm. More like a man wrestling with his creator for control. It is interesting that some of the story takes place in Jerusalem and Israel - the nation bearing the name of the ancestor who struggled with God. This was very much about an internal struggle. Like a struggle, this book was tiring to read.
I find life rocky enough to maneuver without placing myself into a literal storm. I do not recommend this book if you are seeking entertainment. It is brutal in its depiction of war. The book jacket claims it accurately describes the life of a war correspondant. I can't tell now if that is bragging or a call for help. It describes a life that is stressful in its futility. And I'm not that convinced of its nobility.
This book does place into brilliantly depicted relief the brutality of war. It describes how open, violent conflict dehumanizes us. And I guess I don't really need to be reminded of that. Before war comes the million little ways we regular, non-war-torn humans belittle and demean each other against our creators wishes. I feel those like a bullet wound. This was over the top, overstimulating and somehow glorifying a walk with fear.
The point, the goal, the walking guide - in my opinion - is to get to a place where war doesn't have a chance. Perhaps we need journalists who go to the edge to chronicle the mayhem. But I have a feeling when we want that our intentions bend more to the salacious than to honorable pursuit.
I can hear it now. Life isn't like that, Pollyanna. And this is a fact I know. I guess, when considering life in all its mess, I would choose - perhaps just as stubbornly - to focus on the good over the bad.
4 stars for the writing. Incredible. Beautiful. Tragic. Tiring. Depressing story that it was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2011
LeCarre-ish in tone, _A Walking Guide_ focuses on the internal life of a foreign correspondent as he deals with impending mortality, his love for two very different women and the challenge of scaling the highest mountain in England while infirm. Quite compelling, with an unanticipated ending that, in retrospect, is quite fitting for all the characters involved.
June 25, 2012
I wasn't sure right to the last few pages how the story was going to turn out. If you've ever wondered about the lives of reporters in the world's never-ending war zones, this novel might be for you. It's a story of courage and foolishness, a love triangle (or quartet really), and coming face to face with death--others' and one's own.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews