The Art of Racing in the Rain

I'm not much fer books 'n stuff, but I checked out Racing in the Rain from the library and started reading it. I read the first 90 or so pages over a few lunch breaks the last two weeks. Then last night, about 10:30 or so I lay down to bed, but wasn't terribly tired so I grabbed the book.

SPOILER ALERT Skip down a little bit.
I think I was at the point where Denny's wife cut herself. Things progressed from there. The cancer, the in-laws, Enzo and the hot lap, Enzo and the car, the funeral, holy cow man.
*END SPOILER ALERT***

I was unable to put it down. I read the rest of the book, all 130 or so pages. I finally put it down at 1:15 and was wound up will 2.

*LITTLE BIT OF A SPOILER ALERT
As I was reading, I was soo pissed at the in-laws that I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I had to finish and hope for a good ending for him and Zoe. I was glad it all worked out in the end.
NO MORE SPOILER ALERT**

I loved how the author drew parallels to racing, but did it in such a way that anyone can pick up the book and read it and get it. All the parallels were explained well enough, but for gear-heads, it was even moar better.
Like I said, I'm not a book worm, but man, that was a heckuva book.

Because men have emotions too, damn it.

I need to read this. The fact that it comes up so often on here must mean something.

I'm not a book reader either. I read that one in 3 days. My mom died of a brain tumor and I'm a big dog person, so the book hit me hard. I did love the ending though.

I got a signed copy from the author at the Mitty a few years ago, I loved the book.

I must be the only guy in the world who didn't like this book. It fell into cliche after cliche, and in general was just a depressing read the whole way through. I felt like it compared best to an after-school special.

FWIW, I do read a lot--I'm currently in the middle of 3 books, and have finished 5 others this month alone. Admittedly, 2 were very easy reads (young adult books).

mtn wrote: I must be the only guy in the world who didn't like this book. It fell into cliche after cliche, and in general was just a depressing read the whole way through. FWIW, I do read a lot--I'm currently in the middle of 3 books, and have finished 5 others this month alone. Admittedly, 2 were very easy reads (young adult books).

I cant disagree with that. But, the racing tie-in was very well done. I dont think I'm very 'deep' when it comes to books, movies, or TV. I want to be entertained. This book was entertaining.

I liked it. There's only so many ways a story can be told and I think he did a good job integrating racing as it (mostly) really is, rather than some boozehound's view of what they think it is. I've seen grandparents similar to the ones he writes of, too.

mtn wrote: I must be the only guy in the world who didn't like this book. It fell into cliche after cliche, and in general was just a depressing read the whole way through.

+1 on the cliche-fest.

On the other hand... I just finished reading Jack London's Sea Wolf because... free on Amazon Prime and forgot to buy a book for the flight. That was damn good. The difference being - cliches have to start somewhere.

I listened to this on CD with the wife on our long drive back from Gainseville to Worcester back in '10. We both enjoyed it enough despite the plentiful cliches and unnecessary literary plot diversions.

Of course, being that we are both animal lovers, there were times that her tears brought a slight misting to my own eyes... it is a universal story with both understandable joy and a good bit of heartbreak.

This was directly after her first challenge appearance and listening together gave us ample time to chat about what cars mean to me. The plain language relating of racing concepts to life lessons made it very easy for her to understand where I am coming from most of the time.

I used it as an invaluable tool to help her gain some insight into racing and myself; that might sound a bit deep or esoteric but it was actually a simple and convenient conversation aid. Occasionally she will remind me that "the car goes where the eyes go" or to behave like there are "eggshells on the pedals" even though we are not talking about driving at all...

I've been hearing raves about this book for years on car-related boards. But I refuse to read it because I'm a big ole Bob Costas when it comes to... what I've heard is in the book.

The "twins" reminded of my sister's ex-inlaws.

In reply to tb:

Boy, I wish it had gone that way when my wife read the book. She thought it meant I wanted her to die so I could become a racecar driver.

Again?

The first half of this book was very well written. I'd rank it among the best first halves of books that I've ever read.

Duke wrote: In reply to tb: Boy, I wish it had gone that way when *my* wife read the book. She thought it meant I wanted her to die so I could become a racecar driver.

That's OK. The lesson I took from the movie "Up!" was that your wife has to die before you can have a great adventure.

mtn wrote: I must be the only guy in the world who didn't like this book. It fell into cliche after cliche, and in general was just a depressing read the whole way through. I felt like it compared best to an after-school special. FWIW, I do read a lot--I'm currently in the middle of 3 books, and have finished 5 others this month alone. Admittedly, 2 were very easy reads (young adult books).

I think you hit the nail on the head. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't all that impressed by it. I gave my copy to a guy that raced and was really into dogs. I figured he might get more out of it than I did, though it really wasn't much about racing.

Box_of_Rocks wrote: That's OK. The lesson I took from the movie "Up!" was that your wife has to die before you can have a great adventure.

Before we went to see it my sister in law told my wife it looked like a cute movie and the couple reminded her of us. My wife started crying hysterically when she died ten minutes in. My SIL was half right as I could see floating away my house with a bunch of balloons.

Box_of_Rocks wrote:

Duke wrote: In reply to tb: Boy, I wish it had gone that way when *my* wife read the book. She thought it meant I wanted her to die so I could become a racecar driver.

That's OK. The lesson I took from the movie "Up!" was that your wife has to die before you can have a great adventure.

Hahahaha! Brilliant interpretation.