BookJack talks about the novel "The Salt Path" by the British writer Raynor Wynn. The autobiographical story of Raynor and her husband, who lost everything and went on a long journey on foot, became one of the main British bestsellers in 2019. The Salt Trail is the right book for those who lack inspirational and sincere stories in self-isolation.
After walking the South West Coast Path, Raynor Winn became a long distance walker and now writes about nature, homelessness and wild camping. She lives in Cornwall.
"The Salt Path" by Raynor Wynn is not a novel or even nonfiction in the strict sense of the word. To be honest, this book belongs to the most dubious genre of "motivational literature" from the point of view of artistic value, designed primarily to support, instruct and comfort the reader, and as a desirable bonus - also inspire him to exploits. In principle, this is exactly how the "The Salt Path" and "works": perhaps after reading it someone will actually feel a little better and will be able to distinguish a speck of light at the end of the gloomy tunnel, but hardly anyone would think to note the depth author's thought, beauty of composition or unforgettable style. And yet there is something in this book that goes beyond the narrow genre and explains its colossal, off-scale popularity (last year "The Salt Path" became almost the main bestseller in Great Britain). Unlike most texts of this type, summarizing and broadcasting someone else's experience, Raynor Wynn's book is an irresistible human document in its sincerity, a true living story, told so emotionally and ingeniously that even the most biased reader cannot suspect the author of manipulation or forgery.
Soon after their fiftieth birthday, the Welsh farmer couple Raynor and Mot found themselves literally at the bottom of the trough. Due to an unsuccessful monetary investment, they lost their home and all property in general in court. And on top of that, Mot's long-standing problem with joints, which turned every movement into torture, received a sudden and terrible explanation: Raynor's husband was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration - a mysterious genetic breakdown that was supposed to immobilize and kill him over the next two to three years. The best that Ray and Mot could count on in this situation was social security benefits for the poor (48 pounds a week for two) and a place in a shelter, and in the indefinite future, if very lucky, cramped social housing.
To all this, they preferred a reckless six-hundred-kilometer hike along the south-western coastal path - one of the most scenic hiking trails in England, by far exceeding their physical capabilities. Having bought the last pennies of the simplest tourist equipment and pushed into the darkest corner of the thought about what awaits them after their return, the spouses - exhausted by many years of litigation, awkward, unsportsmanlike Ray and barely able to stand on their feet Mot - move on their way. And, according to the laws of the genre, this decision, obviously catastrophic, becomes the best decision in their life, and the rocky and steep south-western path under their feet turns into a magic yellow brick path leading from hell, if not to heaven, then to some kind of a place, at the very least, adapted for life.
Ray has an unbearable pain in his hip joint and his legs, which were knocked down on the first day to bloody calluses. It is not every day that a mot can get up from a hard tourist mat, and an eight-kilogram backpack becomes an unbearable burden after an hour of walking. They are freezing in their penny sleeping bags. They roast and burn in the August sun, they sweat and stink. They swim in the cold sea under the moon, quarrel, make peace, meet strange people whom they would never have met before. They almost drown along with all their possessions during high tide. They get stronger and stronger. They rip off hands and knees. They risk their lives a couple of times. And in the end, they are gradually freed from the burden of their loss, draw the line under the old life - so happy, correct, reliable - and, turning their backs on its ruins, turn their gaze to the future.
If Raynor Wynn had originally written her book as "motivational," she could have added comforting detail to it. So, the reader has the right to hope that the heroes will be returned to their beloved home, that the crooks who took it away from them will be approximately punished, and Mot will be miraculously healed. But, as mentioned above, Salt Path is primarily a human document, as true as a written text can be, so the book's ending looks somewhat disappointing, but very authentic and honest. In fact, Raynor Wynn talks about the same person praised by all coaches and trainers of personal growth, who came out (or rather, thrown out) from the comfort zone, deprived of everything dear and familiar and at the same time capable of crystallizing and retaining the main thing in himself - love for loved ones, the ability to admire species, the willingness to “try again” and the reckless, youthful, irrational belief that grass will sprout sooner or later on any ruins. Faith that is very important and relevant for all of us today.
This article was sponsored by Agnes Frishberg
Comments