Yeah, I've got a neurological thing and wondered how he managed to keep doing these massive walks and apparently got better after. Decent reporting, that, by the looks of it, though I suppose we still don't have their side of it.
I enjoyed the book but felt there was definitely something missing on the "we lost our forever home" bit at the beginning, it didn't feel like the whole story was being told.
Feel so vindicated in the fact I hated the book at the time and thought she came across so badly, when everyone was calling it inspirational and moving etc.
Found by original review on the reading thread... knew she was a wrong un!
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.
Got sucked in by the beautiful cover and the fact I love a walking/cycling/road trip type book generally. I really didn't like it - awful woman, dull book.
She and her husband lose their farm and home through their own poor investment (despite apparently having the evidence to prove their case during a 3 year long court case), and never in that 3 years do they apparently make a back up plan for just in case they lose.
Her husband is then diagnosed with a terminal rare type of dementia (which, if true, is very sad), and as they "only have a week" (after the 3 years), they get very snooty about having to live in a council house and get a job that she considers beneath her, decide to go on a benefit funded walking and sulking holiday on the South West Coast Path instead, sleeping in a tent on the way.
She then spends 200 pages whinging about this despite it being their fault and their choice, and pages on end of 'woe is me' stuff gets really tiring.
They steal stuff, pitch up on campsites (and use the showers etc too) without paying, shit everywhere without burying it as a small trowel would apparently make all the difference in weight in their bags, get shirty if cafes don't provide a pot of boiling water and a seat so they can make their own tea and pay the cafe nothing, and are rude to basically everyone they meet.
She even gets sarcastic about a friend who kindly puts them up for the winter period in a barn, gets Raynor some temporary work and then dares to ask them to do a bit of decorating to the barn in lieu of month's worth of rent.
She also fails to describe much of the amazing scenery etc which is basically what I want in a travel book (along with a bit of wit, again lacking).
I mean, good call to do this in a way, she got a holiday and then a book out of it.
It's odd how sometimes you just think "na I don't buy that" their whole story just didn't add up for me when I heard it. I hope that they haven't lied about the man's illness like they have lied about so much other stuff but it wouldn't surprise me.
Found my review from last year after being suckered into buying it, given the ludicrous prominence it receives in all book shops:
"Up there with the worst books I’ve ever started to read. Whingebag walking the south coast and making up stories along the way. Excruciating and gave up after a few pages"
I got about twenty pages in and realised everything she said was a an utter fabrication, not even an enjoyable or well written one. To this day I'm mystified as to how this is regarded as a good read.
It's odd how sometimes you just think "na I don't buy that" their whole story just didn't add up for me when I heard it. I hope that they haven't lied about the man's illness like they have lied about so much other stuff but it wouldn't surprise me.
That may be the worse part of it.
Giving people false hope of a walking cure, making people with the illness feel bad they aren't doing long walks to cure themselves or worse rejecting proper medical treatment for hippie nonsense.
It's odd how sometimes you just think "na I don't buy that" their whole story just didn't add up for me when I heard it. I hope that they haven't lied about the man's illness like they have lied about so much other stuff but it wouldn't surprise me.
That may be the worse part of it.
Giving people false hope of a walking cure, making people with the illness feel bad they aren't doing long walks to cure themselves or worse rejecting proper medical treatment for hippie nonsense.
They've probably signed a sponsorship deal with Blacks/Millets.
I remember there being a lot of fuss about this a while back with them popping up on TV all over the place, which is presumably when the first book came out, and thinking it all seemed a bit "odd", but must confess I hadn't really been following the "story" since then.
It's odd how sometimes you just think "na I don't buy that" their whole story just didn't add up for me when I heard it. I hope that they haven't lied about the man's illness like they have lied about so much other stuff but it wouldn't surprise me.
There were quite a few bits i thought rang false - the Simon Armitage stuff, people constantly calling them old (British people are too polite) and being shocked they were walking at their age, as if half the people on walking holidays aren't retired pensioner types, and yes, his illness (hence the 'if true') in my review above.
But if The Observer article is right, they're even worse people than I thought they were!
Makes me wonder how many 'autobiographies' are anywhere close to the reality, I suspect, not many
Always take them with a pinch of salt (no pun intended) as there's usually a reasonable amount of "and then I definitely said that funny line, rather than thinking of it four hours later."
But there's a difference between the odd embellishment of a largely true story to make it funnier or whatever to the reader, and the allegations that have come out about the veracity of Raynor Winn's writing.
Given she admitted benefits fraud (she claimed job seeker's allowance at a false address, wasn't seeking a job [yes, I know that's not uncommon], worked cash in hand a couple of times which I'd bet that wasn't declared and theft (camping and using the facilities without paying pretty often, stealing food from a shop) in a book that I presume she wrote to make herself look good, I can't be that shocked that there appears to have been worse actions behind the scenes.
I fed back that the book lacked authenticity which is book group speak for cobblers. Quite a lot of it didn’t ring true and as others have said it wasn’t great writing either. I was in a minority of one at the time but feeling a bit smug now
Comments
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn.
I hope that they haven't lied about the man's illness like they have lied about so much other stuff but it wouldn't surprise me.
"Up there with the worst books I’ve ever started to read. Whingebag walking the south coast and making up stories along the way. Excruciating and gave up after a few pages"
I got about twenty pages in and realised everything she said was a an utter fabrication, not even an enjoyable or well written one. To this day I'm mystified as to how this is regarded as a good read.
Giving people false hope of a walking cure, making people with the illness feel bad they aren't doing long walks to cure themselves or worse rejecting proper medical treatment for hippie nonsense.
I remember there being a lot of fuss about this a while back with them popping up on TV all over the place, which is presumably when the first book came out, and thinking it all seemed a bit "odd", but must confess I hadn't really been following the "story" since then.
But if The Observer article is right, they're even worse people than I thought they were!
But there's a difference between the odd embellishment of a largely true story to make it funnier or whatever to the reader, and the allegations that have come out about the veracity of Raynor Winn's writing.
Given she admitted benefits fraud (she claimed job seeker's allowance at a false address, wasn't seeking a job [yes, I know that's not uncommon], worked cash in hand a couple of times which I'd bet that wasn't declared and theft (camping and using the facilities without paying pretty often, stealing food from a shop) in a book that I presume she wrote to make herself look good, I can't be that shocked that there appears to have been worse actions behind the scenes.