My last reading list was on 3 March. That represented my first compilation in many months. In the past four weeks, I’ve managed to finish three reads. I’m currently tackling a short one: Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952). This time, there are two nonfiction reads and one novel. Since I’ve been trending towards going digital, all three were ebooks. This haul brings the year’s total to five ebooks. I started off with Michael Holley’s The Big Three (2020). This chronicles the instant success of Beantown’s new star trio. I followed this up with The Sun Also Rises (1926). Hemingway’s classic was a tougher yet rewarding read. He draws on his personal experience visiting Paris and Pamplona, Spain. Finally, I battled with Scott Howard-Cooper’s Steve Kerr (2021). At 336 pages, there’s a lot of detail. The author is a jack-of-all-stories but master of none. Focusing on a few points would’ve suited him better. In the latter chapters, the read became laborious.
1. The Big Three (Michael Holley). Among the three, this is the most readable. I took only a week to crest this hill. The Celtics used to be my favourite franchise, until I pledged my allegiance to Dub Nation in 2013. The book tells the story of Boston’s famed trio: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Long story short, the hallowed Celtics became a losing team. Pierce wanted help and the squad traded for Garnett and Allen. They would win a championship in their first season together. The author cites the new Boston ownership as the start of the franchise’s turnaround. Their first move was to woo Danny Ainge as the fresh general manager. He then signed Doc Rivers despite his tumultuous exit in Orlando. He also made smart moves, bringing in expiring contracts and stockpiling draft picks. When they did got a player like Rajon Rondo, Ainge used every bit of guile to retain his guy. He tolerated a couple years of losing, before cashing in on his chips. The Celtic victory was another display of Beantown sporting excellence, after the Patriots and the Red Sox beforehand.
The OG Big Three was in the 80s, with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. The gritty trio brought three titles to the city. Ainge started at off-guard. A rare athlete, he also spent time with baseball’s Toronto Bluejays. In his prime, he was a terrific shooter. Initially, Garnett balked at going to Boston. However, the winning culture won him over. He would learn that no Celtic had ever secured the scoring title, a testament to the squad’s egalitarian approach. Their point guard, Rondo, would make a star turn in the 2009 playoffs. By Garnett’s third year, Rivers was carefully managing their minutes. This meant a fourth seeding. They went on to the NBA Finals, where they would lose to Kobe and the Lakers.
In 2012, they again made the East Finals, where they lost to LeBron and Miami in seven. At this point, Allen and Rondo were practically clawing at each other. Allen’s teammates learned of his Heat signing from the news reports. The following year, Boston would lose in the first round while Allen would hit a dagger three against the Spurs. He would earn his second championship ring. In the off-season, Pierce and Garnett would get traded to Brooklyn. The Celtics embraced another rebuild. This is a very informative book. Well-written, everything flowed smoothly.
‘…and his statement needed a realistic revision when applied to the Celtics: Anything is possible…with The Big Three’.
Rating: 4.7/5
2. The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway). This marks my first Hemingway novel. I tried reading For Whom The Bells Toll. It was not my cup of tea. Interestingly, this novel is also set in Spain. As usual, American expats are highlighted. Jake Barnes is the protagonist, the story’s moral centre. Since this is a Roman a clef, Barnes is Hemingway. The others represent the author’s circle of friends. They travel from Paris to Pamplona by train and bus. While bullfighting features, so does free love and fishing. This novel was published almost a century ago. There were clean rivers, fat fish, and telegrams. They had landlines instead of iPhones. They ate lunch rather than staring at screens. They drank wine as opposed to guzzling cola.
This was my second attempt at Sun and I was glad that I finished it. The characters were a mixed bag. Some, like Jake and Romero, are likeable. Robert Cohn, Lady Brett Ashley, and Mike Campbell aren’t as gregarious. The book per se is just 150 pages but reads more like 300 pages. The pacing is slow and quite descriptive. Sometimes, I had to skip a few paragraphs. Otherwise, I’ll be stagnant. To be honest, most of the characters appear to be spoiled rich kids passing as liberated adults. They spend more time holidaying and scheming rather than writing good books.
