OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Travels and Travails of Grandpa Howard" by Howard Johnson AIA, RIBA (emeritus).]

The Travels and Travails of Grandpa Howard is a delightful memoir chronicling the personal and professional life of the author, Howard Johnson. I loved the exciting stories of his childhood life in England, circa 1935. Oh, such freedom! As a much younger person myself, I can only imagine what having such ‘dangerously high’ levels of freedom must feel like.

From the moment I read about a 5-year-old Howard who believed he was old enough to go off to boarding school, I prepared my mind for an adventure-filled story. I wasn’t disappointed. As a wee child, Howard dreamed of becoming an architect, but his father never believed in that dream. In fact, it was the senior man’s conviction that Howard could never amount to anything in life. But life happened; Howard grew up to achieve great successes in architecture, working in multiple countries and opening his own firm at a point. He experienced some regrettable losses as well, especially in his adult life. He also shares events in recent years, involving his family, personal and professional life.

My high point of reading a memoir has to do with what I can learn from the experiences. There are many pertinent ones to be taken from this book. One is to always know and believe in yourself, even in the face of mockery. Howard’s belief in his dreams contributed greatly to his success. Another is to stick with what you know, when it comes to investments and financial decisions. That is one I’m definitely taking to heart. You should read this book if you love memoirs too.

Throughout the book, the author includes pictures of various people and places mentioned to help the reader visualize his story. I must say they achieved this aim. I mention these pictures specifically because they greatly contributed to my understanding this story and finishing the book. I also love that the entire book was arranged in chronological order.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. As delightful as I found this story, the first few chapters were a little boring for me. They felt as though the author was trying hard to recollect a distant memory, which I guess he probably was. As a result, I sometimes found it hard to follow his train of thought. There were also several missing and incorrect punctuations, as well as misspellings I found here and there. I’m sure I would have had a better reading experience without them, and a professionally edited version of this book would be just wonderful.

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The Travels and Travails of Grandpa Howard
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It's too bad it was boring at times. Learning about England during that time frame should have been interesting. I think I shall pass on this one. Thanks for the review!

This sounds like a good read, but I don't know if I would enjoy the parts about his unsupportive father.

Sounds like a great memoir from someone with good life lessons to impart. Too bad the story was slow to get going.

Life is boring sometimes. I think without the boring times, the exceptional times wouldn't seem quite as special. It sounds like the author has given a down-to-earth account of his life. Should he have included the boring sections? I can't be sure without reading the whole book myself. I would like to imagine the less than stellar parts were necessary to the rest of the story. I enjoyed reading about the experiences you learned from while reading the book. Great review!

Prisallen wrote: ↑31 Mar 2019, 01:11 It's too bad it was boring at times. Learning about England during that time frame should have been interesting. I think I shall pass on this one. Thanks for the review!

It’s interesting enough to get 3 stars from me, but yes, I wish ther were no slow bits too. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!

Juliana_Isabella wrote: ↑31 Mar 2019, 10:24 This sounds like a good read, but I don't know if I would enjoy the parts about his unsupportive father.

Well, I know I did, so you might too!

shereads shereads wrote: ↑31 Mar 2019, 11:42 Sounds like a great memoir from someone with good life lessons to impart. Too bad the story was slow to get going.

Really good lessons, I must say. Thanks for the comment!

Jessacardinal wrote: ↑31 Mar 2019, 12:33 Life is boring sometimes. I think without the boring times, the exceptional times wouldn't seem quite as special. It sounds like the author has given a down-to-earth account of his life. Should he have included the boring sections? I can't be sure without reading the whole book myself. I would like to imagine the less than stellar parts were necessary to the rest of the story. I enjoyed reading about the experiences you learned from while reading the book. Great review!

Sure, they were important! I just felt they could have been made more engaging, but like I mentioned, I understand those things happened a long time ago. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you!

Good review supergirl 1. However, I dislike boring moments while reading. I might pass on this one.

I'm glad his life was so interesting. I'm curious what his life was like at boarding school. I think it's telling of his character that he WANTED to go off to school. That's pretty unusual, especially for a child that age. Thanks so much for the information on this one.

I like memoirs as they are real and alive. Again, the fact that Howard shares both the good and the bad is to be reckoned with. Excellent review.

Howard's life may have had its boring moments (like mine!). Even so, the experiences recounted in his memoir sound interesting and enriching for readers. Thanks for the recommendation.

It sounds like this book would benefit from a rewrite for two reasons: editing and redoing the first few chapters. I really dislike having to say, "It is a slow start, but hang in there." It seems like many books have that problem.