Runner

Runner by Robert Newton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High note is probably a reflection of my disappontment with my this year's reading.
Runner is a very down to earth relation of life in poor suburbs of Melbourne just after the I WW.
Charlie, a boy, whose family is fighting for survival after his father's death got a chance to improve their financial condition.
The chance is linked with strange connections and high risk.
Charlie takes all, but at each stage is nurtured by love to his family and loyalty to friends.

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Death comes for the Archbishop

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found this book very strange.
Basically there is no plot, no story.
There are many facts, but they do not constitute any defined whole.
I felt as travelling in unending Mexican desert without any aim and few times considered quit.
What was OK, then?
Few insights into nature of Mexican catholic church - it's integration with traditional ceremonies and beliefs.
Few local priests not agreeing with discipline and correctness brought from Europe.
In this landscape, 2 French priests looked to me odd and artificial. 

Additional element was their good natured greed, to get money for development of churches.

Somehow al this matched all shortcomings and failures of Catholic Church in today's Europe.


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One clear Ice-cold January morning..

One Clear Ice-cold January Morning at the Beginning of the 21st Century by Roland Schimmelpfennig
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Actually I did not like it at all.
I gave one extra star as acknowledgement of some novelty in the writing style.
Why I did not like it?
Because there is NO STORY!
Author does not bother to give names to most of the characters and it reflects the climate of indifference.
I do not know what was the criteria to name few people, still there is no consequence, they are nobody's with names.
There is a try to drop a connecting thread - the wandering wolf, but I do not see it connecting anything, just another appearance without consequences.
Probably some experts will find a deeper sense in the absolutely unemotional writing style, atomization of characters. But I reach for the book to get feeling of some involvement.

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The greatest lies in history

The Greatest Lies In History: Spin, Doublespeak, Buck Passing And Official Cover Ups That Shaped The World by Alexander Canduci
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My first impression was very bad - this bombastic title.
As a result I treated the book initially with some suspicion and needed some time to regain confidence.
Second impression was also on negative side - lies that shaped the world.
For initial few stories from antiquity I did not find any serious consequences of a lie.
On the positive side I put interesting format of each story and solid work over historical data.
At this stage the deficiency was on my side - I felt overwhelmed with number and variety of facts and details.
I admit - this book was too hard for me.
Stories I enjoyed/appreciated most: Galileo, Vichy government, Fire of Rome, Chairman Mao win.


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MS Walk 2020

 It was supposed to be the 10th time, on 1st Sunday of June.

Supposed?
I registered at the earliest date, but in March came days of uncertainty and finally decision - the walk has been postponed till some unknown date :(

For long months it looked as postponed forever and finally a decision - do it your own way - on Sunday -18 October.

My own way?
It had to be not far from home so the choice was simple - walk a bit longer than one hour in Wattle Park.
And what about majestic Albert Lake and black swans?

Well, there is a creek or two and a bit of a pond, and ducks - it should do.

The day was a bit hazy.
I took my nordic walking poles and started walk from home.
I reached a completely overgrown pond...

No ducks, only frogs croaking.

Still I remember ducks here, they were very civilized ducks, I am sure they would not abandon a place without leaving a note.

I was right...

Just 200m east - Gardiner Creek...

My first concern was quality of water - was it used before for hands washing?

Anyway, I am used to hardships and restrictions, additionally I was encouraged by a single duck - just look carefully, it is there.

So I walked joyfully powered by memories from old days and hopes, that next year I will do it in Albert Park, and black swans will be there...

Due to uncertainty I did not make much noise about this walk, so I declared a quite modest fundraising target - $199. And I exceeded it by a dozen!

Thank you very much my sponsors.

To see my memories from previous years - click a multiple sclerosis label under this entry.

The Eighth Life

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I found this book revolting, actually I realised, that it upsets me and makes me angry, so rejecting it was a sort of the last rescue.
I have to give credit to the author for my reaction, it proves some skill, but I found it harmful.
What went wrong?
After reading some 300 pages I found all characters are strongly artificial, exaggerated and put into some extremely cruel circumstances.
Author intertwines the story with relation of some historical events. Again, events are well dramatized, but their connection to the story is very remote.

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When I am... Power of One

At the beginning of February 1999 I flew from hot summer in Melbourne Australia, to cold and wintry Minneapolis. My intention was to compete in American Vasaloppet in Mora, Minnesota. The winter was poor in snow but I managed to have decent skiing in few parks in Minneapolis. 

On Thursday, 3 days before the race, I heard on the radio, that the race has been cancelled due to the lack of snow. It was a shock! Next morning I rang the race office. They confirmed the bad news - sorry, the race is cancelled.

- That's impossible! I came here all the way from Australia! It cannot be!
- We are very sorry, but it is cancelled.
- But there is quite good snow in parks in Minneapolis...
- We also have good snow in the forest. But the race is run in the open area and there is no snow there.
- So shift it to the forest!
- That's impossible, we have around 4,000 participants, we cannot squeeze them on narrow tracks. Anyway, the decision is FINAL, there is NO RACE!

I tried the last chance - please connect me with the club secretary. I had Valerie Brown at the other end of the wire and I laid down my proposal: 

I understand that you are unable to run the regular race. But on the other hand there is still quite good snow in the forest. And on another hand, I came here all the long way from Australia. Why not to put these two hands together and let me do a solo race in the forest?
There was a moment of silence and then ... come to Mora, we'll see what we can do for you. I heard smile in Valerie's Brown voice. 

I came to Mora on Saturday morning. It was sunny, cold and snowless. The big, red Dalarna Horse reminded me my race in Sweden 3 years earlier....

I went directly to the race office. It was the saddest place in the world. Thousands of race bags and bunches of medals for finishers. I took one of them in my hand.... Valentine Day.. Yes, of course! It will be Valentine Day tomorrow! A heart, two skiers inside, Love to ski...

- What are you going to do with them?
- They all will be scrapped.
- O, no! You must let me to race for this medal!

We studied maps of ski trails in the forest. Valerie showed me ones where the snow should be OK. I did simple arithmetic...

- Valerie, so if I will ski around these loops until I clock over 58 km, will you give me such a medal?

- Find his racing bag - she said.

A couple of club members drove me to the forest to see how it looks. I found it in much better condition than expected.
After return to the town, I still managed to participate in sled races with some Swedish guests (I am the one in the red top) and eventually went to sleep as the happiest person in Mora.

9 o'clock Sunday morning, blue skies, light frost, no wind. In the Log Cabin I left a bag with warm clothes and some food and drinks. I put on my red racing suit with kangaroos on the back and on the leg. 

I put on my race number 503, START!!! 

For a long time I was the only person on the trails. Later some people arrived, whole families for a relaxing session of skiing in the sun. Some of them were quite shocked when out of sudden a crazy racer appeared...

- Go away from the track - shouted parents to the children - thousand skiers will be here in a moment!

- But they said , that the race is cancelled?

I left them in such puzzled state and skied on and on - 5 times around The Point Trail, 4 times Beaver Dam Trail and every possible trail between and around.
Eventually my log showed more than 60 km, it was almost 3 pm. I skied back to the Log Cabin where some club members waited for me with the medal of my dreams. 

Back from home, I wrote a detailed report of my effort, it showed almost 65km. What a surprise it was when few weeks later I received mail from Valerie Brown. She sent me a special diploma... 

... and another medal. Valerie explained, that some of "Love to Ski" medals have been given to sponsors and volunteers so for me she sent a special one - Winners's Time + 50%, Year 1999...

And there is ONE and ONLY ONE such medal in the World!