Fotografía de autor
3 Obras 33 Miembros 2 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Jack Cooke was born in 1985 and lives in London, with his wife Jennifer, the book's illustrator, and his son Bodie. This is his first book.

Obras de Jack Cooke

Etiquetado

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Miembros

Reseñas

Hot on the heels of Peter Ross’ A Tomb with a View (which I own but am yet to read) comes another book for taphophiles – The End of the Road by Jack Cooke.
This volume's subtitle is "A journey around Britain in search of the dead", which pretty much sums up what it is all about. Cooke's book is, in fact, a travelogue of sorts that sees the author embark on a tour of graveyards and final resting places across the UK, starting from Dunwich, where the historical cemetery beside the abandoned All Saints’ Church is being eroded and gobbled up by the North Sea, and ending, a month and two thousand miles later, in Orkney. Cooke’s means of transport, the equivalent of Charon’s boat, is, quite appropriately, a vintage, second-hand (or maybe third or fourth hand) hearse, itself nearing the “end of the road”. His companions are the ghosts of the dead and a spider hitchhiker whom Jack affectionately names Enfield.

Cooke’s quirky trip takes in a variety of burial sites – from more conventional graveyards, churchyards and cemeteries (including London’s Highgate and the Glasgow Necropolis), to prehistoric barrows, the “plague cottages” of Eyam and even a show cave which became a burial chamber and memorial following the tragic death of a speleologist.

Cooke is an endearing narrator, combining trivia and historical facts with personal reflection. There is often an element of self-deprecating humour as we watch him scaling cemetery gates, blocking traffic on the highway, or offering lifts to strangers who scurry away in shock. However, what is particularly impressive in what is, ultimately, a book about death, is how uplifting a read it turns out to be. As, at the end of every day, Cooke makes his bed for the night – either in his hearse, or on a grave site – one is struck by a sense of calm and peace, as if the very fact of going to sleep amongst the ghosts is a respectful act of communion with the departed.

The End of the Road is my first read for 2021 and it is, admittedly, a strange start to my reading year. But who thought a trip in a hearse would be so enjoyable?

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-end-of-the-road-by-Jack-Cooke.htm...
… (más)
 
Denunciada
JosephCamilleri | Feb 21, 2023 |
Drawings of trees in London, and stories about climbing them. Charmingly eccentric, very British.
½
 
Denunciada
sometimeunderwater | Mar 14, 2017 |

Estadísticas

Obras
3
Miembros
33
Popularidad
#421,955
Valoración
½ 3.7
Reseñas
2
ISBNs
6