Book: Neil Peart 'Ghost Rider' (2002)

This one's a bit of a tearjearker, the story of a man who lost absolutely everything and survived only by running away. It would be sad even if it weren't true - his daughter died, his wife died, his dog died, and his best friend went to prison - but it is true; all of that really happened to the author, who is also the drummer for Canadian band Rush. The book chronicles a series of impressively long motorcycle trips he took, through North and Central America, hoping that time, distance, and miles-put-behind would let him escape the shambles of his life. Apart from the tragic elements, it's a wonderful travel story; the collected letters and journal entries that he tied together with concise, illustrative reminiscences portray an astonishing number of km traveled, sights seen, and well-described fun roads ridden. He's a very good writer, in a concise, almost-journalistic sort of way. There is a little bit of a financial disconnect; as a reader accustomed to shoestring-budget travel, I did keep getting a bit hung up on all the expensive meals he ate and the way he could always afford to stay in good hotels, and his ever-growing collection of beautiful motorcycles. But hey - the man worked hard for his fortune, and I'm glad it was able to help him live through his troubles.

Highlight: one of the real pleasures of this book is reading about all the other books Peart, a voracious reader, consumed during his travels (I look forward to reading many of them myself).

Anime: 'Kino no Tabi' (2003)

I'm not particularly into anime, but I've loved this little series for years and years. It's one of the most thoughtful, philosophically interesting things I've watched, in addition to being very elegantly drawn in hazy, muted shades of mostly greens and browns. The protagonist, Kino (the series' title translates to 'Kino's Journey'), is an impressively androgynous young girl who travels the world on a talking Brough Superior motorbike, packing a small arsenal of rather classic guns to protect herself from ruffians. Kino and Hermes (the bike) never stay in one place longer than 3 days, so you can imagine how far they travel over the course of 13 episodes and 2 short films. A bit steampunk, a bit just plain anachronistic, the societies and technologies of their world range from exceptionally primitive to sci-fi futuristic. Human nature being one of the main topics, quite a few of the storylines are rather sad; the very best ones, though, project a rather beautiful sense of absolute wonderment at the sheer magic of existence and potential. The anime was based on a very popular series of Japanese light novels by Shigusawa Keiichi, which share the same name and are just as good as - if not better than - the show.