In SatNav We Trust is an entertaining and philosophical romp around the Historic Counties of England by Jack Barrow as he travels with his troublesome navigator Kathy (actually his SatNav – the voice of Radio 4’s Kathy Clugston), thinking about counties and boundaries that have disappeared, mulling the universe and searching for enlightenment.
Along the way, on his 3000-mile journey around England, Jack drinks coffee and pores over maps in a layby outside Consett hoping he isn’t the target for the gunsmoke rising from the valley below. Channelling a little bit of Douglas Adams, a dash of Nick Hornby even some Evelyn Waugh, this travelogue takes in the castles, cathedrals and feats of engineering along the way as our narrator searches for meaning adopting a balanced approach that draws on the great literary thinkers while mining the dividing line between science and religion.
The book finds humour in everyday challenges and neuroses like the roulette game of taking a shower on a campsite or trying to fully charge your devices without an electrical hook up. It asks questions such as how do you get off a powerful speedboat when there are two drunk blokes in charge and the tide is going out or why did you choose a salad for lunch when chips might be really what you desire?
It is also an exploration of whether we knew better in the pre-Internet days, when going in search of knowledge we could go to the library and look something up in old newspaper cuttings, yet we would still accept the testimony of a random stranger to explain the origins of an ancient landmark.
It sums up our modern-day experience by throwing caution to the SatNav and surrendering to it as it dictates where to go, only to constantly over-ride its instructions and end up in a dysfunctional co-dependent relationship with it because a regular road map wouldn’t give you the finer detail of the roads less travelled.
So if you have ever pondered the meaning of meaning, come to the realisation that you don’t have to travel far to begin questioning your place in the universe, and are intrigued to know how a compass, the Large Hadron Collider and a dreamcatcher might be connected, read this book.
One thing is for sure, it is well worth taking the leap of faith and landing in the middle of this reflective, unreliable narrator because you will gain knowledge, smile a lot and even laugh out loud.
To find out what the reviewers thought of In SatNav We Trust check these blogs:
(the blog posts will be available from the date indicated onwards)
Date
Blog Title
Web Address
Mon 14 Sept
The Bookwormery
@lelbudge
Tues 15 Sept
Portable Magic
https://portable-magic.com/category/reviews/
@bantambookworm
Wed 16 Sept
The Literary Shed
http://www.theliteraryshed.co.uk/category/read
@TheLiteraryShed
Thurs 17 Sept
Jane Hunt Writer
@jolliffe03
Fri 18 Sept
Northern Reader
https://northernreader.wordpress.com/
@NorthernReader
Sat 19 Sept
Touring Tales
https://touringfamilytales.wordpress.com/
@touringtales
Sun 20 Sept
The Twist and Turn Book Blog
https://booksandemma.wixsite.com/blog
@booksandemma
Mon 21 Sept
Rosie Writes
https://rosemariecawkwell.wordpress.com/
@RosieCawkwell
Tues 22 Sept
Ramblingmads
@ramblingmads
Tues 22 Sept
Bookmarks and Stages
https://bookmarksandstages.home.blog/
@Lou_bookmarks
Wed 23 Sept
Beyond The Books
https://sharonbeyondthebooks.wordpress.com/
@ShazzieRimmel
Thurs 24 Sept
Books In My Opinion
https://booksimo.blogspot.com/
@linby
Fri 25 Sept
Donna’s Book Blog
https://donnasbookblog.wordpress.com/
@dmmaguire391
Fri 25 Sept
Intensive Gassing About Books
https://intensivegassingaboutbooksblog.wordpress.com/
@AboutGassing
