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camipollero's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
te amo eduardo galeano
tessawritings's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
gls_merch's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
3.5
Galeano's Soccer under the Sun and Shadow is organized as a chronological series of short essays about various aspects of football (soccer). The short chapters offer insight into the players, coaches, fans, and even the financial underbelly of the sport. Some are intimate little stories about the game, while others speak of larger historical and cultural importance. At times, the book reads like a grumpy, old man nostalgic for olden days. I still recommend it as a quick read for anyone lacking a global perspective on the game.
melodyriggs's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
This is a love letter to soccer that covers the good, the bad, and the ugly. I found it interesting that the game originated in a few different countries but with different styles of play, and only within the last 150 years or so has it come under a set of precise rules. I liked how Galeano captured the way fans of the game feel like a "we" and how the ref is either a non-entity or a villain (the hero role goes to the goal scorers). FIFA is super corrupt- of that there is no doubt. But the game I grew up playing is one the world love, and I'm thankful it's been catching on more at the professional level in the US. A must-read for soccer fans, though the book pretty much ends in the mid-1990s. Might be time for a new soccer fan to pick up where Galeano left off and write an update.
angieinbooks's review against another edition
4.0
It's the end of 2012. Obama has just been re-elected to be the President of the United States, the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant with the future heir to the British throne, economists are worried about a fiscal cliff, Palestine and Israel are fighting...again, the final Twilight film has finally been released and according to the Mayan calendar, the world will be ending in a couple of weeks. And, as always, well-informed sources in Miami announced the imminent fall of Fidel Castro (and his pal, Hugo Chavez), it's only a matter of hours.
As a relative neophyte to the world of football (the international kind, not the American version), a friend recommended I read Galeano's book. I'd read other books about soccer before this, but this work is something special--it's Galeano's love letter to el juego bonito in short but remarkable vignettes about the the triumphs, darkness and magical moments this game has given. I didn't expect such an all-encompassing work and such a compact history of the game, but Galeano provides this in under 250 pages, always placing soccer in the context of major world events, along with the always imminent fall of Fidel Castro.
As a relative neophyte to the world of football (the international kind, not the American version), a friend recommended I read Galeano's book. I'd read other books about soccer before this, but this work is something special--it's Galeano's love letter to el juego bonito in short but remarkable vignettes about the the triumphs, darkness and magical moments this game has given. I didn't expect such an all-encompassing work and such a compact history of the game, but Galeano provides this in under 250 pages, always placing soccer in the context of major world events, along with the always imminent fall of Fidel Castro.
lukeestrada10's review against another edition
2.0
Much like an actual soccer match when it's good it's transcendent, but when it's not it's just like... what else is going on? ya know?
samsleeman21's review against another edition
5.0
Simply excellent. Going to use this a model for thinking about how to write an emotional history. God bless the beautiful game!