Bypass

Michael McGirr’s life in Gunning on the old Hume Highway in New South Wales is a long way from the twenty years he spent as a Jesuit or the seven years he was a Catholic priest.

He was a founding staff member of Eureka Street and has been a regular newspaper columnist and reviewer for newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times. He has a fortnightly segment during the morning programme on Canberra’s ABC Radio.

He’s also a great author.

When I received a copy of his book, Bypass, for Father’s Day last month I had never heard of Michael McGirr. As it turns out, Pauline had found the book on a discount table and thought that as it had a bicyle on the front cover, and was related to a long distance cycling trip, I might enjoy it. She was absolutely right.

Considering that it can often take me longer to read a book than it did for the author to write it, Bypass obviously grabbed hold of me fairly quickly. I started reading it on our flight to Melbourne a few weeks back and finished it yesterday. With the busyness of our holiday and then trying to get back into routine over the past week, it’s a miracle that I found time to read at all but I just had to find out what happened next in the story.

Michael tells the story of his ride from Sydney to Melbourne and he tells it well but I’d be misrepresenting the book if I claimed that that’s all it’s about. It’s also about the history of the Hume Highway, about so many of the events that have happened along its length, about the characters he met during the journey and so much more.

The book also gives you a very close look at his personal life at the time. Why would a 40 year old decide to take on such an adventure with a bike, and a body, not at all suited for the trip? What caused him to re-evaluate his life and leave the priesthood? Did he lose his faith or just his commitment to his former vocation? What part did, Jenny, his travelling companion play in the journey?

You’ll find more indepth reviews of the book here, and here.

If you’re looking for a read that’ll help you understand a little more about Australian history, about one man’s journey to a new life, and perhaps a bit more about yourself, Bypass is well worth a read.

It was published in 2004 so it may be harder to find than new releases but I reckon it’s worth the look.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Hume Highway – – Michael McGirr



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He has worked in radio at Perth's media ministry Sonshine for over 25 years and has previously worked at ministries such as Compassion Australia and Bible Society.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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