I'm still trying to understand why William Spencer used a pretentious reference from the poem that starts the book as the main title. Even more pretentious is the second title. This journey did not start off as a search for meaning. I guess it is only when he reached his destination in India that he conjured up a more psychological reason for what he achieved. It was only because this was a book club choice that I persevered, given that I did give up on the last chosen read.
It was only at the very end in the Acknowledgements did I realise that the diaries he kept in the late 1970's were only turned into this book in the last couple of years. with "some insight from my older self". I would say he meant embellished! No wonder we did not get to see a single photo of his diary, although there is one on his Facebook page. I would have been far happier to read his actual diary, that would have been something.
We could also have done with an introduction, how he started long distance cycling, why he didn't want to start a career. He is joined on his journey by Brian, a friend, and later Rudy who he meets on route. Their interactions are more interesting than interminable descriptions of what he sees and how he feels. I would have thought that the biggest challenge was finding a place to sleep. However, it is the unbounded hospitality of the inhabitants of the countries he crosses that make a lasting impression.
This is not just one long bike ride. There are many stops along the way, especially staying with some of the people he meets. There are also times he finds a ride on a lorry, train or a bus, including one five day rail journey of 600 miles that takes him through Turkey and into Iran. He has problems with his bike, the occasional illness bordering on exhaustion, trouble at customs posts and danger from aggressive trucks on some main roads. But I found only occasional interest in a poorly written memoir, did this done that. No wonder the diary was left under wraps for forty odd years.
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