328 replies to this topic

[RTH]

Extraordinary how many of us own this less than satisfactory tome.

[Vitesse2]

I haven't read it myself, but some of the reader reviews on Amazon suggest that we may have a new contender for this title in the shape of The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen by Kari Hotakainen. The translation to English comes in for particular criticism!

[john aston]

The Didier Pironi biog will not be in the running for the Nobel prize . Unless there's a new prize for cringingly awful hagiographies .  

 

But ..it IS worth reading .

[Allan Lupton]

'History of Formula One' by an unknown author called Ben Hunt.

My review still stands uncensored with another as damning
Price is still £7.49 at Amazon and still £0.01 elsewhere

The resurfacing of this thread 9 years since I posted the above allows me to make the same general comment.
My review still stands uncensored with another as damning
There are a couple of five-star revues which may be well-meaning family members.
Price is now £0.01 at Amazon and still £0.01 elsewhere
A former member of TNF hopes to get £8 plus p/p for one.

[Tim Murray]

The Didier Pironi biog will not be in the running for the Nobel prize . Unless there's a new prize for cringingly awful hagiographies .

But ..it IS worth reading .

Which one, John?

Didier: Dreams and Nightmares by Lorie Coffey and Jan Möller

or

Pironi: The Champion That Never Was by David Sedgwick

[john aston]

Sorry-the latter .

[proviz]

I haven't read it myself, but some of the reader reviews on Amazon suggest that we may have a new contender for this title in the shape of The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen by Kari Hotakainen. The translation to English comes in for particular criticism!

Can't speak for the English translation, haven't read it. But the original in Finnish is in fact a very good book, not about F1, but about a personality competing therein. As a literary talent Kari Hotakainen is among the best of his generation. Way above anything you'd expect from most of F1-themed writers. He has said himself that he still doesn't understand F1, but that really was not the purpose of the issue. What he did dig into was... well, why Kimi is the way he is. And portraying that he succeeds better than anyone else I can think of. And this I'm saying as a not-Kimi-fan.

[retriever]

I haven't read it myself, but some of the reader reviews on Amazon suggest that we may have a new contender for this title in the shape of The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen by Kari Hotakainen. The translation to English comes in for particular criticism!

 

 

I received the same book as a present this last Christmas. I never put it on the bookshelf but took it down to our village library (ex telephone box) before new year's day. It is still there (along with the latest Private Eye annual which a relative still insists on giving me every year)!

[Sterzo]

A commendable resurrection of a dead thread. I've just read it from the beginning.

 

Slightly disappointed that no-one has mentioned "Flying on the Ground" by Elizabeth Hayward. It's the complete story of Emerson Fittipaldi's career - until 1973. A tome of turgid nothingness. A friend once bought it for £2, on the basis the paper alone would be worth more than that. He was dismayed to find the printed words had spoilt the paper.

[Gary C]

....I feel I know the name Elizabeth Hayward. ..

[D-Type]

A word of warning:  There's a new edition of Motor Racing's Strangest Races out. 

 

I was given it for Christmas but mercifully the relatives who gave it to me left the receipt in it (the voice of experience) so I was able to exchange it.

[Tim Murray]

....I feel I know the name Elizabeth Hayward. ..

This old thread may ring a bell or two, Gary:

Whatever happened to Elizabeth Hayward?

[john aston]

. What he did dig into was... well, why Kimi is the way he is.

Not a long book then ...

 

I have to confess that the enduring popularity of the monosyllabic Finn  eludes me . But it does seem a very long time since I saw Kimi win a winter series Formula Renault race 20miles away from where I'm typing this , at Croft

[Barry Boor]

I guess I must be some sort of literary Phyllis Stein because I got the Kimi book for Christmas and I can't say that I find it at all bad.

I don't notice that the translation is poor (since I can't compare it - not being fluent in Finnish) and the way it's put together seems to move along through Kimi's life and career quite nicely.

Clearly, I am the last person you would ever want as a book reviewer.

