Go: A Memoir of Movement by Jesse O’Reilly-Conlin

Go: A Memoir of Movement. Immediately, I love the engagement. As though joining something already in progress. Passing through an actual gate, in a manner. Arrivals. Departures. With every clichéd yet perfectly apt metaphor to accompany that. Heading toward something not quite defined, or distancing oneself from a burden. Literal flight. This is a genre I’ve loved since I heard my first story. When books were still being read to me. I remember being tucked in, a parent seated on the edge of my bed, reading from a hardcover picture book. One passage still resonates, referring to a vastness ahead, “as far as the eye can see.” The imagery those words conjure! Yet I longed for the tangible, a place on the map. And so asked my mom, “Where is the I-Can Sea?” (Say it aloud and it fits). It took her a moment, then she smiled. Explained, gave it clarity. Even after being told, I still longed for that place to exist, somewhere beyond, named the I-Can Sea. Where anything might be possible.

No doubt a spark from that flame still remains, an ember that glows into fire as I pass through a gate, a bag or a pack in hand. I can. Having spent the next fifty years exploring that alluring and mystical landscape, I’ve not only dedicated my time to that realm but savour the work and the words of others who journey and live there as well. Which is why I picked up this book with warm recollection and a sense of shared familiarity.

From the book’s introduction:

I loved the movement and travel, and I did not want to lose that sensation of drifting through difference and strangeness. I loved the newness of every morning, the fresh sea breeze, and the ever-changing landscape. Movement was exciting.

Again I feel collaborative sharing. Connection. As though author Jesse O’Reilly-Conlin might be gazing onto that same I-Can Sea. Aptly enough, he continues, describing that very connection, albeit the grander perspective of all-encompassing connectivity, a globe-spanning Venn diagram. Travel’s effect on people lies not so much in its physical bridging of different people and cultures but in its psychological connecting of disparate parts.

Ideally stated, with objective clarity that can only come, I believe, through time and experience. This is a well-written, tightly crafted memoir. Stated plainly enough “on the tin,” as the book’s title extends an introductory hand in a succinct and straightforward manner. But the story is more than mere travelogue. This is a writer not averse to let narrative drift, offering us a window seat onto emotional and imaginative wanderings. Reminiscent of the speculative roaming of Chatwin.

This is a writer not averse to let narrative drift, offering us a window seat onto emotional and imaginative wanderings … To paraphrase Freya Stark, “what all good travel writing should be.”

Not necessarily fabricated, but open-ended and dreamy. To paraphrase Freya Stark, “what all
good travel writing should be.”

Jesse O’Reilly-Conlin has an MFA in creative nonfiction (University of King’s College, Halifax) and is currently a PhD student in the Humanities Program at York University. His writing has appeared in Cargo Lit Mag, Cold Noon: International Journal of Travel Writing and Travelling Cultures, Folio Magazine, Lowestoft Chronicle, and Open Minds Quarterly. For Folio, his story “Istanbul Gone” won the journal’s 2018 Editor’s Prize for nonfiction, and his travel memoir “Visiting Africa” was published in 2021 by Demeter Press. About the Reviewer: Bill Arnott is the bestselling author of A Perfect Day for a Walk, A Season on Vancouver Island, and the award winning Gone Viking travelogues. Recipient of a Fellowship at London’s Royal Geographical Society for his expeditions, Bill’s a frequent presenter and contributor to magazines, universities, podcasts, TV and radio. When not trekking with a small pack and journal, Bill can be found on Canada’s west coast, where he lives near the sea on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh land.

Publisher: Iguana Books (April 11, 2023)
Hardcover 6″ x 9″ | 253 pages
ISBN: 978-1771806282

Bill Arnott

Website

Bill Arnott is the bestselling author of A Season on Vancouver Island, theGone Viking travelogues, andA Perfect Day for a Walk: The History, Cultures, and Communities of Vancouver, on Foot(Arsenal Pulp Press, Fall 2024). Recipient of a Fellowship at London’s Royal Geographical Society for his expeditions, Bill’s a frequent presenter and contributor to magazines, universities, podcasts, TV and radio. When not trekking with a small pack and journal, Bill can be found on Canada’s west coast, where he lives near the sea on Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh land.