Two Steps Forward (Simsion & Buist) - Best Quotes

Walking the Camino de Santiago changes you, it's said. It's a chance to find a new version of yourself. But can two very different people find each other?

Zoe, a sometime artist, is from California. Martin, an engineer, is from Yorkshire. Both have ended up in a picturesque Cluny, in central France. Both are struggling to come to terms with their recent past -for Zoe, the death of his husband and for Martin, a messy divorce-.

Looking to make a new start, each sets out alone to walk 2.000 kilometres from Cluny to Santiago, in northwestern Spain, in the footsteps of pilgrims who have walked the Camino - the Way- for centuries.

Two Steps Forward is about renewal -physical, psychological and spiritual. It's about what you decide to keep, what you choose to leave behind and what you rediscover.

Ready to know about the Camino through this wise, funny and romantic novel, in which Martin's and Zoe's stories are told by husband-and-wife writing team Graeme Simsion -the author of The Rosie Project- and Anne Buist? Let's walk!

"Destiny speaks to those who choose to hear".

"The Chemin will change you".

"The Chemin is not a conventional walk".

"Only to things are certain about the Chemin. The first is ampoules. The second is that when you arrive at Santiago cathedral, you will cry".

"This is your first lesson of the Chemin. Take what is offered. You will have chances to help others and you will take those chances also".

"This shell will go to Santiago. And when you finish your journey, you will find ... what it is you have lost".

"First lesson of the Camino: everyone does the Camino their own way".

"Do not walk in jeans: that would be lesson number ...?".

"Keep an open mind. Go with the flow. The Camino walks you".

"Nature always wears the colours of the spirit" - Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote in the book.

"Was this the sort of inspiration I was looking for? My experience of the last two weeks was of finding comfort in the simplicity of the daily routine, of having no time to think about anything but staying on the path, finding somewhere to sleep and washing my change of clothes -not even having to choose what to wear. I had rediscovered the pleasures of food, and of sleep that comes from exhaustion and leaves no room for rumiation. The Camino existed on a different frequency to the rest of life -but part of me relished the difference, embraced it like a lost friend".

"Almost as soon as I disembarked (from Hendaye to Hondarribia), I realised that the Camino, no longer the Chemin, would be different in more than the name. A crude yellow arrow painted in a concrete wall pointed the way, and a series of similar markers took me into town and past my first tapas bar".

"After finding my way through the Pyrenees, the abundance of signposts on the Camino was almost insulting. Stone markers emblazoned with the scallop-shell symbol gave a stronger sense of permanence to the Camino than the stuck-on squares in France. They were supplemented by the crudely painted yellow arrows which I had thought were a local anomaly in Hondarribia. The French, and for the matter the English, would not have countenanced such eyesores".

"The clash between the arrows and the otherwise pleasant bucolic environment dramatically expressed the two different mindsets one might bring to the walk: contemplation of nature or focus on getting to Santiago. The journey or the destination".

(Martin): "An hour later there was a text message (from the Germans): Please, join us for dinner at Arzak restaurant. We will meet in hotel foyer 9 p.m. If their choice of restaurant was an indication of the depth of their pockets, then things were looking up. A quick search informed me that I would be dining in one of the ten finest restaurants in the world. In my spare pair of walking pants. Unless I wanted to surprise them with the blue dress".

(Zoe): "Now I was about to go to dinner in the company of a British adventurer with a hint of a Harrison Ford smirk, with whom I'd just spent two hours talking art and architecture at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. On -let's face it - a date" / (Martin): "I felt I'd managed to invite Zoe to dinner without giving the impression of it being a date".

"Why am I walking? I asked myself, but no answer came. I got another glass of rosé".

"What had I learned? Monsieur Chevalier had asked. I had said I could walk. Now I couldn't, so maybe this was the lesson -not to be proud; not to take anything for granted, as I had with Keith. But was it also a lesson to still have faith enough in myself to be independent? It was a confused message, which may have had something to do with the third glass of rosé".

