Walks of a long distance

I’m home, arriving yesterday evening. The day’s drive, one of two long ones, was from Corning, NY. I hadn’t know how hilly the “southern tier” of New York is. I did about seven hours of driving with about 1:40 in rest stops. Total driving for the trip was 1812 miles. Though that looks definite, it is approximate because I forgot to set the trip odometer when I started. I’ll save a travelogue of the trip for another post and today write about the four books I read. I’m doing it that way because I had done much of that writing while sitting in hotels during the evening. First was American Ramble by Neil King Jr., a true story. After cancer treatment King decides to walk from his home in Washington DC to New York City. His departure is delayed a year by the pandemic and he sets off late March 2021. His route is not direct. He heads north from DC to York, PA, curves through Mennonite country to Philadelphia, then north to NYC. Through a lot of research ahead of time he has many particular sites to see and people to meet. There are also a lot of experiences that can't be planned, people he just happens to meet, some at the end of their driveway as he walks by. He tells us about the Mason-Dixon Line. The train station in Hannover Junction where the line splits, and that Lincoln traveled both lines, one when he went to deliver his Gettysburg Address, the other taken by his funeral train. He recreates Washington Crossing the Delaware, though in a simple kayak. He visits Cranbury, NJ, a town that saved its historical roots by sacrificing the land east of town to corporate warehouses. He visits a huge landfill to hear its workers talk about how much trash they handle per day and year. The author is amazed at the number of people, when they hear about his walk, will do small, and sometimes big, things to help him along. They seem to be saying, "I admire what you're doing and want to be a part of it." The book is an interesting and enjoyable read. He has some good historical stories. The second book is The Dockporter by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone. The setting is Mackinac Island, which is between the two peninsulas of Michigan and is well known as a worthy destination. A prominent feature is no motorized vehicles are allowed. When visitors get off the ferry the way to get their suitcases to their hotel is by horse drawn carriage (if going to the classy Grand Hotel) or by a guy on a bicycle, a dockporter. Both authors spent time doing that job. This is the story of Jack. His family owns a cottage on the island, so he lived there every summer. Now in his early 20s he's hustling for tips hauling luggage. He's got several buddies also working as porters and there are the usual things young men do, including too much drinking and attempts at love. Early in the summer of 1989 Jack makes a bet with Gordon, a childhood buddy who has gone corporate in the family real-estate business. The bet is to repeat the record of hauling 21 pieces of luggage in one load. The consequences of the bet are more dire than Jack first realizes. Yeah, we know where this is going. However, there a great deal of fun in getting there. The third book was Walking with Sam by Andrew McCarthy. He is an actor, famous for his role in Pretty in Pink and other films. In his early 30s and with many things in his life that were messed up he walked the Camino de Santiago. This is a pilgrimage trail from southwest France, across northern Spain, to the Cathedral in Santiago. That walk of 500 miles over five weeks helped him sort through and renew his life. Twenty-five years later he offers to walk the Camino again with his son Sam, now 19. After a bad breakup with his first love Sam agrees. They are on the trail a week later. The bones of Saint James were supposedly found in western Spain and the Cathedral in Santiago was built to house them. The pilgrimages started in the 10th century and at its peak more than 250,000 pilgrims made the trek every year. Visiting Compostela was third in popularity after Jerusalem and Rome. Over the centuries the practice died out, then was revived in the middle of the 20th century. Between McCarthy’s first and second walk as its popularity increase more of the towns and villages along the way turned to caring for the pilgrims (the village alternative was to die out, and many did). 446,000 people made the trek in 2023 (according to Wikipedia). The walk is not easy. There is the length and time commitment. The trail includes crossing the Pyrenees and even taller mountains towards the end of the trip. Also, in the center is a hot plain with many days over 100F and with very few trees. Many days the same people stop in the same village or town for the night, even though they walk separately during the day. Friendships develop, including with “Taxi Roger” who frequently takes a taxi from one village to the next. McCarthy talks about a second evaluation of his life and how his relationship with his son changes as Sam becomes a man. At the beginning Dad harangues Sam on how slow he is in the morning (he is a teenager...). Soon Dad decides to head out on his own and let Sam catch up. When they do walk together Sam has a great number of discussion topics that Dad is glad they have the time to mull them over. It is an enjoyable and worthy read. But to me something is missing from the story – how did the Camino affect Sam? How did it affect his maturing process? How is he different at the end than he was at the beginning? McCarthy writes that he sees the effect on Sam, but doesn’t provide details. One of the few things he does say is at the beginning of the trip Sam talks a lot about The Ex, and by the end can go for days without mentioning her. Perhaps as McCarthy was writing the book Sam declined to give permission for his side of the story? I looked up Andrew’s film credits. He now also directs and produces. From that I see Sam is also an actor with several credits. He started working at age 14, well before the walk. Yeah, this was the second book about a walking journey I read while traveling. The fourth book was The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. When one visits the Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT one stops in the bookstore to buy a few titles one hasn’t read yet. This is the story of Tom Canty a poor boy who happened to be born in London on the same day Prince Edward was born. Also, without their clothes, the two look identical. Both are unhappy with their place in life and, when they meet, they swap clothes. This is one of Twain’s efforts at historical fiction. This Prince Edward was the son of King Henry VIII of wife Jane Seymour. The story opens in 1547, just before Henry dies, and concludes at the coronation of Edward VI. Twain did his research (and includes sources) and knew this setting was possible for his story. Edward gained the throne at age 9. His reign (only six years) included removing many of the oppressive laws that had accumulated, including the huge number of small crimes that required the death penalty. Edward agrees to swapping clothes because he is delighted with the prospect of occasionally playing in the mud. To escape his dire circumstances Tom pretended to be a prince, so was delighted to make it real. But even when dressed in rags Edward insists he is the prince and commoners should treat him accordingly. Tom insists he is not the prince, though he is wearing princely clothes and is in the palace. Both are treated as having gone mad, though the nature of the mental affliction is a strange one. So Tom gets used to life in the palace and all the strange rituals (like being dressed) that go with it. He is kind and countermands some harsh punishments. Edward also sees how horribly many commoners live and are treated and that prompts his overturning the worst of the laws of punishment once he regains his crown (what, you were thinking he wouldn’t?). The language of the book took some getting used to. The narration is 1880s American English and the dialogue is Twain’s recreation of 1540s English, with a lot of “Thou dost...” While reading the book I thought about the movie adaptations I had heard about. I haven’t seen any of them. According to Wikipedia there have been seven faithful film versions and thirteen that adapt the basic idea, such as giving it the Bollywood treatment, replacing the boys with girls, and even getting Barbie into the story. There are many more created for TV. Many of the faithful versions used one child actor for both Tom and Edward because there are only two scenes where they appear together. The 1937 version (also starring Errol Flynn) used identical twins for the boys. I had heard from some radio program that the boys, Billy and Bobby Mauch were so identical the crew couldn’t tell them apart and the boys kept switching who played who. The Wikipedia page for the boys says that happened during a different movie when one twin was cast and the other was his stand-in. I may have to watch this one soon.