Angela Locke can write much better than this book would suggest. I know, I have previously read her work. Here we have broken sentences, repetition and an over use of adjectives. It is almost as though she has set down on paper thoughts as they occur to her and here they are reproduced unedited, rather like a child set lose on a toy shop, or a live location radio broadcast. Look at this, experience that, feel, smell, touch.
Despite the broken sentences and repetition, or more probably because of them, you, along with Locke, are transported with her on her journey of discovery. You feel and experience what she feels and experiences. This is no polished and sophisticated travelogue but it is as described on the cover - an internal journey. It has an immediacy which is most unusual in a book of this type.
Most reviews contain a summery of the plot so to speak. So where does Locke go? The subtitle is A Journey in the Himalayas and that just about describes it. She goes from the Penrith Safeway to Kathmandu; physically she goes halfway around the world. But in reality the journey is much longer. It's one, all the way from not knowing to beginning to understand, and this is a journey which very few people undertake and even fewer complete. It is also a journey in which you can feel privileged and humbled to have undertaken with her, albeit vicariously.
A confession now! I bought this book because I know the author, not because I wanted to read it. I thought it would stay unread on my bookshelf. But the book began beckoning to me, whispering "pick me up and read me" so I did, and I'm so very pleased I took the book's advice. I began by saying that Angela Locke can write better than she does in this book. From Chapter 22 onwards she does so, but perversely once she has changed her focus from impressionism to factual the text has less impact, but read on because the last four chapters have something important to divulge. You are now only a click away from a fascinating voyage of discovery; buy "On Juniper Mountain" it could well be the cheapest and most profound life changing experience you will encounter.
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Top reviews from other countries
Martin A. Chambers
A journey worth your time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2010