Leeds Student Student Newspaper of the University of Leeds

REVIEW: The Jolly Pilgrim by Peter Baker

March 18, 2012

1 I started reading this book for Leeds Student; I finished reading it because I couldn’t put it down. Before the Jolly Pilgrim reached France I was intrigued but by the time he was talking to his tent and swimming the Bosporus, I was enthralled. It’s not just a travel book though. The book discusses religion, humanity and the many challenges facing mankind’s existence. The Jolly Pilgrim is a carefully crafted, humorous and thought provoking book, outlining the author’s views on human civilisation framed within the trial and tribulations and occasional hedonism of a two year worldwide adventure. Don’t worry; this isn’t some sort of spiritual-cult-fad doctrine. To put it simple; it’s one man’s unclouded view of mankind’s existence and all of the silly and amazing things that we’ve done in history whilst providing a genuinely thought providing, intelligent and funny narrative on where we’re going. His underlying theories on humanity, and how we are really all much better off than we think we are, gives the reader plenty of new insights into the human condition. I like his suggestion that you can travel all over the world and still be ignorant if you aren’t thinking about what you’re seeing in the right way; if you engage with everything around you instead of getting involved. That’s true of everyday life. He has a point about modern society (especially Western Europeans) not realising that they enjoy such a good quality of life; one that generations and generations of mankind has lead us too. This is one of the many ways that throughout the book Baker is re-framing our humanity in a mythic sweep; tracing an inextricable arc from the smashing of hydrogen atoms in primordial explosions through the first intertwining DNA helices to our workaday human interactions.

The narrative voice is perfect; a voice you trust and believe in, because it shows vulnerability amid inspiration. He keeps the right balance between letting us into his amazing experience and succumbing to the modern-day enthusiasm for exposing every minute detail about your life. ‘The Jolly Pilgrim’ as an amazing enthusiasm for exploration, one that became infectious. He has a clear love for people and places: the right way to tell a tale of a trip. It’s not just a way to look at the past but a way to look to the future; where our world is going and all that we have to embrace. Baker puts our lives and our world into perspective; sayings like ‘look at the bigger picture’ and ‘life is too short’ are made into more than mantras. Living a happy life is about realising both of these are true and people think too small. If you are someone who wakes up on a Monday morning in despair, or ‘sweats the small stuff’, really could gain a lot by reading this book. Fundamentally, the book celebrates all things human. It is an excellent book on both levels: One; an entertaining story of Peter’s amazing achievement of cycling to Istanbul. Two; offering a different way to view the world. If the optimism in The Jolly Pilgrim is just playing percentages, or even misplaced, I’m not sure I care. Author Georgina Norton