G631 Book Review of Riding by Cassia Cassitas
Author: Cassia Cassitas
ISBN: 9781511966139
Publisher: Createspace
Type of book: Olympics, 1983-2012, games, travel, world citizen, limitations, paralympics, athletes, cyclists, purpose of life and athletics, Brazil, Australia, China, South Korea, England, holding on vs letting go
Year it was published: 2015
Summary:
Amidst real events and landscapes, men and women like us wander the cities we inhabit, rehearsing happier lives in the pages of this motivational novel. From each one, destiny took a part to make them perfect.
When he is born, André propels his mother’s life in a new direction, shifting her focus away from her professional aspirations. His father, an executive who organizes Olympic competitions around the world and doesn’t know when to come back home, strives to make him a worldly citizen. Cycling, his life acquires purpose: becoming an Olympic para-athlete.
Together with his friends, he experiences disappointments and new beginnings. A doctor that builds robots, the daughter of a lonely teenager, and a retired athlete teach André how to overcome his limits and live his dream.
Set in Curitiba with breaks in Los Angeles, Seoul, Johannesburg and Soweto, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London, the narrative ends in 2012, in Rio de Janeiro.
As a tribute to all those who choose to sign the next episodes of their lives, this book is about overcoming one’s self amid achievements, obstacles, love and heroism, written behind the scenes of life.
Characters:
The main characters include Mario and Elizabeth who work for Olympic Committee and oversee how different cities are. Mario is dedicated to his job and wants more independence for Andre, while Elizabeth suffers from guilt and in beginning doesn't really know what to do with herself until Andre inspires her to find a direction. Andre is a very dedicated and passionate cyclist who is determined to be in paralympics in Rio in 2016. He doesn't let anything or anyone stop him and overcomes whatever limits he can. Other characters do play a role in the book, but not as big as Mario, Elizabeth and Andre.
Theme:
Being an athelete is challenging yourself to go beyond limits and spaces
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from Elizabeth's, Andre's, Mario's and Rose's points of view. At times Dr. Eureka also gives his own thoughts about Andre. The story also stretches on from 1980s up until 2012, and covers a lot of Olympic games from Seoul to London to Beijing to Australia and so forth. I do think that a lot of ideas that are presented in the story are a little too far our for me, or that I couldn't really understand because I'm really not into sports, but I found it pretty cool to learn about it and to think about it as well. When Andre begins to exist, the reader knows that something is off with him because of the reactions of the parents and grandparents and few others, but not until the very end of the story does the reader get the full picture. The pace of the story, despite spanning thirty something years, is slow as if the author has all the time in the world to talk about the characters.
Author Information:
(From iRead Book Tours)
Buy the book: Amazon ~ Barnes & Nobles ~ Book Depository
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Meet the author:
"In my mind, words came in strides. They aligned themselves in arguments that were ready for combat after rebelling themselves - and that was just inkling. Were was my certainty to support the new image? And where were my emotions, with their brushes to bring color to life?"
Born in the interior of the state of Paraná, Cassia Cassitas accumulated various degrees throughout her carreer in Information Technology. The author of three novels, her texts convey ideas accumulated amidst the smell of coffee plantations, shoe factories, and the technology of the 20th century. These texts deal with life-altering episodes, in a path lit by a harmonious blend of memories and imagination.
Connect with the author: Website Facebook Twitter
"In my mind, words came in strides. They aligned themselves in arguments that were ready for combat after rebelling themselves - and that was just inkling. Were was my certainty to support the new image? And where were my emotions, with their brushes to bring color to life?"
Born in the interior of the state of Paraná, Cassia Cassitas accumulated various degrees throughout her carreer in Information Technology. The author of three novels, her texts convey ideas accumulated amidst the smell of coffee plantations, shoe factories, and the technology of the 20th century. These texts deal with life-altering episodes, in a path lit by a harmonious blend of memories and imagination.
Connect with the author: Website Facebook Twitter
Opinion:
I barely know anything about Olympics, and I come from a family that doesn't really participate in sports or really cares for athletic things, thus reading a story that relates to Olympics and to cycling is a strange experience for me. I learned a lot from the story about the importance of Olympic games to different nations and how the games influenced the nations for a positive turn. The story itself strikes me as kind of disjointed, or something similar to Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley that I read few years back, but I liked this far more because I can definitely see the accumulating stories and layers that are presented, and there is definite character growth of Elizabeth, Mario and Andre. The writing tends to be a bit simplistic, but the story is enjoyable.
This is for iRead Book Tours
TOUR SCHEDULE:
Aug 17 - Olio by Marilyn - review / author interview
Aug 17 - Coffee, Books & Art - book spotlight / giveaway
Aug 18 - Readers Muse - review / guest post
Aug 18 - Shooting Stars Mag - book spotlight
Aug 19 - T's Stuff - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Aug 20 - Book Stop Corner - review / author interview / giveaway
Aug 21 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review / giveaway
Aug 24 - View From the Birdhouse - book spotlight / giveaway
Aug 26 - 3 Partners in Shopping - spotlight/guest post / giveaway
Aug 27 - #redhead.with.book - review / giveaway
Aug 28 - A Splendid Messy Life - review / giveaway
Aug 28 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review / giveaway
Aug 31 - Katie's Clean Book Collection - book spotlight
Sept 1 - Book and Ink - review / guest post / giveaway
Sept 2 - Sveta's Reads and Views - review
Sept 3 - Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author - book spotlight / giveaway
Sept 4 - I'd Rather Be at the Beach - review / giveaway
Sept 7 - The Autistic Gamer - review
Sept 8 - Being Tilly's Mummy - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Sept 9 - Worth Reading It - book spotlight
Sept 9 - Cheryl's Book Nook - book spotlight / giveaway
Sept 10 - Vic's Media Room - review
Sept 11 - Create With Joy - review / giveaway
Sept 14 - In This World of Books... - review / giveaway
Sept 15 - The Discerning Reader - review / giveaway
Sept 16 - Library of Clean Reads - review / giveaway
Sept 17 - Jorie Loves a Story - review / guest post
Sept 18 - Jessica Cassidy - review / author interview / giveaway
Sept 18 - PrettyPandaReads - review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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