Closing Speed edition by Ted West Literature Fiction eBooks
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It was the fastest, most competitive European endurance racing season ever- Ferrari, Porsche Alfa Romeo, Matra- all battling wheel-to-wheel for the 1970 World Manufacturer's Championship, and young American journalist Nick Thorne was there to cover it...
But when one spring afternoon he sprinted across a rain-slick German test track to rescue the World Champion from a fiery wreck, he was thrust into racing's red-hot center. Suddenly on intimate terms with the drivers, their ives and lovers, the secrets he came upon were vastly more than he bargained for, as race by race the championship rose to its desperate climax.
From England's rain-drenched Brands Hatch to sunny Monza in Italy, Sicily's gritty Targa Florio to glamorous Monaco and the horrifying speeds of Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps, Nick learned to trust only one truth- In the violence of all-out competition, there are no innocent bystanders...
Closing Speed edition by Ted West Literature Fiction eBooks
I was disappointed in this book. While the author is clearly knowledgeable about the World Sportscar Championship period in which the story takes place, given his journalism background, most of the novel is devoted to the tawdry trists and sexual affairs of his fictional characters. I was hoping for more insight into the teams, the cars, and the racing that made the 1970 WSC season so memorable. What you ultimately get is 75% romance novel with 25% or so motorsport, not the other way around. Having said that, it was interesting to see the parallels between the fictional elements and characters of the story and what in some cases are the easilly identifiable real-life counterparts (for example, a terrible accident at the 1971 Targa Florio race by British driver Brian Redman in a Porsche 908/3 serves as the basis for one of the more realistic, and horrific, episodes in the fictionalized story). The author was a witness to a very dangerous period in racing, and to his credit he deals in his novel with the danger and the shocking fatality rate for drivers at that time in a thoughtful way. I enjoyed this aspect of the story a great deal, wondering how people - fans, drivers, teams, and all - dealt with this gruesome reality in motorsport and somehow rationalized it as being acceptable. Much has changed since then (for the better) in terms of safety even as the intensity of the competition at that time is still celebrated even today.Product details
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Closing Speed edition by Ted West Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
written by friend - brought back memories.
An interesting story for fans of Sixties' era sports car racing. The plot is a little thin here and there, a common problem with books centered around sport (implausible romance and the like) but good description of the cars, courses, and danger.
While this book will make motor sports enthusiasts ecstatic, it's a terrific read for anyone. I knew next to nothing about auto racing before I picked up "Closing Speed" and still enjoyed every bit of it.
The races are exciting; the locales are fantastic, ranging from glamorous Lake Como to gritty Sicily; and the women, well, the women more than hold their own with the cars and locations. West makes this season of racing come alive -- it's the kind of book Hemingway would have written, if he wrote about cars and was emotionally evolved.
A must read.
This is just a terrific novel about the racing scene in Europe. The characters are well drawn and interesting. The technical and historical aspects are authentic and well researched.
That the author knows his subject is obvious and his interweaving of the fictional characters with real personalities of that era is seamless and fascinating.
Fans of sportscar racing who love a good story will eat this up and I suspect some who aren't racing enthusiasts will find it a very atmospheric immersion into a different world.
Ted West has created an emotional tour de force of motorsports fiction, although I hesitate to include it in this genre. Motor racing provides the general atmosphere - not the main theme. I cannot help comparing it to Al Karasa's "Sherridan's Rain" - a superb story of the same sport as it was played in the 1950s. Where Karasa's work centers on cars and on racing, Ted West's "Closing Speed" focuses on the people and their emotional involvement in the game. Cars and racing are there, to be sure, but they seem to be in the background. If that is your preference, this is a fine read. Otherwise, you'll do better with Al Karasa's (now out of ptint) version Sheridan's Rain
This book covers a period of time in the history of Motorsports when the characters might have been bigger than the sport itself. The men were brave, colorful and often lived each day as if it were their last. Unfortunately, during that period of ultra-fast cars with minimal safety equipment and tracks that had not changed to keep up with these new juggernauts, it often was their last.
This book captures that time expertly and conveys what it was like to be amongst some of the sport's all-time giants.
While West credits the more outrageous acts and comments to his fictionalized characters, I can recall from the reports of the day that these things actually happened! The book is a must for any true motorsports enthusiast, especially for anyone who remembers the epic battles between Porsche and Ferrari in the late 60's and early 70's.
An excellent summer read!
Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading this book and I am thankful that it was published in a edition. As with other books in the microscopic genre of historical racing fiction, it's no literary classic and, unlike "...Racing in the Rain," it's not a book that I'd recommend to anyone who isn't deeply interested in a golden era of sports car and Formula One racing. I'd have appreciated the author tying up several character loose ends, a more elegant ending, and less tawdry summer romance novel-esque love scenes. Still, it was fun to read fiction based on an era about which I'm very interested and featuring several non-fiction characters.
If you're interested in the genre, check out Richard Nisley's book, "the Ragged Edge."
I was disappointed in this book. While the author is clearly knowledgeable about the World Sportscar Championship period in which the story takes place, given his journalism background, most of the novel is devoted to the tawdry trists and sexual affairs of his fictional characters. I was hoping for more insight into the teams, the cars, and the racing that made the 1970 WSC season so memorable. What you ultimately get is 75% romance novel with 25% or so motorsport, not the other way around. Having said that, it was interesting to see the parallels between the fictional elements and characters of the story and what in some cases are the easilly identifiable real-life counterparts (for example, a terrible accident at the 1971 Targa Florio race by British driver Brian Redman in a Porsche 908/3 serves as the basis for one of the more realistic, and horrific, episodes in the fictionalized story). The author was a witness to a very dangerous period in racing, and to his credit he deals in his novel with the danger and the shocking fatality rate for drivers at that time in a thoughtful way. I enjoyed this aspect of the story a great deal, wondering how people - fans, drivers, teams, and all - dealt with this gruesome reality in motorsport and somehow rationalized it as being acceptable. Much has changed since then (for the better) in terms of safety even as the intensity of the competition at that time is still celebrated even today.
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