"The Camino expands and contracts like a concertina; people move at their own pace, but with rest days and injuries they turn up again in a café or bar, at the gîte or in the bakery. There are hugs exchanged, drinks bought, stories shared. Each time you know that you might see them tomorrow -or never again".

"The Camino whispers its magic, and around the next bend are more reunions and new friends -and maybe the answer he seeks".

"Two (of the Spanish men) spoke good English -the tall, serious Felipe, and Marco, who had those dark good looks and bedroom eyes that give Latino men their reputation".

"By Lugo I had put the whole Bernhard-Brazilian mess out of my mind. The beauty of walking alone on the Camino, when you are fit, is that you feel one with nature: time is suspended and everything else fades away".

"Everyone falls in love with the wrong people, but you don't want to have to defend them to your parents, because they'll just tell you why they're wrong for you ... which you know already. So, you tell them you're not in love".

"(Zoe): So why did you start it (the Camino)? - (Renata): To contemplate. That's what it's supposed to be about, isn't it? - (Zoe): About anything in particular? - (Renata): Life".

"(Zoe): Does not play well with others. - (Renata): Sorry? - (Zoe): It's a thing teachers say at school. About kids who are ... independent. A joke when we use it for adults".

"(Zoe): I'm still missing something. - (Renata): What does it feel like? The thing you are missing? The gap, the hole? - (...) - (Renata): This was maybe the most corageous thing you have done. The best thing. The story that defines you. That's why you chose it to tell me" - (Zoe): But it had ... consequences - (Renata): Of course. Always big things have consequences. Pain, and things lost maybe forever. But this is why you are here, is it not? You came to France to find Camille. But you are afraid to do ... to be what you were then. I think that for you is the hole".

"Every bar had stamps -sellos- for my credencial. In the last sixty miles, the official requirement was to have two stamps a day instead of one: a half-hearted attempt to frustrate the taki drivers".

"Since she put it like that, I had little choice. She was right, of course, this woman who I had criticised for refusing my offers of meals and accomodation. But I needed the time she spent in the bar to push aside, barely, the ignominy of riding in my cart, pulled by -yes, it did make a difference- a woman. I thought the Camino had taught me all the lessons it had in store for me, but it had saved a hard one for the end".

"(Zoe): When I returned to Boente in a taxi with the welding apparatus and the box of parts that looked like stuff you'd put out for the junk collection, Martin was not around".

"Martin stood awkwardly, pulled me to him and kissed me. Whatever it might mean beyond today, in the moment it felt right. Syncrony".

"Making love never quite works the first time, and I was concerned not to hurt his knee, but the connection was there in the way he cared about how I was dealing with it, the concern for what I wanted".

"(Zoe): Fuck. I stop asking the universe for help, and take responsibility myself, and this happens. I'm not stopping.-  Zoe took the handle again. At that point, the universe answered".

"In the end I believed not just in fate, with all its capriciousness, but in the special power of the Camino. It reminded me that sometimes there are things we cannot do alone".

"We cheat on many things in life - said Fabiana. But some things matter more than others".

"To know all is to forgive all".

I just finished the book and I enjoyed it very much, like the previous The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect and The Best of Adam Sharp from Graeme Simsion. Funny reading (loved the brainy sense of humor that both authors share), romantic story and addictive argument, with sudden shifts in the narration that keep you totally gripped. Emotionally very intense and an epic ending guaranteed, one of those holding back tears. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the characters in the big screen; not only Zoe and Martin, but also Camille, Julia or Sarah and specially all the pilgrims they meet along the way, like Monsieur Chevalier, the Brazilians, the Spanish group, Madame Chaud Lapin, Todd or Bernhard and his father.

The Best of Adam Sharp - My Personal Review

Third novel from Graeme Simsion. First he wrote The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect. Both sublime. So this is how I started the book: with this soaring expectations that the previous novels left on me, not ready to let Don and Rosie story go yet and not sure I was prepared for a drama approach in my next reading.

But I went into the bookstore -La Casa del Libro-, I saw the book right away and while browsing through it I thought: "it's not expensive (15€) and it also looks like easy reading despite its 420 pages". So I made up my mind and I finally bought it.