‘But the effort of talking American seemed to have tired him.’
Like most of his oeuvre, this one doesn’t age gracefully. Considering H.G. Wells wrote The Time Machine and George Orwell coined the term Big Brother, you would hope that genius Hemingway would at least mention Bitcoin. In fairness, Sun is rather quaint. It harks back to earlier times, the days of yore. This was the age of our grandparents, of those who came before us. It was modern but not ultra-modern. People actually read and wrote letters. This is the novel of the Lost Generation, when women were liberated. The Great War had just ended and the prognosis looked good. This has been viewed as Hemingway’s piece de resistance. In so doing, critics would overlook the derogatory language. I’m looking forward to reading more of Hemingway.
See also: my review of the 2020 documentary on the much celebrated author.
Rating: 3.9/5
3. Steve Kerr: A Life (Scott Howard-Cooper). I bought this ebook since I’m quite familiar with Kerr. An avid NBA fan, I caught the last few years of his 15-year NBA career. I also tuned in as he called the games with Marv Albert. Finally, he coaches the Golden State Warriors, my favourite hoops team. In every level, Kerr has been a glorious overachiever. He went to Arizona, where he barely made the team. By his redshirt senior season, he had led them to the Final Four.
Though he got drafted, he became a towel-waver with the Suns. Even in Cleveland, five-foot-eleven playmaker Terrell Brandon beat him as the backup point guard. Orlando was yet another pit stop as he struggled to find a home in the league. His young family had to keep changing states. In 1993, he landed in Chicago, where he managed to play significant minutes.
Throughout his basketball career, he played for some great coaches. It started at Arizona, where he was mentored by Lute Olson. The latter would create and sustain one of college basketball’s finest programs. In the NBA, he was under the tutelage of Lenny Wilkens and Cotton Fitzsimmons, two of the league’s winningest helmers. Later, he worked with Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Together, they have won sixteen NBA titles in the driver’s seat. Unfortunately, the author does not capitalise on these bonds. He chooses instead to dedicate a third of the book to politics. As one reviewer pointed out, Kerr had nil involvement in the read’s making.
The author overplays Jordan’s apology to Kerr. This came in the aftermath of a free for all that had Steve looking like a panda. Apparently, MJ never apologises, until then. He dwells on Kerr’s childhood while dedicating only one chapter to his exciting Arizona years. He likewise glosses over the Bulls’s seventy-two-win season. He allots a few paragraphs to whole playoff runs. When he dissects the 2016 playoffs, he never mentions Game Six Klay. The guy who saved their season with his forty-six-point outing, is left out. His relationship with Steph Curry is also overlooked. Yet he discusses Dennis Rodman and Draymond Green.
Kerr is portrayed as a sage. He’s the team’s de facto PR guy when the stars want to duck out of the way. He has been lauded as a future head coach. He sees the floor differently and practices hard. He led the league in three point shooting. He’s an amateur comedian. Kerr peaked with the Bulls. He would win a fourth straight chip, but he had fallen out of the rotation. He was traded to Portland, where he was a key locker room voice on the Jail Blazers. He helped rookie coach, Maurice Cheeks. He was then dealt back to San Antonio, where he finished his career as a five-time NBA champion.
He would’ve signed up with the Knicks as their new head coach. At the time, Jackson was their Vice President. Due to his family, he stayed in Cali. He has since won a further four titles as their chief tactician. All this while battling crippling back problems. Meanwhile, the Knicks were on life support, until Thibs rescued them. Jackson was fired. The book is okay but not the easiest read. One reviewer compared it to a very lengthy newspaper article. The politics ruins it. The author should’ve stuck to basketball.
Rating: 3.98/5
