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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
sad
slow-paced
I previously knew just a smidge about Jim Thorpe. Like I knew he was famous, but didn’t realize HOW famous. This biography was fascinating and super detailed (maybe a bit too detailed and too long) about Jim’s life and the historical context at each moment. I appreciated the biographer’s overarching point that the myth can take over the reality of the man in so many harmful ways.
And I still don’t know how to feel about the name of the town, Jim Thorpe, formerly known as Mauch Chunk.
Audio book. While driving through the Sac and Fox Nation in present day Oklahoma, I remembered this book was on my list. Seemed like the right time to pick it up.
And I still don’t know how to feel about the name of the town, Jim Thorpe, formerly known as Mauch Chunk.
Audio book. While driving through the Sac and Fox Nation in present day Oklahoma, I remembered this book was on my list. Seemed like the right time to pick it up.
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
Wanted to like this more than I did. Understandably Thorpe did not reveal much about his very eventful life, so the author spent a lot of pages placing him in his time and events. It got repetitious
The tragedy of Thorpe’s life is a difficult read. But we know where the real blame lies.
The tragedy of Thorpe’s life is a difficult read. But we know where the real blame lies.
This is a story that is not covered in American history classes, and it is tragic on so many different level that is a testament to Jim Thorpe's strength of character that he survived. He and many other Native American children were sent to government technical schools to assimilate them into American culture. Thousands of Native American mysteriously died or disappeared at these school and were the victims of physical and sexual abuse. Jim took up sports which he excelled in every field that he attempted. At that time, football players did not have protective equipment including helmets, so the players sustained injuries including traumatic brain injuries. As Thorpe became an aging athlete with no income, he began drinking and passed away at 64 years old.
The author did a great of research for this book, and I did learn that both Pop Warner of youth football fame and Richard Henry Pratt were strategically involved with the Carlile school and its philosophy of converting Native American children into productive members of society through the racsist philosphy of "kill the Indian, save the man.'' The bodies of the children who did not survive these tactics are stilling being dug up.
The author did a great of research for this book, and I did learn that both Pop Warner of youth football fame and Richard Henry Pratt were strategically involved with the Carlile school and its philosophy of converting Native American children into productive members of society through the racsist philosphy of "kill the Indian, save the man.'' The bodies of the children who did not survive these tactics are stilling being dug up.
Whew, this bad boy was thicker than my boy Jim Thorpe’s thighs. An incredibly detailed look into the man behind the legend. A man who reached the pinnacle of fame and acclaim, who had his achievements taken away by those in power. A man with faults, who faced prejudice and racism, who was taken advantage of and thrown aside by some, who was championed by others, but who, as the author so clearly demonstrates, persevered through hardships and triumphs. The greatest athlete in the world, who never stopped moving or shaking, always working or hunting or finding another avenue to continue, until his heart finally said that’s enough Ole Jim, and gave out.
As a kid I loved the myth and legend of Jim Thorpe, the greatest athlete of the 20th century. This book helped me learn about the man, flaws and quirks and virtues and all that made up the man behind the myth, and I am extremely grateful for the author giving me the opportunity to do so.
As a kid I loved the myth and legend of Jim Thorpe, the greatest athlete of the 20th century. This book helped me learn about the man, flaws and quirks and virtues and all that made up the man behind the myth, and I am extremely grateful for the author giving me the opportunity to do so.
I wanted this book to be 1/3 its length, possibly 1/2 if I'm being realistic. The minute play by play of Jim's activities in later life got pretty tedious and the book dragged. (In contrast with The Bully Pulpit, which was long and detailed but never boring.)
In July of 2022, IOC announced that it would reinstate Thorpe as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon. This book feels like a rushed attempt to capitalize on that news.
There's a lot included in this book, and the entire time I read it I found myself re-outlining all of the information into better chapters. In one lone time line format, it was chaotic, and often difficult to follow, with too many characters and too many side stories. I know there's no way to tell Thorpe's story without discussing the Carlisle School, and Pop Warner, and the plight of the Indian in America at that time... but with all of those subjects, and many more, stuck into so many areas of the time line, it felt like I was both receiving both too much information, and not enough, all at the same time.
And that's from someone who knew a good deal about Thorpe's life before reading the book.
I can't fault the author for the contradictions of Thorpe's life, but in the way they were presented, it didn't make the book any more readable.
There's a lot included in this book, and the entire time I read it I found myself re-outlining all of the information into better chapters. In one lone time line format, it was chaotic, and often difficult to follow, with too many characters and too many side stories. I know there's no way to tell Thorpe's story without discussing the Carlisle School, and Pop Warner, and the plight of the Indian in America at that time... but with all of those subjects, and many more, stuck into so many areas of the time line, it felt like I was both receiving both too much information, and not enough, all at the same time.
And that's from someone who knew a good deal about Thorpe's life before reading the book.
I can't fault the author for the contradictions of Thorpe's life, but in the way they were presented, it didn't make the book any more readable.
Jim Thorpe was a remarkable individual, and though I occasionally wished that this biography swept me up in its retelling of events a little bit more, I still learned a ton and I'm so glad I read this. Thorpe's life had many moments of triumph, and even more of heartbreak and foiled dreams, but I'm taking away a sense of someone who kept on striving, and I'm grateful that Maraniss put that lens on his story. But one of the defining themes of Thorpe's history is the way that others in his orbit continually tried to define him and his legacy, used his image, and made choices they thought best for him, both before and after he died - all of which calls into question the very concept of an outsider interpreting his life in a book in the first place. But there's no avoiding this aspect of biography, Maraniss certainly doesn't shy away from reminding us of it, and Jim Thorpe is someone who shouldn't be forgotten. It just leaves you with a lot to think about!
To note: even though this book came out last year, it still wasn't published recently enough to account for the absurdly late reinstatement of Thorpe as sole winner of the pentathlon and decathlon events in the 1912 Olympic Games. I'm lucky that I was able to read this book knowing that the International Olympic Committee finally voted to make this change. It is, at least, one less thing to be infuriated about.
To note: even though this book came out last year, it still wasn't published recently enough to account for the absurdly late reinstatement of Thorpe as sole winner of the pentathlon and decathlon events in the 1912 Olympic Games. I'm lucky that I was able to read this book knowing that the International Olympic Committee finally voted to make this change. It is, at least, one less thing to be infuriated about.