There is a new addition to the Tiger Coward Adventure Motorcycle Library: Ghost Rider by Neil Peart.
Thanks to all of you who recommended this book, it was extraordinary!
My executive summary is that this is a great book of recovery after unbelievable tragedies, and the story unfolds on a motorcycle tour across Canada, the USA, Mexico, and Central America. Peart describes his journey, on the Healing Road as he reinvents himself and his life through motorcycle therapy (also a great book title from Jeremy Kroecker).
I will state my biases before you read any further. I grew up in south-central Ontario, and I don't think a day in my life has gone by without hearing a song from Rush. Neil Peart was the drummer and principle song writer for Rush, Canada's most famous power rock trio. I can't count myself as a Rush fanatic, but I definitely owned a few of their records and at least one cassette. I first heard of Rush in the 1970s when my much cooler cousins, Audrey and Diana, saw them at their high school with Max Webster opening. Perhaps the coolest high school concert ever!
Anyhow, Rush got much larger than North Park Collegiate. Even though reading a book from a revered artist who is a member of the Order of Canada is personally significant, I will try to put this swooning behind me and focus on this book and why I loved it.
Here are the 5 things that I most liked about the book:
1. The story. From the first pages of this book, I was consumed by the overwhelming losses that the author suffers and how heading out on two wheels was his only salvation. In its own right, as a motorcycle travel book, it is very good. Combine this with a deeply significant journey in search of improved mental health, and you have a book that is spell binding!
2. The authenticity. Neil Peart is a rock star and a legend. He could afford to travel for years on end without financial worry. He could stay at fabulous hotels (not all of the time) and eat at fine restaurants (not all of the time), and none of that matters when it comes to losing a loved one. Or two. In mourning, there are no heroes or legends; just humans, and the author shows us this through his letters to friends, family, and colleagues. This book gives us an authentic window into one man's life as he travels the roads as a prescription for health and healing.
3. The letters. This book is a marriage between stories told to the reader by the author and a collection of letters written by Peart to his inner circle of confidantes.
The letters are beautiful, moving, and brilliantly constructed. They are so good that you will want to start writing meaningful letters yourself instead of just sending the odd email to friends. At least, that is what it made me want to do.
It also makes me wish that I had friends who would take the time, or had the intellect, to write to me this way. C'mon, dudes, pick up your game (joking, of course).
4. The writing. Our author is an artist of the highest order. He has been recognized domestically and internationally for his talents as a musician and as a lyricist. The book was even edited by Paul McCartney! (If you don't know who he is, please stop reading here and unfollow me on whatever forum that you found this review. Thanks.)
Anyhow, this artistic talent and flair is not limited to drumming or songwriting and shows itself beautifully throughout this book. It is an absolute pleasure to read. This is a book that I am sure that I will read again!
5. The books that Peart reads and quotes would create a fabulous library all on its own.
I wonder why I don't read more about the places that I have ridden to. Or conversely, why I haven't ridden to the places that I have read about. I don't know the answer to either of these questions, but Neil Peart has inspired me to do both.
Finally, when I overcome my addiction to reading motorcycle adventure books, which are really human experience books, I am going to read every book that Peart read on this multi year odyssey.
Suffice it to say that I was, and am, totally and completely enamored with Ghost Rider.
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16 окт 2024
