Lionheart
October 21st 2006 00:23
Ohh boy. Long time me no writey. Me no know write no more...
Today's book review pays tribute to one of this year's HSC English standard text, that much hated and despised Lionheart by Jesse Martin.
And I must say, I hated this book too with a passion last year, when I was analysing it for the Physical Journeys section in English Advanced.
But I thought that I might give it another chance, you know, just reading it without analysing everything that's happened to Jesse, and I've found that I enjoyed reading it more this way.
Sort of tells you why a lot of people are turned off from books: sometimes, the English subject ruins it.
Anyway, this is a non-fiction book about young, 16 year old Australian Jesse Martin, and we follow his journey all the from when he was a little baby (yes, ladies and gentlemen, complete with naked pictures of him as a lad and other personal matters that, in my opinion, should have been left private) all the way to when he finished his goal of being the youngest person to "sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted". But what draws you into the story is the way Martin writes: it's so personal, intimate, and I daresay, so colloquial that it sounds like the whole book is a letter addressed to you, dear reader.
The things I don't like is that, sometimes, he describes things too much, mentions things a little too much, and gives out details of his trip a little too much (Who wants to know him walking around his boat, oh pardon, YACHT, stark naked for the most of his journey? Not I.) Too much. Too much. Too much. No matter how much I enjoyed the book, I still found it too much of everything. I'd hate to watch Lionheart: The Video. Good thing my English teacher spared us that fate.
Nonetheless, it actually makes a good read. More for blokes than for gals, as most voyage books are.
I rate this novel:
7/10
**book cover from Powell's Books
Today's book review pays tribute to one of this year's HSC English standard text, that much hated and despised Lionheart by Jesse Martin.
Lionheart by Jesse Martin
But I thought that I might give it another chance, you know, just reading it without analysing everything that's happened to Jesse, and I've found that I enjoyed reading it more this way.
Sort of tells you why a lot of people are turned off from books: sometimes, the English subject ruins it.
Anyway, this is a non-fiction book about young, 16 year old Australian Jesse Martin, and we follow his journey all the from when he was a little baby (yes, ladies and gentlemen, complete with naked pictures of him as a lad and other personal matters that, in my opinion, should have been left private) all the way to when he finished his goal of being the youngest person to "sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted". But what draws you into the story is the way Martin writes: it's so personal, intimate, and I daresay, so colloquial that it sounds like the whole book is a letter addressed to you, dear reader.
The things I don't like is that, sometimes, he describes things too much, mentions things a little too much, and gives out details of his trip a little too much (Who wants to know him walking around his boat, oh pardon, YACHT, stark naked for the most of his journey? Not I.) Too much. Too much. Too much. No matter how much I enjoyed the book, I still found it too much of everything. I'd hate to watch Lionheart: The Video. Good thing my English teacher spared us that fate.
Nonetheless, it actually makes a good read. More for blokes than for gals, as most voyage books are.
I rate this novel:
7/10
**book cover from Powell's Books
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