Hello everyone, So, this week we're looking at biographies. I have to admit that I've barely read any before now, because I find them really difficult books to deal with. First, finding a person who interests and inspires you can be a challenge - you don't want to fall into that I-was-just-an-ordinary-sort-of-person-but-now-look-at-me formula, because no one finds that interesting. You also want to read about someone you know about, but don't know too much about, and someone whose life you find fascinating. Finding that someone can be tough. And the writing of a biography, especially an autobiography, can be a difficult thing as the author must find a way to '[...] steer a ticklish course between the Scylla of open boastfulness and the Charybdis of mock-modesty,' to quote from one of my favourite books, Lord Hornblower by C.S. Forester. On top of all of that, there is the question for the writer of what to include and what not too, to keep the reader on board and satisfy the reader's desires and expectations. As you can probably tell, biographies are hard to write and that makes it hard to choose which ones to read. I had a hard time of choosing what to read for this week. There were always the regular bunch to pick from - the biographies that everyone reads - or some person I vaguely knew of who'd written a book about themselves, or someone else that, but I wanted to try something...different. One thing which I think is unique to this genre is the character of the writing, if its done well, which gives a flavour of different experiences, times, places, opinions and lives. There is no point in reading about someone exactly like you, I think, when there is such a variety of books about different people to read instead. In the end, I read 'Martin Johnson: the Autobiography' about 'a living rugby legend and one of England's greatest ever players,' as the blurb claims. Well, one thing's for certain: this is like no other book I've ever read. Parts of it were rather amusing. The chapter titles were rather odd, including 'Ugly Mug' and 'Terminator in Shorts', and all the characters were introduced by their full names before coming back into the narration with nicknames almost always ending in -o or -y or with a 'z' in them - Johnno, Stimmo, Backy, Daz, etc. - which I found mildly irritating as well as funny. One of the best nicknames, I thought, was 'El Tel' because it was ridiculous, longer than the man's actual name, and nothing like it either. I think his real name was Terry. Parts of it were confusing. There was always 'a cup' or 'a league' and I had no idea which was which. The dates were a bit confusing, jumping from the 1990s to early 2000s in throw-away comments whilst trying to keep a chronological layout with the rest of it. There were also some lengthy technical discussions, not only about rugby and how the game worked, but about finances, payment, professionalism, sponsors, coaches, advertising rights, physios, injuries and suggested improvements about the way rugby was organised. Some of this I found a bit tedious, but I suppose it affects the players and is an important, if lesser known, element of playing sport professionally. The blurb talked about 'the shy, wry and thoughtful man' underneath 'Johnson's glowering on-field persona', but I'm not sure how much of the shyness I picked up. There always seemed to be some sort of brawl or argument or fight going on, such as the picture of three players having a grabbing tussle with a somewhat nonchalant caption of: 'Here I compare shirt material with Nick Stiles and Glen Panaho.' There were players (including Johnson) who were banned for weeks or months for violence towards other players, which he seems to feel no great regret about, only the annoyance that meant he couldn't play for however long. But I suppose those are the parts where he 'examines the line between acceptable and unacceptable violence in his sport.' Another example of a casual comment in relation to something confrontational was in a match against a French side: 'At one point, a woman sitting two or three rows in beckoned Richard Cockerill over, shouting "Monsieur, monsieur" at him. As Cockers wandered over to see what she wanted, she spat at him, to cheers from all around her. Impeccable taste, the French.' And that was that. I wouldn't call it a favourite book my a long way, nor one I'd be likely to go back to any time soon, but I would call reading it something of an experience. It was certainly different, in any case. I've found a genre I'd virtually never tried before, but what about you? Did you read about someone you admire, or like, or even never heard of before? How did you find the style of writing? Next week is non-fiction...one my of favourites...
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AuthorHi, I love reading all kinds of books. Here, we can talk about different types of books we're reading and recommend reads to each other. Maybe share with us your reading 'ideal meal' or one of your favourite books. Archives
August 2020
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