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sahdia's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
In the 90's I searched everything I could about figure skating. I had just discovered the sport and wanted to know everything about its history. Living in The Netherlands, I couldn't find much and had to travel to a Sportbibliotheek in The Hague to find some books (doesn't exist anymore).
The name Jackson Haines naturally appeared in all general history books about this sport. However, there was hardly anything to read about his personal life. Years later with the internet things weren't much better. I thought that this kind of information might have been lost.
Until I read this book. The several surprising revelations about what really happend, were more astonishing than any made up story. Haines was even married and had a family with young children when he moved to Europe! His family's life was tragic and I stopped reading for a moment to digest what happened to them. All very sad.
There also appear to be different stories about Haines' death, some of them ridiculous. I feel sorry for his family and Haines that he died far away, that his grave couldn't even be regularly visited by them.
In any case, he died pursuing his passion. The many reviews from admirers of his time give a good idea of his skating style and the influence he had on the public. You can see him on the ice in front of you when reading these. It's a pity that no moving images of Haines are available, but these descriptions come close as they awaken my imagination and I can picture him jumping and gliding across the ice. (Someone once made a "moving picture" of Nijinsky from old photos (seen on YouTube), maybe somebody can do that for Haines if enough photo material can be found.)
The writing style of the author isn't heavy and reads easily away (except for the quotes from the old newspapers of course). Add to that the surprises you encounter which keep you reading to find out what else happened. It's quite something when an author baffles you with a book about a subject you've read about previously both in several books and online sources. Well done and thank you!
The name Jackson Haines naturally appeared in all general history books about this sport. However, there was hardly anything to read about his personal life. Years later with the internet things weren't much better. I thought that this kind of information might have been lost.
Until I read this book. The several surprising revelations about what really happend, were more astonishing than any made up story. Haines was even married and had a family with young children when he moved to Europe! His family's life was tragic and I stopped reading for a moment to digest what happened to them. All very sad.
There also appear to be different stories about Haines' death, some of them ridiculous. I feel sorry for his family and Haines that he died far away, that his grave couldn't even be regularly visited by them.
In any case, he died pursuing his passion. The many reviews from admirers of his time give a good idea of his skating style and the influence he had on the public. You can see him on the ice in front of you when reading these. It's a pity that no moving images of Haines are available, but these descriptions come close as they awaken my imagination and I can picture him jumping and gliding across the ice. (Someone once made a "moving picture" of Nijinsky from old photos (seen on YouTube), maybe somebody can do that for Haines if enough photo material can be found.)
The writing style of the author isn't heavy and reads easily away (except for the quotes from the old newspapers of course). Add to that the surprises you encounter which keep you reading to find out what else happened. It's quite something when an author baffles you with a book about a subject you've read about previously both in several books and online sources. Well done and thank you!
jennp28's review
medium-paced
3.5
An interesting character and there were lots of moments that were fleshed out and really evocative of the man and the era, but in between were basically lists of dates and locations which I don’t think added much to the story and could maybe have been an appendix or timeline or something else other than part of the narrative. Jackson Haines seems like quite the character and he clearly had a huge impact on figure skating so if you like history and figure skating (and beat old pictures) then check this one out.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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