The novel is about love, lost love, growing up and the difficulty of coming to terms with the past, second chances, feelings, relationships, mistakes, good wine, good sex and music. Great music! The story of Don and Rosie set a high bar but this one is intense, full of emotions and, as the previous ones, it has the ability of keeping you hooked on the argument. You are reading it and you're all the time wanting to know what's going to happen next. I couldn't put the book down!

In the first part of the book we know about Adam Sharp, a middle-aged IT consultant who likes music and playing the piano, and also about Adam's past love story with Agelina Brown, a famous Australian actress, when they were both in their twenties. At the same time, the narration comes to the present to tell us about his current life with Claire, his wife since twenty years ago. So the writer makes us go to the past and combines that with coming back to the present in order that we can be aware of the whole situation in Adam's life.

First 35 pages left me a bit confused. It was like "OMG, am I reading The Best of Adam Sharp or The Fifty Shadows of Adam Sharp?" There is this episode, when we know about how Adam and Angelina met, which we could call the "doing it against the door" episode. It left me thunderstruck but I loved it, I must admit. It was so well described, even with the irony, funny tone and brainy sense of humor I had already tasted in the other novels: you won't believe the amazing and wonderful things that can happen to you against the door before Joe Cocker finishes giving instructions in his "You can leave your hat on". Kind of this. But it was totally unexpected and it was like "From the same author who wrote a book called Data Modeling Essentials and then wrote the tender, delicated and romantic story of Don Tillman?? Really?". That was a great start.

Then it comes the sadness. Angelina and Adam split up. You realize the stupidity of human being has no limits and how it can radically change the direction of your life. He doesn't say the words he is supposed to say in her criteria in the key moment. And the same for him. He doesn't hear from her what he was expecting to hear, exactly with the words he was expecting. And they loved each other, they wanted to go on a relationship for the rest of their lives. But those words that did not come out for whatever reason at that moment: they were shocked, they didn't think about them ... And there are not going to be more moments because from then on, their thoughts will only justify "this is not what she/he wanted", otherwise she/he would have done this or that". So those no-words not said in that unique moment will change the course of their lives forever.

In the second part of the book, Adam and Angelina start getting in touch by email and finally decide to meet again after 20 years without seeing each other. The meeting takes place under some particular circumstances. I'll summarize them in three words: UFF, OMG and WOW. I know this is not giving many hints in here, so I'll just give a piece of advice: read it. You won't regret. Funny that just came to my mind the song No regrets by Edith Piaf, one of the songs in the book. I predict this is going to happen to me more often from now on. Just for mentioning the word regret! A word. A single word. Yeah ... Ready to see how a one-word email, for instance, or a slip of tongue or a cosmic ghost fliping the record over can change a whole life in an instant? Then go for the story!

There is a funny moment in the book for marketing people. And it's when the NPS turns up to score how good performs someone at bed. I've been working for years with the Net Promoter Score and I had never thought of it. It made me laugh quite a bit.

And one last thing. I love the way the author writes. But I also loved feeling like I was watching the movie while reading. This happenned to me in the three novels. And it was great. Moreover, you also feel like you are one more in the scene, there, participating. Well, participating ... in all episodes but the "three laying down on the carpet" one. In that one I prefered to stay in the sofa, looking at the scene from the distance rather than "participating" hahaha. I encourage you to read the book and then you come back and tell me if you felt the same way :)

So now what? This is exactly how I'm feeling after finishing the book yesterday. What am I gonna read now? After these three amazing stories? For those of you who have frantically fallen into Graeme Simsion's universe, good news: 1) A new book released in October 2017 (in Australia, though) titled "Two Steps Forward", written with his partner Anne Buist and 2) He has confirmed he is already working on a Rosie 3 😊

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If you liked the post you might also like reading my personal review for The Rosie Project.

Review: why should you read The Rosie Project?

Do you usually have fun watching The Big Bang Theory? Do you easily break into laughter with Sheldon Cooper's reasonings  towards his friends? If you enjoy this particular brainy sense of humor, you will definitely love this book.

