Where the journey is the destination

Kaisa & Christoffer Leka: Tour d’Europe

Book Review, written and later updated in 2011
Ref. www.kaisaleka.net www.absolutetruthpress.com

It’s no secret that Tour d’Europe is a thriving product from the long journey in the self-publishing sector. Within a year of its publication it has gained excellent commercial success, winning such prestigious awards as the Finland Prize, and voted one of Finland’s most beautiful books in 2010. Sold worldwide, like many other of Kaisa Leka’s previous successes, it is an important milestone in the couple’s creative career.

The book itself is cross-pollinating various genres, it’s a graphic novel and a meditative tome pondering the philosophy of the road, a contemporary travel guide celebrated in each section of the bookcase. But it contains so much more than a bicycle tour. It follows the thought process that develops during such a journey, during the monotonous pedalling against wind, rain or under a burning sun dragging the protagonists down, and the luscious landscapes with the variety of bright characters they meet, feeding their passion to keep going. Their goal is Nice, France but that is not the focal point. Like the mouse-Kaisa reflects: it is the journey that is the destination (p. 643) and that is what this novel represents.
The two aspiring bhaktas named the book ‘Tour d’Europe – The Yoga of Road Cycling’ which describes the journey between Porvoo, Finland and Nice. However, it is not an attempt to invent a new form of yoga. Instead it adapts the yogi frame of mind to digest experiences in a calm and reflective manner, accepting mistakes and wrong turns as necessary for the lesson to be learnt, for the journey to be the destination. At the beginning of each chapter there’s an introductory summary on the experiences that follows. It also contains a lovely small detail: the general pronoun considering the sexless yogi is in the ‘she’ format rather than the traditional and patriarchal ‘he’, something Christoffer suggested during the writing process to keep the text contemporary and with a strong feminist undertone.

Visually, it is stunning. Kaisa Leka is known for illustrations with a naïve edge, not restricting her imagery with much detail but rather giving the reader a chance to grasp her words in large white spaces. In Tour d’Europe she plays with space and detail in each spread, mapping out entire landscapes of forests or architecture, but equally may have the following spread free of anything but large wind farms growing up the page. Or then a sudden abruption presenting the story from a completely different angle – in letter form written to Kaisa’s friend, on various different motel/hostel stationary.
Her drawing style has matured but maintained her trademark simple outlines, and influenced by Christoffer’s use of perspective and detail they have achieved a book that is curious to read. In a detailed spread of a leafy residential area the road becomes like a labyrinth which is not restricted with traditional comic book narration frames (of which there are none present in this novel) yet very little is coloured space which makes it easy to locate where the protagonists are on the spread. It is a clever way to emphasise the density of the surroundings without constricting the flow of the narrative. And it certainly flows.
The colour scheme is light, Leka’s choice of the outline colour is not black but a dark brown, which is not only a method she uses frequently in her previous books to soften the colour contrasts, but here is also a supporting factor in maintaining the physical appearance of an aged and well-travelled book. Even the cover is a sepia infused grey photograph, the book creased at the spine, image slightly ripped and stained. The product is finished with a rubber-band, enclosing a large map between the pages. If ordered directly from Absolute Truth Press it arrives wrapped in brown paper and parcel string, decorated with stamps, and is so delightful and elegant it seems a shame to open it.

Tour d’Europe is not a book preaching about the achievements of such a journey, it’s not a competitive sports journal or a philosophical guide. Christoffer and Kaisa aren’t athletes, quite the opposite - Christoffer is tall and gangly and Kaisa a double leg amputee. It follows their journey as people, with some setbacks certainly, but the focal point is not on disabilities and phantom impossibilities. It is their report of experiencing Europe from the saddle of a bicycle. And it has fuelled further cycling journeys – they recently travelled around Iceland, followed by a cycling trip to Russia and are currently planning a tour to Odessa in Ukraine.
Where the journey is the destination a story has emerged, one they wish to share with anyone who has thought about seeing the world, revealing that there’s more to the road than the road and it is there for anyone explore. They present this journey, this report, this philosophy in a contemporary and beautiful package, inviting everyone to take part in the travels. And with such a fantastic adventure ahead, who could resist?