Review: Ghost Rider (audio book)

I'll admit to never having listened to Rush before auditing  Ghost Rider, which was released for free by Amazon to commemorate Neil Peart's death. The book opens with Neil Peart telling you about how in the space of a year, he lost his 19-year-old-daughter Selena to a single-vehicle car crash, followed by his wife dying of cancer. That is the kind of loss you would never wish upon anyone, and of course, he does what any man would do in that situation, which is to go on a bike tour.

Well, he doesn't ride a bicycle (but he apparently used to, prior to his wife buying him a motorocycle), but a BMW touring motorcycle, and he heads off North from his home in Toronto up to Alaska, takes the ferry down to Vancouver, and then meanders and weaves all over North America, down to Mexico and back again, to Nova Scotia, and then somehow back in LA.

The journey is composed of narration, interspersed with letters to a motorcycling partner who's ended up in Jail. I normally think of rock musicians as being non-intellectuals, but unlike the stereotype of the drummer found in say, Spinal Tap, Peart was also the lyricist of the band. He reads extensively all through his journey, Jack London, Edward Abbey, all the desert and mountain classics. He's also ridden through much territory that I've explored, Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes, Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Sonoma, Sonora pass. Obviously on a motorcycle things go by much faster --- 600 miles a day wasn't uncommon for him, but he never seems to find solace except when being on the move, whether on the bike, or hiking, or visiting friends.

There's a certain romanticism in the book, and poetry, where he discusses caring for his little baby soul, a symbol of his rebirth after his loss. His personality traits he splits amongst a community of minds: the eponymous Ghost Rider, who's only happy while touring, a 14 year old girl, James Ellwood, his wanna be rock star and womanizer, and James Elwood Taylor, who would like nothing better than to write a story about his travels. All in all, I enjoyed the travelogue and his letters.

Both Pengtoh and Arturo have commented on my trips that I never seem impressed by people riding (or driving) motor vehicles. This book didn't change my mind: sure, there's adventure in having to siphon out all the fuel in your tank after someone mistakenly puts diesel in it, or having to get help righting your bike after it's been dropped (those motorcycles are too heavy for a single person to lift). But I certainly don't consider those problems on the same order of magnitude as those faced by a bicycle tourist on a long distance trip (and now that I've done it, the challenges faced by a family with young children on even a short bicycle trip).

Nevertheless, as something to listen to on a commute or to revisit places you've long forgotten about, it's not a waste of time. Lightly recommended.