Customer Reviews

A Crossing: A Cyclist's Journey Home

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Although I thought A Crossing was a well-written book, I found it disappointing when compared to other tales of cycling journeys. I'm sure Brian (author) would be the first to explain that his book was not meant to be simply a road travel story, but it unfortunately left me wanting to know more about the people he met and the places he saw. He overlooks vast parts of his travels as he broods about his personal problems.

Admittedly, Brian's personal struggles and resolutions were interesting, and on one level his physical journey works as a metaphor/backdrop for his mental journey. But that's not what I was looking for. Perhaps I was expecting the wrong thing, but then again the book is being marketed as a travel book.

The magic and beauty of being free and on the road was missing from this work. Brian's preoccupation with his dilemmas made him seem almost insolent, like he had no interest in any of the people he ran into (other than the few he wrote about in more detail) or in their towns--and those were the very things I was interested in hearing about. It did not seem like he enjoyed his bike trip and he did not manage to pull me into the story. But again, perhaps my expectations were too high.

I read The Crossing in one sitting--it's an easy and engrossing read, yet full of humor and insight. It's about being young and unsettled, searching for something true and profound--but it never bogs down in navel-gazing or verbosity. The writing is quick and lean, rich with self-effacing humor, which makes the insights go down easily. The book takes the form of a journal, and it reminds me of many trips I've taken, but the author has written about his journey with a grace and fluidity that makes this the diary we all wish we'd had the talent to write.

A good book but not really about cycling and the rider's RIDE EXPERIENCE. Where was the adventure and the RIDE EXPERIENCE?

It would be easy to recommend this book to men who have reserved Scandinavian fathers. That's who you would share your copy with. But the message, in elegant and crisp language, is just as strong about relationships. Unfortunately, most men - at least in the Midwest - do not talk about relationships outside of their marriage. When I read this book, I felt the excitement and imagination in those age-old reasons why we care about people. I don't cycle, but the intensity of the cross-country trip was a meaningful backdrop to what happens when I cycle in and out of my friends' lives.

I'm a 49-year-old male raised on an Illinois farm and thought I'd long since passed the day when a book of remembrances could touch me so. Fathers out here, and elsewhere I suspect, have learned the art of showing love only lately ... and awkwardly. Brian Newhouse uses the physical act of crossing the nation via bike as a metaphor for his inward journey toward his father's heart. I can hardly speak to how this book might seem to others, but I saw myself again and again in his struggles with faith, with love, and with himself. It's been a long time since I've seen tears on a book in my hands.

This fellow is a good writer and I enjoyed the book, but for the wrong reasons. I thought is was a book about cycling but that is just the excuse to tell Brian's personal story. Don't expect to find much information about practical touring issues, there are other books that do that better. Still, Brian deals with many father/son, family religious issues many of us can relate to. If that's what your looking for you won't be disappointed. If your looking for lots of cycling experiences, look elsewhere.

This story touched me in a way that nothing else has for a very long time. Extremely honest and sincere, funny and heart-warming, I read it avariciously. Having traveled for years myself I found it inspired me to continue doing so. A great account of the pain,satisfaction and revelation that comes with journeys of this kind.

I found the book disappointing in that it was much less about his bicycle touring and more about his preoccupation with his father. I think the book would have worked out better if he included more of the experience of touring across the country and integrated that with his spiritual journey to understand his father.

If you're wondering what a cross-country bike ride might be like and whether you might like to do it, don't bother reading this book. There are many other books that more accurately describe the experience, or at least make it seem more appealing. (Barbara Savage's book about her around-the-world journey is quiet entertaining) The author spends most of the book discussing his relationship with his emotionally distant Scandinavian father. Unfortunately, he doesn't really offer anything novel or insigntful on this topic. His musings on religion are equally annoying and sophmoric.

Before I say anything else, I want to congratulate Brian Newhouse on his first book. For someone who hadn't considered himself a writer before putting this story to paper, it is a remarkable achievement. It would be for a writer of any experience. That he succeeded in conveying to this reader the fiber of his journey is a credit; such a book could have only been written from a place deep inside. A CROSSING rang with an honesty, a certain innocence, that disarmed me. The book pulled virtually every heartstring I possessed: I'll remember my gusts of laughter at gems like "The Rim Wizard of Fergus Falls"; punching my fist in the air when Brian caught that forever-in-coming first prairie tailwind and THROTTLED; the kinship I felt (having been on my own, though shorter, bike trips) when reading his aptly fragmented account of the Return, the bizarre nature of it all; and how, after turning the last page, this was the first book I'd ever read that managed to tug a tear from me. Why? Because I felt as if I too had made the journey and had to leave it behind. Because the people in the book felt real (and are real). Because the story, carried on the shoulders of elegant prose, succeeds. And because, well, I'm 28, have a father, and still dream of the poetry this country might write in me when I finally cross it on two wheels. But, reader, you needn't have ridden a bike to appreciate this book. After all, though there's plenty of miles covered between coasts, it is really a backdrop for a much larger voyage not measured in days or miles, only felt. Treat yourself, your family, and your friends to this wonderful read.