During the summer of 1998, Peter Mortimer set off on the 500-mile journey from Plymouth to Edinburgh, with no money, transport or accommodation. This book tells of his experiences on the road, the physical demands placed on him, and the problems of life lived on the fringes of society.

This caught my eye in the Cancer Research shop.

If a stranger knocked on your door, explained that he was walking from Plymouth to Edinburgh, and was travelling without any money, would you offer him food or shelter? This book tells of Peter Mortimer's trek through England and Scotland in 1998, the people he met, and the challenges he faced trying to find food and accommodation without paying for either. It's interesting on many levels: as a travelogue (lots of descriptions of scenery); as an insight into human nature (both his and that of the people of who did - or didn't - help him); and also into our culture (materialism, reliance on cars, the town-versus-countryside debate).

Thought-provoking.

I'm sending this out as a bookray.

Some brief "rules"
* Journal the book when you receive it.
* PM the next person on the list for their address when you receive it so as to try to avoid hold-ups later on.
* If you don't hear from the next participant within a few days, PM them again. If after a few more days you still haven't heard from them, PM me to let me know, and move on to the next person on the list.
* Read (and hopefully enjoy!) Don't feel pressurised to read it in a rush (and life gets in the way sometimes!) but if you need to keep hold of the book for longer than say a couple of months, please journal to let us know.
* Journal again when you've read it to let us know what you think of it!
* Surface/economy mail is fine, but please make a note in the JE so the person you're sending to has a rough idea of when to expect it.

Participants (arranged in a very approximate south-north route to mimic Pete's path!)
1. Celticseahorse, Newquay (international OK)
2. orange-platypus, Baldock (international OK)
3. dirtmother, Coventry (international OK)

The person at the end of the list gets to decide what to do with the book.

Peter Mortimer is heading south and west to start his journey in Cornwall.

Arrived this morning safely. Looks very interesting.
I have met Satish Kumar that he mentions at the beginning who did an 8,000 mile peace walk from India to America. So I start the book with a reminder of when I used to just up and go..and do things..ummm
I have been planning to get to Plymouth for some time now..lets see if I can do it by time I finsh this :o)

Thanks for ringing this dododumpling love the embossed card great colours

This was quicker to read than I expected..but then I hadn't read anything for about 2 weeks and this went down very well :-)
I think you have already covered much of what I could say Dododumpling..but a couple of other little thoughts.
I wondered how he would have coped if he hadn't of had the dog with him?
His routine with his writing and pen and ink I found interesting. He seemed to get most piqued when he felt his space for writing wasn't adequate?
The wide range of people he found who offered him food or places to stay, and how he develped a sense of who was worth asking was intriguing. I found myself hoping things would work out ok when he was describing areas I knew LOL

Would I have the courage to do what he did? probably not but I still intend to make my visit to Plymouth as a personal milestone but it will have to be once I am moved..so this book is ready to travel Northward.

I have PMed Orange-Platypus and am waiting for a reply .

Thank You Dododumpling some interesting things to cogitate on especially about who we do or don't exclude.
I've also enjoyed the ring for the names factor :-)

Apologies for delay..been a hairy few weeks..
Finally got this in the post today..in time for the strike :-(

This arrived on Saturday with a lovely homemade bookmark. Thankyou very much. It's an interesting read, although I'm not as surprised as the author appears to be that people didn't welcome a stranger into their homes for the night!

I enjoyed this but did find the writer's jokey style a bit wearing. At the end of the book he describes re-drafting earlier versions because they seemed too miserable, so maybe that explains the style...

This is all packaged up ready to send to dirtmother. It will be a while as I won't be able to get to the post office for a week or so (working crazy shifts) but it will get there!

Posted to Dirtmother this morning.

Arrived safely in Coventry today.

I'm really looking forward to reading this and have already started (the other books I have on the go are going to be terribly offended)

I read most of this on a weekend of incessant travelling myself, in contemplation of a major life change, and it represented moments of peace for which much thanks.

I found it a very thought-provoking book even though I didn't feel that Mortimer himself had so very much new or interesting to say at that level. He met some interesting people but I didn't feel that he engaged with them very deeply as some other travel writers seem able to do. This may well have been a function of the distortions of moneylessness - it was all about what they could do for him and not so very much about them.

It was a rather confused mission - can't accept money from people but will steal goods, have to walk it but take lifts sometimes. And no, I really didn't get the business of securing a bed for the night and then wittering on about having to have somewhere to write his diary - I don't think he was simply talking about light to see by. He was making all these reproving comments about other (townie) people's busy lives but I got this sense of someone who lives a life pretty free of responsibilities in the first place and someone who had to have a writing desk and have everything just so. Perhaps I'm not really a writer and that's why I don't 'get it'? There was definitely an air of "Please sir, can I have some more" occasionally, that sometimes he felt that people had a duty to help him and that given an inch he would be asking for the mile, whereas on other occasions he was very grateful for small things and didn't dream of asking for anything extra.

I was very disappointed that he stole along the way and his attitude to it. He only stole from small businesses, didn't really seem to see that these were people just the same. It didn't seem to be happening in situations where he was desperately hungry either (which is when I thought it would happen), there was a whiff of 'because he could' about it - and after all this was being moneyless by choice. He did very little wild gathering (I don't know what's with the disgusting dandelion leaf - they can be delicious) and I felt rather impatient with his packing decisions - no waterproof coat at all but an umbrella???

Somehow I hadn't really registered that Sam was a King Charles Cavalier spaniel - I'd had a little mutt in my mind and got a shock when I saw the photos! It was interesting to read about the impact Sam made on the journey, both positive and negative. I wish there had been a map.

I enjoyed reading this for all my frustrations with the man! Many thanks to dododumpling for raying it.

Currently pondering where this could go next - I feel that a wild release seems particularly fitting given the subject matter!

RELEASE NOTES:

On the seats outside.