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Product Description
Product Description
Rugby League football in an industrial northern city circa 1960 is a life of grime, mud, seat, intrigue and naked ambition. In THIS SPORTING LIFE, David Storey recounts the fortunes of gladiator hero Arthur Machin from the day of his inclusion in the local team to the match when he begins to feel age creeping up on him. Through Arthur we are taken into his raw, often brutal world of players, backers, Saturday crods bloody noses and broken teeth, landladies and communal baths.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never played rugby, I don't watch the game, and I only have a vague grasp of the rules, but I found this novel interesting and absorbing - and I read almost all of it standing up on crowded trains. Few people seem to know of the book, and those that do only know that it exists because they have seen the film. This is a shame. The novel deserves more attention.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel was published in 1960 and it provides an interesting insight the impact instant fame has on a young working man. Arthur Machin the principal character continues to work on a lathe in a factory in a northern English town whilst gaining a growing fan club in the town for his exploits playing for the local professional Rugby League team. While Rugby League provides background this novel is more on how how Arthur's new celebrity status impacts on his relationships. The plot centres on Arthur's relationship with his Landlady, Mrs Hammond, a recently widowed young mother of two. I was reminded of the kitchen-sink dramas of Pinter. Storey cleverly reveals how the 'public' Arthur intrudes on his personal life and how this intrusion creates rifts in his relationships with people. Although today's professional sportsmen might not easily identify with Arthur there were many parallels from Arthur buying a Jaguar and his girlfriend a fur coat to hobnobbing with the town's rich industrialists and other prominent citizens.
Format:Paperback
Rugby League is only the backdrop, if you are a lover of the sport or someone with no experience of the game there is so much more to this book. It is a social portrayal of the time and the north. Looking at the male, female relationships, a long with self doubt and insecurity. It is a great book and the later film with Richard Harris is also excellent
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
'Nowt but drizzle and mist'
Kitchen sink realism provided Post-war British culture with some of its finest moments in film and TV drama and fiction. Read more
Published on 27 May 2008 by Trevor Coote
Very good read
I enjoyed this novel. I have played rugby and so I have decent knowledge of the sport, but this didn't make a difference, as the book is primarily about the main character's... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2007 by Rusty Shackleford
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