Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road by Neil Peart
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.56 You Save: $10.39 (52%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.95 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road
Book Review: Beyond words
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this book about 3 days and have been absolutely addicted to it reading it at every opportunity. In the short time I have owned it I think I understand Neil and this fascinating book. I'll start by saying there is a huge irony into the negative reviews, people want more, more emotion, more action more everything and this is exactly what Neil has perhaps rebelled against in his life as a rock star. Dare I say this is a somewhat Americanised viewpoint etched by the puppet master the media.
This book is a very private insight into the grief and personality of a brilliant intellectual mind with an introverted personality, best expressing himself through music and the written word. I feel extremely privileged that Neil has made this publicly available and I thank him.
He is obviously hugely gifted with words and manages to piece together this journey with a great natural flair with a rich descriptive flavour for nature, people and his surroundings. This is the major strength of the book as is the relaxed tempo which brings the book to life and makes you feel like your travelling with the ghost in real time, no easy feat.
Another positive aspect that shines in this book is Neil's great sense of humour and irony, not the one liner jokes but just a creative mind and it's humorous observations. I find myself often laughing out loud in the early hours, presumptuous as it may sound I call it thinking mans humour.
I fail to see how anybody can criticise this book, it's hugely insightful, funny, emotional and enjoyable. Those who expect more should stick to tabloid newspapers, soap operas and sensationalised celebrity magazines.
Great job Neil, you continue to inspire, educate and entertain your fans with this absolute masterpiece.
Book Review: Everybody's looking for something...
Summary: 5 Stars
It is apparent from reading the various reviews that most everyone was looking for something in this book... some found it, some didn't.What I don't get is the people that have negative comments, stating that he's a snob because he could afford to take the time to heal himself. A snob? I read the book cover to cover and I never once got the impression that he was a snob. For christ's sake, at various times he was sleeping on the road, or in at motel six's next to truck stops. Sure, he can afford to take his time, but he is also constantly reminding the reader (and himself) that he can't continue it forever.
And I also don't get those that say he didn't go into his feelings deep enough. Huh? this is 460 pages of an open, oozing, wound. And for anyone who has followed Rush at all knows how hard it's been to even get him to emote in the slightest. I can't tell you how insightful this book was. He talks about his obsession with drums... where his inspiration for writing comes from, how he approaches creativity, how he feels about Rush, Geddy, Alex, and others, and what kind of music his likes and dislikes. My God! What more could you want.
Anyway, this is a timeless story of falling down and getting back up. I actually got more bored with the travelogue than I did with the rest (unlike most of the reviewers). And as for his disdain for Americans... have you ever seen some the tubbo's that frequent Reno, Vegas, and some of the other places in the West. Let's be honest, we could all use to lose a few pounds and read a little more from the literary section and not from the Grisham/Clancy/King section. And if I was in his state of mind, I might be prone to lash out occasionally. Not everything is rational when dealing with grief.
'nuff said
Book Review: Don't understimate this book
Summary: 5 Stars
If all the reviews I read are an indication, it would seem that only Rush fans read this book. I understand the connection, but I would highly recommend it to a larger audience. I too am a fan of the band, but certainly not to the same degree I was 20+ years ago. This part is a truly remarkable mix of a travelog (Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods" kept coming to mind) and an examination of the grieving process. The story of losing his daughter and wife are horrific, to say the least. His accounts of motorcycling from place to place contains so much detail about the locations and are juxtaposed against his state of mind throught the journey. All the desperation, anger and eventually, a glimmer of hope are all on display. Other readers seem to be passing judgement on his opinions of people and what might seem like contempt for fans. I think the point is missed on this. First of all, he is obviously a very private person who is not now or has ever been comfortable with celebrity. Perhaps Rush fans might go back and listen to "Limelight" again and figure this one out. Secondly, the book details a specific arc in his life having to do with losses that filter every emotion he details. It doesn't make him a bad person, just honest and a good enough writer to translate it into words and narrative.
I finished this book a few weeks ago and it has been sticking with me ever since. He wrote a passage about being in Toronto to meet socially with the other band members and being happy to see them but happier to leave because he couldn't wait to get back to the book he was reading. I felt the same way about "Ghost Rider".
Book Review: Neil's obligations?
Summary: 5 Stars
Since when does Neil have to shake the hands, kiss the babies, sign the autographs to the fans who are demanding it? The only obligation Rush has is to play well. With the mentality that many have about Neil, why does not the same apply for Bill Gates, Wrigley's, Eli Lilly, et al? Ironically, all the other names I typed make a lot more money than Neil and are a lot more open than Neil, and we spend money for their products too. Sometimes a lot more. Yet they have no obligations to say hello my customers, patients or any of the obligations that Neil spoke about. The only obligation Neil as well as Rush has for us is to perform their best at the concert. If Neil wants to have a drink, then let him. If he wants to be left alone, then leave him alone. A fast food restaurant was introducing its' new Six Dollar burger. The announcer said, eat our six dollar burger without the all the hassle of a restaurant. A man was being harassed by a kid. So if Neil were to come up to You and say: Hi, I'm Neil, drummer from Rush, You want my autograph? You would tell him to stop bugging him. Or if a drummer from a no-named band comes up and bothers You during your meal, You too would not like it. Heck, if I came up and did the same, You would deck me. So in the spirit of respect, leave him alone. Stop talking about how HE owes You something, because You buy the band's albums. If you're that irritated about Rush and their comments, then don't buy anything from Rush. Leave them be. Simple? Yes, it is. So he calls us fat Americans. Remember, Canada is America too. So is Mexico, Central and South America too. The book was great too.Book Review: Meet Mr. Peart the man...not the legend.
Summary: 5 Stars
When you listen to a band for a long time and pretty much idolize them in your adolescence you get the know them fairly well in some ways, but not in others. Like many Rush fans I have gotten to know the public persona of Neil Peart along with his partners Geddy and Alex. You know the one, the rock and roll intellectual, the mercurial demi-god of the basement drummer, the philosopher, the traveler, the legend.
Well here we get to see the real man behind it all, torn open by personal loss and desperate to find something in life worth hanging on to, and he's invited us all along to share in the journey.
In some ways that public image is still there. Peart is very much the intellectual, the examiner, the sort of guy who logically likes to take things apart and figure them out. But we also get the flesh and blood human. He drinks. He smokes. He swears. At times he comes across as a decent, friendly fellow, and at others a bit of a jerk. In other words a regular person just like the rest of us, trying to deal with tragedy and loss the best he can.
As the sort of person who had posters of the band on my bedroom wall in my teenage years, it's hard for me to say how someone who is unfamiliar with the band would react to this work. But as someone who has, as most of us have, dealt with loss in many of its forms, I found a personal connection with this book. I saw in it the familiar sign posts that many of us go through with the death of a loved one or the end of a relationship. It's one man's perspective on the grieving process, but there are universal themes to be found here.