All the adjectives for The Rosie Project that you will ever see if you look up references on the Internet, I can tell you they are all true and not exaggerated at all: sublime, pitch-perfect, extremely funny, superb, endearing, charming, fascinating, witty, compulsively readable (oh yes!). These ones are taken from the book cover and come from some reputable newspapers. They're all right. I would personally add sweet, tender, romantic, with a continuous intriguing plot that will keep you absolutely hooked on the book untill the end. A long-lasting smile on your face guaranteed while you are reading.

What is the book about?
It is the story of Don Tillman, a geneticist converting the search of love in a completely scientific process, undertaking The Wife Project, this is, designing a 16 pages questionnaire in order to find the perfect partner. He will be looking for possible candidates in web dating sites and also through some "offline" interviews. He is a scientist, that might explain why he is so methodical, structured, organized and disciplined. But he's also got asperger syndrome, although this is never said explicitly in the book -you just figure it out by context and comments-. That might explain his difficulty for social relationships and his failure in getting partners so far.

On his way he meets a woman, Rosie, of course completely unsuitable for The Wife Project since she's not fitting at all into any parameter of the questionnaire. But they will have to work closely as she is looking for her biological father and Don, as a geneticist, will have to help her. So, we have a handsome man and a beautiful woman working together and sharing a common interest (and therefore their time, too) in a very encouraging project (The Father Project). You can guess the rest, can't you?

Rosie will be putting upside down Don's perfectly scheduled, organized and structured life in a way that won't be disliking him too much. A special mention for another funny character in this story, Don's boss and best friend, who probably deserves a whole book for himself: a class of its own man. And let me leave the story here :)

What did I personally like the most?
The book has extremely amusing moments, like the "Aspis rule!" scene, the Jacket Incident, "what's happening to me" or the Coktails serving episode. Please, remember all these ones and have a thought for me if you ever read the book. Memorable moments.

I specially loved the "what's happening to me" narration. It's a tender reminder of that unforgettable moment in our lives when we are falling in love without realizing it, as we are innocent and unexperienced, and therefore a bit awkward in this area. It is so well described ... very funny indeed.

I also liked the takeaways, those little sweet messages you're picking throughout your reading. Like which ones? Well, like this permanent concern we all have about "fitting in" or that we shouldn't bother looking for love because love usually gives you a surprise entering through the back door without knocking. As the author says at the end of the book, "love has no respect for questionnaires".

Thanks to the book you remember not to be too serious in life and forgive yourself a little bit more, as actually we are all a little bit weird. The book is positive, reminding us that sometimes where we see desease or negative traits in our personality, it's all about our way of looking at them, as they can easily turn out to be our strengths. With all my respect for aspies (as they're kindly called by Don in the book), I think we all carry something of Don Tillman in our inside. And with this personal connection you feel with Don from the beginning of the book, the author achieves to have a character getting right away straight to your heart. Yes, you will inevitably end up loving Don Tillman!

In summary
Hilarious moments, nice takeways and a brainy sense of humor that will keep you grinning from ear to ear along all your reading time. This is the perfect book to have real fun and disconnect from work. Just some warning on serious danger of remaining head over heels for the main character ;)

My personal message for Don
You know what, Don? I filled in the questionnaire. I must have gone mad. I can't believe I did such a crazy thing but I did it! Maybe I should also diagnose brain overload after reading the book and may need to set up a spreadsheet to analyse this situation, hahaha!!! Got 76 points! You know what that means, don't you? It seems like I'm that type of person who needs a certain amount of science to choose a partner, too :)

I had real fun with you, Don, so see you at the next instalment for sure. 'Cause you know what happens after having an immense satisfactory experience in your life, right? Whatever it is, we always do the same thing. All of us. We just repeat.

Getting hands on The Rosie Effect in 3,2, 1 ... !!!

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It might also be of your interest ...
The Best Of Adam Sharp - My personal review for this book written by Graeme Simsion, the same author of The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect.