Sports books...

[fajrdrako]

From August 14, 2008: Do you or have you ever read books about the Olympics? About sports in general? Fictional ones? Or non-fiction? Or both? And, Second: Do you consider yourself a sports fan?

The easy answer is "no", and "no". Whatever instinct makes people like sports, I don't have it.

There are some sports I love: fencing, equestrian sports, archery, gymnastics. But I don't find myself making any time to watch them. I just love them in theory.

I watched a few minutes of the Olympics coverage with josanpq the other day - swimming events - and was somewhat amazed at how boring I found it, how uninteresting even the most beautifully toned and muscled bodies, how full of platitudes the announcers and the athletes were. I was more interested in catching glimpses of China.

The only sport I like watching on TV is European football.

So - do I read about sports? No, though sometimes sports come into things I read. I once (in my teens) went on a spree of reading Paul Gallico, after seeing and loving the Disney movie, The Three Lives of Thomasina, based on his novel. Paul Gallico was a sports reporter for years, and I read all his short stories about sports - and loved them because I liked his style of storytelling. Subject matter was irrelevant.

The Olympics have been featured in some books I've read about ancient Greece. Now, that was fascinating. Cynisca, winning the Olympic gold in 396 BC - yes! Go for it, girl! But it was history, not sport, I was reading.

I can't recall otherwise reading books about sports, ever. Most movies about sports bore me. The only sports movie I can think of offhand that I actually enjoyed was Bend it Like Beckham.

Comments

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I've read most of what Paul Gallico wrote, but I'm not sure if I ever read the sports stuff or not. I probably did since as you say his storytelling style is so good that the subject matter doesn't matter much. The Snow Goose has always been one of my favorties. I can remember watching The Three Lives of Thomasina when I was quite young. It gave me nightmares about a cat being buried when it wasn't really dead. We got a cat after that who was supposed to be named Thomasina although she actually ended up being called Pom-pom.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

If I was scared by anything in Thomasina, it was the circus peope abusing the bear. I loved the way Thomasina's extra-life experience took her through Egyption symbology.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I really ought to find a copy of that movie to watch again. I don't really remember it having been no more than 6 when I saw it the first time. Or maybe I should just read the book again. I do have a copy of that somewhere.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I can't recall the age at which I saw it. 10? No, wait, it came out in 1964, so I must have been 11 or 12.