My book collection is soon to be reduced drastically due to a severe change in circumstances!

[proviz]

In interviews at the time of Kimi's book launch it was said that Kimi had first asked "is it going to be a Formula 1 book?" and he only agreed to co-operate when the author assured him it was not.

[Vitesse2]

In interviews at the time of Kimi's book launch it was said that Kimi had first asked "is it going to be a Formula 1 book?" and he only agreed to co-operate when the author assured him it was not.

Which is probably part of the reason some readers of the English translation were a bit disappointed - it was neither fish nor fowl. But the publisher's blurb actually suggests it would be an F1 book:

 

'I loved it. I thought it was fascinating - really, really interesting story that he's got to tell... I've known him for years and I learned an awful lot.' Marc Priestley​

Kimi Räikkönen is the Finnish superstar Formula One driver with a reputation for being fast on the track and silent off it – until now!
 
In this superb and authorised portrait of Räikkönen, Kari Hotakainen gets to reveal the side of the man that few beyond his close family and friends have ever seen. Enigmatic and private, Ferrari’s former world champion driver rarely opens up to outsiders, but he granted Hotakainen exclusive access to his world and to his way of thinking. It ensures that this will be a book that will delight all fans of motorsport, who have long revered the Finn.
 
Including never-previously-seen photographs from his own collection, The Unknown Kimi Räikkönen takes the reader into the heart of the action at grands prix around the world, behind the scenes as race strategies are planned, and opens up the private side of his life that he normally guards so carefully.
 
With all the cult appeal of I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the raw excitement of Formula One and the insight of the best biographies, this is a book every sports fan will want to treasure.

Perhaps some of you might appreciate What Would Kimi Räikkönen Do?: The Kimi Räikkönen Designer Notebook. As one of its reviewers notes, 'Kimi would probably say... "A nice notebook for writing down words...but not too many", while another points out that 'It's just as if you are talking to him.'

[Sterzo]

....I feel I know the name Elizabeth Hayward. ..

...and it may be the excruciating boredom of the book was not entirely the fault of the author. Emerson Fittipaldi was an exciting driver on the track, but his interview answers always seemed void of content, for sure. Which is fair enough: we admire drivers for their driving, not their PR abilities.

[john winfield]

Returning to Ronnie Mutch, here's the solitary Amazon review of his masterpiece, from reader 'Blue Brazil':

 

'How can a book be so bad?

 

This is worth buying just to experience how bad it is. Probably the worst racing book I've ever read, and I'm including Tom Rubython's abominations in that. How the author had such good access and yet produced such a piece of nonsense is beyond me.'

 

 

High praise indeed!

[ensign14]

I wonder if that's kevthedrummer who used to post here?  He is/was a Cowdenbeath fan.

[SamoanAttorney]

Bravo Ladies and Gentlemen...........this thread is the perfect illustration of what sets TNF apart from virtually ever other forum on the WWW....... witty and informed, it is a pleasure to read.....several posts have made me laugh out loud.......and yes I have a copy of Ronnie Mutch's epic tome in front of me as I scribble this post.....the late Brian Laban advised me to get a copy............it is as awful as he predicted, his warnings are echoed here........... once again thank you for making the day a little brighter.

[Vitesse2]

...and it may be the excruciating boredom of the book was not entirely the fault of the author. Emerson Fittipaldi was an exciting driver on the track, but his interview answers always seemed void of content, for sure. Which is fair enough: we admire drivers for their driving, not their PR abilities.

I see what you did there ...

[moffspeed]

Which is probably part of the reason some readers of the English translation were a bit disappointed - it was neither fish nor fowl. But the publisher's blurb actually suggests it would be an F1 book:

Perhaps some of you might appreciate What Would Kimi Räikkönen Do?: The Kimi Räikkönen Designer Notebook. As one of its reviewers notes, 'Kimi would probably say... "A nice notebook for writing down words...but not too many", while another points out that 'It's just as if you are talking to him.'

