Book Review !

Has anyone read this book,if so what do you think?

Comments

  • fantastic book, got me thinking of having a go myself even though i live in surrey! highly reccomended
  • Great book although I wouldn't dream of doing 24 hours running anywhere, let alone over the fells. I've done a few local fell races and they do make a nice change from yet another 10k on the road but I'm under no illusions that I'll ever be any good. I just go for some variety, great scenery and if you're lucky, home made cakes at the finish.
  • Yeah, just buy it and read it, it's great.

    Then buy some Walsh's and come and play in the mud!
  • ScreamScream ✭✭✭
    Exceptionally well written but a bit boring in places - I'm thinking specifically about the sections talking about Amateur and professional fell running.

    The sections about Joss Naylor, Kenny Stuart etc are very inspiring but other than that, I seem to remember I didn't really like it much (read it about 2 years ago).

    I'm pleased I've read it but wouldn't read it again whereas:

    Gebresalassie's biography
    Ultramarathonman (despite being written for 12year olds)
    Lance Armstrong's "auto"biography (same as above)

    and similar books are very good reads, which I'd recommend.
  • Odd. Armstrong's book left me retching (great cyclist, but what a sorry indivdual) and Dean Karnazes struck me as the most self-impressed numbskull whose book I'd ever had the misfortune to read. I know we have to all be nice about Lance because he had cancer (as if he's the ONLY survivor) but sorry, I'm only telling it like it is. I was bored rigid halfway through both; probably because each is a love ode written by the author to the author. Self pleasuring isn't fun to watch (or read) unless it's Keira Knightley doing it. Feet In the Clouds, on the other hand, took my breath away. One of the best books (let alone running books) I've read in ages. READ IT! Then tell us what you think. In my view Armstrong and Karnazes aren't fit to carry Billy Bland's jockstrap. But to each his own, I guess.
  • I liked feet in the clouds, but then I like the lakes anyway It's a lovely area, was up there for a few days this week, it's lovely even managed a few short runs before heading off to the peaks for a a few more days camping. Dissapointingly flat in the peaks though, especially around Hope where we stayed, in fact it's nice to get back home to some hills so I have something to work on.
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    oh ok - I'll finish it.

    started it last year sometime, and really enjoyed it...but then sort of got bored and stopped.

    But I shall pick it up again.

    Once I've finished the sixth Harry Potter...



    [giggles and waits for Smiffy to opine...]
  • there was a long thread about this on general a while back - the general consensus was that the book is very much like marmite

    however i think the general consensus was just wrong, as i love marmite, whereas this book is a tedious heap of rancid steaming sheeite
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    hello sweetie!
    mwah!


    ((((Candy)))))


    [snigger]
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    such a grumpyknickers.

    anyway - did you know that Marmite keeps the midgies away?
  • debbodebbo ✭✭✭
    oh good, I'll wear some on my bike ride through the highlands tomorrow then ;-)
  • stoller
    i hated the lance armstrong book too
    memememememe
    but then i know you have to be like that to get where he has got
    i just don't need to read about it
    and i wouldn't want to live with him
    but he is unlikely to want to anyway



    Jj - do you have to smear it on?

    :-)
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    debbo - I was in shetland last year and wasn't troubled by the midgies, yet my bro-in-law - very tough chap, ex NI army intelligence kinda bloke who's lived there for 15 years, hates them and is eaten alive every year.

    the difference between him and a fluffy li'l cartoon?

    I love Marmite.
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    lurker - well, really.

    :op





    Much too thticky...
  • debbodebbo ✭✭✭
    I love marmite too :-)
  • Sorry to butt in and highjack the thread with another book but i have just finished reading "Between a rock and a hard place" by Aron Ralston.

    You may have heard about that american hiker that got stuck in a cannyon when a boulder crushed his arm. Well, he wrote a great book about it with a very vivid account of his accident and the days he spent there.:o)
  • "The Testament of Gideon Mack" only read about a quarter of it and he hasn't met the Devil yet, but pretty good so far.
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    "a skilful blend of religion, the supernatural and mental illness "

    It's Clubhouse, isn't it?
  • A bit of good advice for what it's worth. Midges absolutely hate Vitamin B. Take either B Complex or, more cheaply and easily, Brewers Yeast (available in all Holland & Barrets amongst other places) like you would any other daily vitamin for a couple of weeks before you head into the Highlands to build up a level in your blood -- or just take it every day for good -- and the midges won't come near you. Works a treat at LAMM every year for me and less messy than marmite.
  • ScreamScream ✭✭✭
    Ultra Spud - I've rtead Between a Rock and a Hard Place too. I liked his accounts of being trapped, cutting off his arm and the walk home but didn't like the other parts, i.e. his accounts of other adventures.

    One thing in books I really dislike is when different subjects are discussed on consecutive chapters, which is what happens here - it annoys the hell out of me!

    Again, I'd recommend reading it but it didn't blow me away.

    And regarding Armstrong and Karnazes books, I always think, when reading biographies, that the book is a bit of a love-in but try to remember that the person is the subject matter - they are unlikely to write 50,000 words on their lives and surmise that they hate themselves!
  • It's not impossible to talk about yourself at great length while still exhibibing at least a modicum of humility. It's also not impossible to be a great athlete and retain a degree of humility. I'm tired of the way the modern world makes allowances for jerk-off behaviour simply because someone is good at, say, running. A jerk is a jerk is a jerk.
  • JjJj ✭✭✭
    [slaps Trolley's hand sternly]
  • ScreamScream ✭✭✭
    Yeah, fair enough. You either love him or hate him I guess... just like Martmite then.
Sign In or Register to comment.