 

Funnily enough the Raikkonen theme continues with "The Mechanic" by Kimi's former mechanic Marc "Elvis" Priestley. It carries the subtitle "The secret world of the pitlane".

 

It could have been a good book but there are no true revelations, very few incisive insights into F1 and the picture he paints of the significant players - Ron Dennis in particular - are rather vague to the extent that there is never any great incentive to turn over another page.  What really taints the book are the protracted accounts of laddish behaviour, the almighty benders with hangovers on racedays, the glorification of the trashing of hotel rooms/hire cars, the repeated warnings that he received from McLaren management (understandably) and a 14 page chapter entirely devoted to the prank that he played on K.R. when he sprinkled blue dye in his driving gloves.  Did we really need to know that when one of the McLaren mechanics left the team he was tied naked to a tyre trolley and someone "took a s**t on his chest" - oh how we laughed.

 

On the technical side you might be interested to know that "the Tyrrell P34 had six wheels because the designers believed it would better transfer their huge engine torque onto the track"...

[Michael Ferner]

Sounds like a must-have.

[Sterzo]

On the technical side you might be interested to know that "the Tyrrell P34 had six wheels because the designers believed it would better transfer their huge engine torque onto the track"...

A quote like that should not be allowed to fade into the shadows of a lengthening forum thread. It should be chiselled in stone and mounted on Imperial College. Meanwhile, I must buy that book.

[Henk Vasmel]

A motor racing title that I had blissfully forgotten about is "Die Meute" by Heike Doutiné. I recently found it back. A quick check on the internet didn't reveal whether it has been translated into English and if so, under which title it was published. It has the advantage of being a novel, so any unlikely stories are just artistic liberty. Anyone else has experience with this one?

 

By the way, Ronnie Mutch is still my number one.

[Vitesse2]

I can only find it in German and Dutch, Henk. And in Slovenian under a title which translates as 'Bloody race'.

 

Only one of her books seems to have been translated into English - German Requiem (original German title: Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland). [Stop sniggering at the back!]

[DCapps]

 

 

Only one of her books seems to have been translated into English - German Requiem (original German title: Wanke nicht, mein Vaterland). [Stop sniggering at the back!]

 

I'm sorry, that was me.

[kayemod]

In interviews at the time of Kimi's book launch it was said that Kimi had first asked "is it going to be a Formula 1 book?" and he only agreed to co-operate when the author assured him it was not.

 

I feel some of the criticism of Kimi is a little unfair. The author admits he has no real knowledge of or interest in F1, but as was made clear, this is not a book about racing, it was never intended to be. It's a book about a man, his friends, family, life and personality, and don't laugh at that last word, there's actually a lot more to Kimi than some will allow or possibly realise. One of the foremost current writers on F1, he attends and writes about every single race, and has done for many years, told me a few months ago that Kimi is just about his favourite character in that area of the sport, and he undoubtedly meant it.

 

Kimi is OK then, but the book...

 

The translation into English is adequate but no more than that, it's readable but that's about all you could say, and it contains some monumental errors of fact all the way through. Of particular note are the pages of results from all of Kimi's races over the last few pages. In one F1 race, he apparently qualified a Sauber, but raced a McLaren, in several others Lewis Hamilton won in a Ferrari. I gave up at that point.

 

I had considered buying it when it came out, but hesitated after reading early reviews. A friend was given a copy last Christmas, and eventually lent it to me. Both of us fairly enthusiastic with a lot of knowledge of the sport, we both like Kimi as a driver, and both of us read it (fairly quickly) from beginning to end. On its own terms, about probably the most famous man in his native Country, it really isn't that bad, I've read far worse.

[proviz]

Have to admit I never took a look at the results pages, if indeed they were included in the original Finnish edition. The prose in Finnish is beyond reproach, Hotakainen is one of the leading novelists in the country. Yes, there were some errors, but I cannot recall all that many. Not that I particularly tried to find any, admittedly.